How does a full mash compare to a good kit?

[SteveD]

Ahhh good setup.

The little bucket with a tap that the wort is running into, what's that? Is it used for recirculating the wort back onto the mash until you get a clear run off? I ask because, if not, it's generally regarded as not a good idea to let wort cool down between mashing and boiling. Risk of odd flavours developing (so they say).

When I run off a mash I run it initially into a jug, and back onto the mash only until it runs clear, whereupon it goes straight into the boiler which is switched on as soon as the elements are covered. The wort is therefore immediately heated towards the boil as soon as it leaves the mash tun, and is virtually at a rolling boil as sparging finishes....no time wasted waiting for it to come to the boil after the sparging to the required volume.

[PieOPah]

I have heard of people who will mash/sparge one day and then cover their wort before boiling the next. Nothing bad has been reported in these instances.

[Andy]

Ahhh good setup.

The little bucket with a tap that the wort is running into, what's that?

It's a small collection vessel the contents of which are transferred to the boiler when full/nearly full. It saves you having to lift the weight of a full boiler up to another higher level when you want to runoff into a fermenter. So the wort is transferred from mash -> boiler in a number of stages.

you could call it an underback I suppose