BIAB temp control

[Mr BR]

was wondering what is the best method for temp control during the mashing process with BIAB as my keggle looses a lot of heat even although it is insulated?,was wondering if an stc100 wired up to the heating elementswould work as you could set it at 66c and let it do its magic ,any other ideas welcome ,have looked at some of the plug in thermostats but they only go to 38c,thanks :

 

[BrotherMalice]

so far I have only done 3 AG brews (all biab) and have just wrapped loads of towels around my boiler and it seemed to work... I wouldnt think a heating element trying to heat the mash would work too well as it would only be heating "locally" ie if the elements at the bottom I would think that without some form of pump circulating the wort back to the top to try balance the temperature a bit more?

 

[Vossy1]

BM has it, you really would need some form of recirculation, for inspiration have a look at the Braumesister thread or a HERMS/Rims system would also do the job, within reason, as even without reciricing through the grain it would act like a heated jacket, preventing heat loss. Much easier to properly insulate the MT.

 

[rpt]

My plan with BIAB (one day) is to only use a pot that will fit in the oven. I can set that to 66C and get the pot in. This will limit the brew size but might be an easy solution if your oven has a digital thermostat that goes that low.

 

[Mr BR]

thanks for the replies ,think i will redo the insulation adding a bit more to the base and lid , :

 

[BrotherMalice]

This is what mine looks like during the mash:

I have also tried with a shark but, the mermaid is better at keeping the temps constant...

 

[artyb]

i found that the mash was much hotter under the grain when taking temps, the grain insulates the top of pot from the hotter stuff underneath,
so it may not have lost so much heat as you think

i have jugged water from the base of the mash back into the top,
when giving the grain a stir...

 

[Jeltz]

How fast is the temperature drop? Initially the strike water is cooled by the grain. If it is loosing heat significant in the 1st 15 mins my guess is that the strike temp is not high enough.