Mashing in food-grade plastic fermentation bucket

So I have been dabbling with the use of my sous vide immersion heater for maintaining a perfect mash temperature (it's pretty unbelievable how efficient and accurate these guys are). I have only been doing smaller batches (~3 gallons) up until now. As I have looked to go bigger I have tried to find polycarbonate food bath containers that are large enough, but without much luck. Then it hit me...my MoreBeer Buckets are food grade up to 180 degrees!

So, my plan is to mash in there and then move to two 6 gallon kettles for a split boil (working with an electric glass stove top that won't allow me to achieve a boil on a full 5+ gallons of wort).

Question is, do you think the spigots are also food grade? If not, I can always just use my bucket that does not have a hole/spigot, but it would be much easier to transfer the mashed liquid into the two kettles with the spigot vs. pouring straight from the bucket or siphoning.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Topic plastic mashing homebrew

Category Mac

1
answered at

Yes. The valves / spigots on a food grade container will also be food grade.

However not all food grade containers are intended for heat and can release chemicals when heated. BPA for example.

You may want to rethink your whole process given your boil capacity. A lot of pressure on homebrewing is to "go all grain". But if you can't utilize it's advantages for specific sugars then there's little point. Basically if you're struggling to mash and hold a 154° temp, you're only gaining an "All Grain" label and worked much harder than just using extract.

I would wait until you can boil 5+ gallons. Then use an ice chest or something insulated for a mash tun.

1
answered at

Yes! The spigots will be able to support your desires to mash. That being said: to maintain efficiency - because single walled vessels lose heat via conduction more easily than double walled vessels. The other point is that your mash is bound to get stuck in the spigot. The other downside is that it involves more parts to clean that can house bacteria and mess up your batch. It will work - but - cleanliness is key/king/whatever that phrase actually is.

You might consider something like this for a mashing vessel. You can view the steps for free and it is the same thing as the downloaded PDF, just... not in PDF form. Having the false bottom will prevent as much "sticking" while the double wall insulated vessel will help you maintain temperature.

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