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Step Mash Temperature Problem

P

Prowler_13

Twice since I purchased this software I have done step mashes and had the following problem with the most recent as the example.

With 10.5 lbs of grain and a mash in of 2.9 gallons of water at 162° to reach a step temp of 144°.  This was achieved exactly.  This step at 144° was left for 30 minutes with only 1° of loss.

The next step was Saccrification at 154°.  The step water was 1 gallon and the program said add this at 190° to reach the 154°.  Not even close.  I added 1/2 gallon at boiling and still didn't get over 151°.  I finally decocted about 1/3 of the grain and boiled it.  I then hit 154°. 

The earlier time I did a step mash the same thing happened.  Am I missing something here?

 
The only thing I can think of is to make sure you are compensating for your equipment by checking the "Adjust temp for equipment" flag in the mash section of your recipe. 

  Your description indicates something unusual going on.  You are only raising the mash temperature 10 degrees (144 to 154), which should not require gallons of boiling water.  In fact 1 gallon at 190F is just about right to raise 10.5 lbs + 3 gal of water by 10 degrees.  You can cross check this with the separate infusion calculator or you can check it against any of the many online calculators available on other web sites.  They will all deliver a very similar result.

  Are you using the same thermometer for both measurements?  I once had someone who had a bad electronic thermometer that had a similar problem.

Cheers!
Brad
 
You are probably right, something weird is going on.  I used two thermometers.  One was a lab thermometer and takes a few minutes to stabilize.  I do check the box on adjust for equip temp.  I just can't figure it out. 

However, you have helped by letting me know that with what I gave, I should be able to raise the temp with 1 gallon at 190°.  I will start looking at other causes. 

Thanks again,

Jerry
 
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