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Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 7:56 pm
by Professor Green
Just an update on this for those that are interested.

Gave the BBMB its maiden run today. Ran some cleaning feints with some old herbs thrown in through it just to see how it performed and check that there was no scorching. It's a winner!

Scythe, you were right. Not too much evaporation from the outer boiler at all and the outer boiler didn't hit a rolling boil until the end of the run and the product was well into tails and coming off too slow to bother continuing.

I am going to need to figure out a way to anchor the inner boiler as it becomes slightly buoyant once the level drops low enough.

Very happy with how this turned out and am looking forward to the first absinthe run.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 8:21 am
by wynnum1
The pot your heating the water in does not need to be food grade because it does not come in contact with the wash could use steel or aluminium

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 2:05 pm
by res
Professor Green wrote:I am going to need to figure out a way to anchor the inner boiler as it becomes slightly buoyant once the level drops low enough.



There is probably a more elegant solution but until it presents it's self a few bricks sitting on the lid should do it. :cool:

Nice build prof :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I've got a little 5lt alembic pot earmarked for something like this.

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 6:10 pm
by vqstatesman
Plumby wrote:Trying to avoid puking? I've beard that it provides even temperature around the boiler. Also puking is more likely with an electric element as there is lots of bubbles constantly forming on the element. Not sure if any of it's true but it definitely sounds believable.


I switched to a pressurised jacketed bain marire about 6 months ago. I don't bother using any form of antifoam anymore, even on my molasses runs. Pretty much fill my boiler within 2 inches from the top too:)

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 6:17 pm
by vqstatesman
Professor Green wrote:I am going to need to figure out a way to anchor the inner boiler as it becomes slightly buoyant once the level drops low enough.


You could try not filling the jacket (outer pot) full. Just enough to cover the element and then some for any evaporation/loss. Steam is hotter than the water itself. This is how I run mine, this being said mine is designed to operate pressurised up to 15 PSI.

This link may be helpful: http://distillique.co.za/distilling_sho ... ket-boiler

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 7:01 pm
by Professor Green
Thanks chaps.

I had thought of a couple of bricks as an interim solution res. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 7:02 pm
by Professor Green
wynnum1 wrote:The pot your heating the water in does not need to be food grade because it does not come in contact with the wash could use steel or aluminium


Very true. I used a stainless one as I though it could double as an urn should the need arise.

Cheers,
Prof Green.

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 7:04 pm
by Professor Green
vqstatesman wrote:I switched to a pressurised jacketed bain marire about 6 months ago.


That's what I'm ultimately aiming for in the future. This little baby is just for experimentation.

Thanks for the link too, I'll have a look at that later.

Cheers,
Prof Green.

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2019 9:19 pm
by bigadz
Have you got a parts list or something prof? This looks almost exactly like what I'm after!

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2019 6:54 pm
by Professor Green
Hi bigadz, I don't really have parts list as such, I kind of made it up as I went along.

I started with a large (35 or 50 litre, I can't remember which) stainless steel stock pot and added the weldless element and drain.
Then I obtained a 12 litre stainless steel fermenter off ebay. It came with a clamp on, silicon sealed lid that had a 3/4" tri-clamp fitting already welded on. I just needed to seal the tap hole at the bottom.
After that I constructed the trivet out of 1/2" copper pipe. This is what the inner pot sits on to keep it off the element.
The rest is just standard still parts.

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2019 7:47 pm
by bigadz
Professor Green wrote:Hi bigadz, I don't really have parts list as such, I kind of made it up as I went along.

I started with a large (35 or 50 litre, I can't remember which) stainless steel stock pot and added the weldless element and drain.
Then I obtained a 12 litre stainless steel fermenter off ebay. It came with a clamp on, silicon sealed lid that had a 3/4" tri-clamp fitting already welded on. I just needed to seal the tap hole at the bottom.
After that I constructed the trivet out of 1/2" copper pipe. This is what the inner pot sits on to keep it off the element.
The rest is just standard still parts.


Awesome mate, I had a look around and found that 12L fermenter myself. It looks awesome for small batch stuff, you've done really well!

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:26 pm
by bluc
How did you go with this as far as heatup times and evaporation? :-B

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 8:03 pm
by Professor Green
Heat up time is about an hour and I lose about an inch of water during the run if I don't top it up.

Re: The Professor's Baby Bain Marie Boiler

PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 9:12 pm
by bluc
Cool thanks :handgestures-thumbupleft: