Sous vide

Tf0498

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Hey All,

New member here and I'm a BIAB brewer due to the lack of space in my current apartment. I do small batches 1-3 gallons, and recently I've been using my Anova Sous Vide to do my mash. It works extremely well, and was curious if anyone does this also, and if so any recommendations you may have etc.

Cheers
 
Hey All,

New member here and I'm a BIAB brewer due to the lack of space in my current apartment. I do small batches 1-3 gallons, and recently I've been using my Anova Sous Vide to do my mash. It works extremely well, and was curious if anyone does this also, and if so any recommendations you may have etc.

Cheers
I've done it - works very well, too. Make sure nothing (a bag or so forth) gets hung up in the impeller and try to limit contact between the grain and the heating element. I've used it up to 5 gallon batches and it's worked well.
 
I've done it - works very well, too. Make sure nothing (a bag or so forth) gets hung up in the impeller and try to limit contact between the grain and the heating element. I've used it up to 5 gallon batches and it's worked well.

Thanks for your input! Yeah last brew I was having that issue so I used like a metal straining spoon between the element and bag. Worked well but next batch i'm going to maybe put it in a hop spider?
 
Thanks for your input! Yeah last brew I was having that issue so I used like a metal straining spoon between the element and bag. Worked well but next batch i'm going to maybe put it in a hop spider?
I tried that as well - the hop spider constrains the hotter liquid somewhat and it's a rather difficult rig to keep assembled under real-world conditions but it could work.
 
I use it in my hlt to hold temperature once established with a more substantial heating implement. Works well for for me and five gallon batches plus it's nifty to watch the temp on my phone over blue tooth :D
 
I use it in my hlt to hold temperature once established with a more substantial heating implement. Works well for for me and five gallon batches plus it's nifty to watch the temp on my phone over blue tooth :D

Yes i agree that heating it alone with just the stick takes forever (roughly 45 mins or so). The last couple batches I’ve supplemented with my stovetop making it a no brainer moving forward.

The BT phone is the best feature haha! I’ve been cooking for years with it when I realized one day this could be great for brewing. Such a cool tool!
 
I've been using one for around 10 litre batches for about 6 months. Makes things very relaxed.

The heat up time doesn't worry me. I have the water in the kettle the night before. Get up, flick the switch and then walk around to the coffee shop, sit down, have a relaxing coffee and some breakfast. When I get back it's generally close enough that by the time I've finished cleaning and weighing and doing other admin tasks I'm ready to mash in.

Also saw someone talking about using a timer switch to turn it on a few hours before they get up on brewday so it's ready to mash in first thing.

Haven't had many problems with the bag getting sucked in to the vents. I do put a stainless ruler in front of the device to keep the bag back, but not really sure if it helps or not. I did try putting a bag on the stick and putting that in the mash bag, but that didn't work.
 
Love me the dual purpose / multi use ideas. Just ask the wife about how I repurposed her cooking gear...4 gallon stock pot = boil kettle, Igloo cooler = mash tun, big slotted spoon = mash paddle! How about some pictures? I would love to see how you are using these things...maybe the wife needs another cooking utensil?
 
It's a bit of a squeeze now that I'm using a basket but it sort of fits in. The packing strap attaches the Sous Vide stick to a hanger so I can adjust the length based on the amount of water in the kettle (it's sized for full volume mashing imperial stouts, so most batches don't even get to half way).

signal-2019-01-19-102608.jpg
 
Love me the dual purpose / multi use ideas. Just ask the wife about how I repurposed her cooking gear...4 gallon stock pot = boil kettle, Igloo cooler = mash tun, big slotted spoon = mash paddle! How about some pictures? I would love to see how you are using these things...maybe the wife needs another cooking utensil?
Its great! I'll upload some pictures shortly :)
 
It's a bit of a squeeze now that I'm using a basket but it sort of fits in. The packing strap attaches the Sous Vide stick to a hanger so I can adjust the length based on the amount of water in the kettle (it's sized for full volume mashing imperial stouts, so most batches don't even get to half way).

View attachment 5001
I like that setup!! Best thing is after you get a good mash out of it you can turn around and cook a fantastic steak with the anova
 
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I've been known to put mine in a hop screen but that's a couple of extra moving parts that could lead to disaster.
 
The only issue I ran in to was sourcing the correct sized pot. I was specifically targetting 1 gallon batches, so it took me a while to find a 3 gallon pot with a tri-clad bottom (less scorching, more even heat). Why 3 gallons? Because the Anova -- and probably most sous vide sticks -- has a minimum water line, and if your pot is a bit too big, then even when mashed in the level is below the line and the stick struggles.

The telltale sign is a sort of pulsing sound while it is running and I have found that it really prefers to have the water level a bit above the "minimum" line.
 
The only issue I ran in to was sourcing the correct sized pot. I was specifically targetting 1 gallon batches, so it took me a while to find a 3 gallon pot with a tri-clad bottom (less scorching, more even heat). Why 3 gallons? Because the Anova -- and probably most sous vide sticks -- has a minimum water line, and if your pot is a bit too big, then even when mashed in the level is below the line and the stick struggles.

The telltale sign is a sort of pulsing sound while it is running and I have found that it really prefers to have the water level a bit above the "minimum" line.
That's exactly when I went to 3 gallons as well. My kettle when filled with 3 gallons is just barely over the minimum line. I've been using a 5 gal. kettle
 
Cool...or should I say HOT!? Does the wort get baked or boiled on the heating elements ?

Thanks for the pix guys!
 

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