One of the Inkbirds uses will be to control the temperature of my mash but reading around the subject, there appears to be conflicting views on how best to achieve this? The obvious method (to me) would be to drop the probe directly into the mash but there seems to be a lack of confidence in some quarters that despite its supposed waterproof credentials, total immersion can lead to failure of the probe? Is it possibly the case that this was a problem a few years ago and Inkbird have rectified it??
I have read somewhere (possibly the ‘other’ forum
) that one method is to tape the probe to the outside of the mash tun and insulate it from outside temperature with a sponge or similar. At the moment this function is performed in my burco/cygnet boiler. I experimented with the probe taped to the outside and insulated and cross checked against readings taken with a conventional lab thermometer. Not withstanding the wide variation in temperatures in the tun itself (before stirring) there was a wider variation (and a delay in temperature change) for the probe fixed to the outside. The lower temp value recorded on the outside of the tun has the obvious danger of overcooking the malt as the controller will be slow to respond to overheating. I am therefore loathe to go down this route until I have more experience or at least received some first hand advice!!
So two question:
1. Is it safe to put the inkbird probe directly into the mash tun (or FV) later ?
2. Has anybody experience of using controller probes on the outside of FV / mash tun and is it successful?
Many thanks!!
Pete
