Wet C.O.B. - no efficiency difference cook vs. steep

[Badmotivator]

I bought 100 lbs. of wet C.O.B. yesterday. Before I commit to a tedious mash protocol, I wanted to test how "worth it" it would be to thoroughly cook the grains. To my surprise, the long cook of the grains did not measurably change the brewing efficiency compared to just mashing in with boiling water and no further heating.

Protocol 1: Steep with Enzymes
12 lbs cob
6 gallons boiling water
Mix everything in a fermenting bucket with lid
Add Sebstar-HTL at 190F, mix vigorously
At 140F, correct ph to 4.5 (four hours after mash in)
Add SEBAmyl-GL and SEBFlo-TL, mix vigorously
After a few hours, and when some clear beer can be collected, the temperature-corrected SG is 1.048

Protocol 2: Cook for 3 hours
4 lbs cob
2 gallons boiling water
Mix in a double boiler
Using double boiler, keep temp between 180-190F, mix often
After two hours, add SEBStar-HTL, mix often
Keep temp between 180-190F
After one more hour, remove from heat
At 140F, correct temp to 4.5 (six hours after mash in)
Add SEBAmyl-GL and SEBFlo-TL, mix vigorously
After a few hours, and when some clear beer can be collected, the temperature-corrected SG is 1.048

Dumping boiling water on grain is easy. I could do that all day.

Hope this helps somebody somewhere.