mashing

[Jim]

There's a good description of how to make a picnic cooler mash tun here. It does involve a bit of DIY, though (no getting away from it altogether I'm afraid, unless you want to pay someone to make the gear for you).

[danbrew]

Just be careful on deadspace above the mash if you use a coolbox. Deadspace being the amount of airspace above the mash. The more space there is, the quicker the mash loses heat... (and it's not easy to find a coolbox to suit your size requirements!)

How big is your stockpot? You only need to lift the bag clear of the wort for a minute or two before the vast majority of wort has drained from the grains. Small amounts won't weigh a great deal and you can rotate the bag whilst holding it above the wort, wringing rather than squeezing if you see what I mean?

[basswulf]

I think you may have misunderstood slightly.. You don't put a pot in the cooler, you fill the cooler with grains/water and use that as your mash tun!

If I use it as a mash tun, I'm then back to another container to clean out (plus I'd have to pour in and out - I don't want to fit a tap as this one still gets used as a cooler from time to time. It's a moot point anyway - the stock pot doesn't fit. Back to thinking about other insulation options.

Wulf