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der wo wrote:Japsinok,
perhaps it's time now to think about a lid and about insulation. You will have to heat much less.

der wo wrote:A cheap sheet of plastic or wood will make a good lid. Easy to work with and already insulated.

yakattack wrote:A simpleasure metal shroud around the pot and the burner will in crease your efficiency by around 30 percent. When using propane to heat, when I added a metal barrel around my boiler/mash tun, I found a third of time reduction and 30 % less fuel use per session. Just a thought of a simple solution.

yakattack wrote:A simpleasure metal shroud around the pot and the burner will in crease your efficiency by around 30 percent. When using propane to heat, when I added a metal barrel around my boiler/mash tun, I found a third of time reduction and 30 % less fuel use per session. Just a thought of a simple solution.

japsinok wrote:

yakattack wrote:A simpleasure metal shroud around the pot and the burner will in crease your efficiency by around 30 percent. When using propane to heat, when I added a metal barrel around my boiler/mash tun, I found a third of time reduction and 30 % less fuel use per session. Just a thought of a simple solution.

That's a good idea. My quick and dirty solution till now is to confine the flame to the bottom by surrounding the burner and pot with bricks (see photo a few posts ago). I got much better heat transfer when I started doing that. But a metal jacket might be even better, and yes, simple.

yakattack wrote:I did see the photo. It does help.

Geoff. Brick would only be better if it was full enclosure. I use a 55 gallon metal barrel that I cut to fit my keg and burner perfectly. I at one point even wrapped that but found it really uneccessary.

Jap, I can understand the sentiment about not worrying about the fuel consumption, but along with the reduced fuel is the reduced time, which to me is way more valuable than the cost is fuel. If I get to my brothers ( where that setup still is) I'll see if I can take a few pics to maybe give you a few ideas.

japsinok wrote:Got the stand made and the mixer bolted to it. Gelatinized 20# of blue corn in 7 gal (5 gal H2O + 2 gal backset). After it turned to congealed corn pudding, I added 2 gal H2O and mixed to cool it to 160F (that is my typical final ratio, 20# grain:9 gal liquid= 10 gal final volume). The mixer did not struggle a bit, turning those 11" blades in Quikset corn!! 40% speed is about 80 rpm, and 50% was ~125 rpm. 30% (just under 60 rpm) did not seem to move it enough to keep the bottom clear before it gelatinized. I ran it CCW with the blades forcing the mash down, out to the edge, and then back up the sides, though not sure which is best for this application where it is heating from the bottom.

As the stand now sits, the blades are about 4" off the bottom. I may need to lower it a little, maybe about 2 inches. It's going to take a little optimizing to figure out the best set up (speed, direction, height from bottom of the pot, heat input). But for the cost of four 8' 2x4s ($12) to make the stand, I'm not complaining!! And with another shaft and blades that I'm not using, I can still experiment with making a slow speed rummager, ala der wo's set up.

Initial observations:
The corn never seemed to reach 200F, like it always has done. In fact, I never measured above 170F. Yet it still fully gelatinized to the expected thickness so I did not feel the need to keep heating it since it clearly thickened. I want to figure that one out!!

This obviously gets the enzymes more thoroughly mixed into the mash, much better than using a manual paddle (oar?). I'll soon know (in the morning) if this has any effect on conversion. It is sweetening now, so there is certainly conversion going on.

I don't want to move it a lot. The stand and mixer are REALLY heavy!!

This thing would easily mix a much larger mash. Room to grow!!