Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the digital oven thermometers for monitoring mash temperature. I'm thinking of buying something like this:
http://www.acurite.com/cooking/timer-th ... 00277.html
I'm hoping that it will allow me to monitor temperature with minimal disturbance to the insulation but I'm a bit worried that the probe/cord might not be water-proof enough for continual immersion in the mash. I'm thinking of drilling a hole in the kettle lid so that I can feed the cord through so that the probe 'dangles' in the mash to counteract this.
Any thoughts/possible solutions?
Post #2 made 11 years ago
Welcome to the forum Q 
,
Here's a few thoughts that might help..
1. You can't rely on one thermometer, especially at mash temperatures. See here.
2. You can't measure mash temperature anywhere near correctly unless you stir/agitate the mash first. There are massive temperature differences that occur within a mash that is left to sit, sometimes as much as 10 degrees celsius from memory.
3. Probes on almost all digital thermometers should not be completely submersed. The best thing is to use a plastic food container. Pierce the food container with the probe and let it float on top of the mash.
Main thing when you are starting out for the first few brews at least, is to agitate the mash and take the temperature regularly. After a few brews, you'll be informed of what happens to your temp during the mash. Once you are informed, you can then choose to either conduct a uniform temperature mash or just get your starting mash temp right and then just leave it be.
PP
,Here's a few thoughts that might help..
1. You can't rely on one thermometer, especially at mash temperatures. See here.
2. You can't measure mash temperature anywhere near correctly unless you stir/agitate the mash first. There are massive temperature differences that occur within a mash that is left to sit, sometimes as much as 10 degrees celsius from memory.
3. Probes on almost all digital thermometers should not be completely submersed. The best thing is to use a plastic food container. Pierce the food container with the probe and let it float on top of the mash.
Main thing when you are starting out for the first few brews at least, is to agitate the mash and take the temperature regularly. After a few brews, you'll be informed of what happens to your temp during the mash. Once you are informed, you can then choose to either conduct a uniform temperature mash or just get your starting mash temp right and then just leave it be.
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 12 Dec 2013, 19:08, edited 2 times in total.
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Post #3 made 11 years ago
Cheers! I was hoping that the inaccuracy of measuring the mash without stirring would be outweighed by the benefit of not continually opening the kettle/tun and thereby losing heat, but I guess it makes a lot of sense to get a few brews worth of accurate mash temperatures. I like the idea of the floating container too - sounds like a good solution.
