mashing temp control in boilers

[howard]

my neighbour, who did not know that i dabble in distilling, recently told me over the fence.."i'm making whiskey"
i offered to look at his equipment (stop it!) and try and advise him.
he has a 30l boiler with an element, connected to a very small SS liebig (bought off faecesbook)
not too bad for pot stilling.
he has also bought a new vevor still, this type i had not seen before, but also looks workable for potstilling.
https://www.vevor.com.au/alcohol-distiller-c_10688/vevor-50l-alcohol-distill

he had already done a 20L wash which involved putting 10kg of sugar in with turdbo yeast and the usual black clearing shoite.
he then pot stilled it once on full power, discarded to first 50ml, and added a whiskey essence to the rest.
i declined to taste it :-D
on my advice, he has bought a power controller and started to do strip/spirit runs.
i went around during his stripping run to find the vapour overpowering the liebig, which he stopped by using the power controller.
so now i am going to suggest he does a CFW and maybe introduce him to YL and on-grain ferments.

as i have a brewzilla which has good temp control and recirculating arm, mashing at specific temps is easy.
the question is, how do youse lot keep the temp in the 'brewers window' when mashing grains in ........
1) a boiler with internal elements
2) a boiler with a gas burner underneath
or is a all a bit heath robinson?
i know the way you do corn with blankets and stuff, but malted barley/wheat/rye need pretty specific temps to avoid denaturing the natural enzymes.

[chipboy]

Please do introduce him to CFW, its lovely, nice work. A PID with a k type thermocouple, inkbird pid on fleabay and k type ad well, solid state relay to control element, Just ask if you need help..

[howard]

Please do introduce him to CFW, its lovely, nice work. A PID with a k type thermocouple, inkbird pid on fleabay and k type ad well, solid state relay to control element, Just ask if you need help..

i see that inkbird do a complete set.
amazon knockoff like this?
https://www.amazon.com.au/Temperature-Controller-Waterproof-Thermocouple-Applicable/dp/B0D4ZJTQZM/ref=sr_1_33?crid=SAQ2NP169PLR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ppPVCRQcWhptGI6fSFUlqUmfxKOA5C49dwelVTRqLgQI6XcTI-jjQCLWa_td3VWA9U0MI__GzQTufNfmyQ_Gq4v9GVYlxjE_S_RedP54Vqx_SibHqPX0GVbiPyewT5Cs5FnIrGD7HNHlxdpwlrYGiLSR-wyRcTEoo6R6UDtTwn-_GYD6UfNJ0r8GRZSEBnWUrQYXMX142nzmC-35YjKlCorJ26bkUBKn1gP-CMR94SH0VpI6qjyKiYRiADTQ1hRMF0tPWvKJiZy1ovdUYNRF5ADav16eJmIqI_rRhUw17Us.CeaFaokTqKw2oiF9XWl1jqsyZKnnJQpeKWsm-N3wKf0&dib_tag=se&keywords=Inkbird+PID+Temperature+Controller+Kit&qid=1729228434&sprefix=inkbird+pid+temperature+controller+kit%2Caps%2C514&sr=8-33
with an immersible probe like this?
https://www.amazon.com.au/Thermocouple-Thermocouples-Temperature-Measurement-Waterproof/dp/B0CPMF9BZ6

BTW i have a CFW in a 6L barrel for 13 months, it's delicious.
i do put 1.2kg of cornies and a whole packet of ryvita per 20-25l wash.

[chipboy]

That will do it, if you're comfortable with wiring it up.

[chipboy]

When you make the mash tun you will need to get the element socket and a socket for the pid welded on, I woudl recommend a baskt but that is dependent on the boiler size. A large drain will help too. I had temporarily forgotten what I did.

[indenial]

Howard, are you asking how to mash without getting extra gear?
I have a 28L (to the brim) boiler that I use for mashing. It has an internal element and no temp control. Ideally it would be bigger as volumes get tricky for a 23l batch of stronger beer.
"Control" is probably too strong a word for what I do but it works well for single infusion mashes with 100% malt, or a high proportion of malt and adjuncts that don't need gelatinsation. All of the beer I make falls into this category. Many of the whiskey washes (bourbon style) can be problematic.
Basic rundown:
Heat approx 16l of water to about 72degC and switch off element.
Add in nylon grain bag and stir in approx 5kg milled malted barley. Temp drops to 67deg (ish)
Put lid on boiler and wrap in old blanket.
Give it a stir after 30 minutes and re-wrap. (Meanwhile heat another12+litres of water to mash temp on stove or in other boiler)
Temperature usually only drops 1 or 2 degC over the hour.
From this point it would go differently for beer but since you are making whiskey wash:
After 60 minutes you could either cool this down or drain it hot into fermentor to cool.
Once you have drained your initial mash liquid, you can add the other heated water to your boiler. Give it a good stir for 5 minutes to try to extract all those sugars then cool/drain into your fermentor and squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the bag.
For beers that aren't too strong, I get around 90% extraction efficiency (more like 72% brewhouse efficiency from memory). When I try to go for a bigger beer, that efficiency falls away dramatically.
This method will save your neighbour from buying extra gear, but also might encourage him to get something better longer term! I definitely eye off those all-in-one beer systems with envy.