temp drop

[sam c]

just tested my coolbox. i put 4 litres of boiled water in it for 15 mins to pre-heat it and then put 10 litres of 67 c water in, covered it in a blanket and left it for 90 mins. after the 90 mins the temp had droped to 55 c.

question is when the grain is in the mash tun as well will it hold it's heat better?

also what do you think the best way to add extra insulation to it is? i have seen people add bubble wrap to the out side and heared people talking about fillimg the void with expanding foam but im not sure how to go about this?

cheers

[J_P]

I mash in an un modified coolbox and can confirm that the temperature changes very little over the course of 90 minutes.

Regarding extra insulation, just throw a couple of blankets over the top of it and wrap it up well and you'll be fine

[sam c]

I mash in an un modified coolbox and can confirm that the temperature changes very little over the course of 90 minutes.

Regarding extra insulation, just throw a couple of blankets over the top of it and wrap it up well and you'll be fine

that is what i did and it dropped 11 c. it was one of those £7 ASDA coolboxes, but a few people on here seem to be using them.

[J_P]

If you put the grain in you'll have no worries with the temperature dropping

[sam c]

oh so the grain will help keep the temp?

thanks

[adm]

Absolutely !

[ADDLED]

Maybe stand it on something insulating/low heat conductive, ie a wooden board, NOT a cold garage floor.

[travis192]

I found that most of the heat from my hotbox was being lost from the lid. Rather than insulate the lid I cut some expanded polystyrene that I had for another insulation job and cut a "floating" lid that sits directly on top of the mash. To stop the eps floating lid getting wet I wrapped it in foil.

With this setup I loose less than 1 degree over 90mins with no need for blankets.

[Eric]

No problem here with a £7 Asda coolbox. The temperature drop is not significant.
I drop the mash water from the boiler at a little over 80C and stir it until it drops to strike temperature.
A piece of ply underneath for spillage together with a primitive plastic sleeved fibreglass jacket for a hot water tank I once got from B&Q, held in place by an upturned black plastic sack for extra insulation. Because there is virtually no mess my wife is content to let me mash in a warm kitchen.