Steam Wand / Rig Build Tutorial - Anyone know of one?

Steam Wand / Rig Build Tutorial - Anyone know of one?

Steam Mashing

Steam insertion for boiling on grain.

Are there any good build threads with diagrams and part descriptions anywhere? This site or another?

Thanks.

Comments

  • edited October 2015

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • edited October 2015

    IMHO, some of my own testing shows that you do not need any kind of fancy manifold system if you are using an agitator. In fact, if you spend the time/money on the agitator and not the manifold, you'll probably be better off in the long run. If you use a mixing paddle agitator that can create a strong vortex in your mash vessel, this is even more ideal for your steam injection, since it will keep steam bubbles suspended/pulled down. You don't want steam bubbles making their way to the surface. You generally won't see this with cooler water, as the steam will condense rather explosively, but as you approach boiling you'll see them. On that note, steam hammer, watch out for it. Really though, it's all about getting BTUs into the water.

    Probably the most interesting piece is to be sure you are calculating your final batch volume based on your initial water and expected condensate. So in my case, we can push 350lbs/hour of steam, which is about 40 gallons water per hour. You need to consider both heat up time, and gelatinization time. You can see here how you need to calculate your starting volume so that you finish where you need to, because if you start where you expect to finish, you'll flood the joint. Your first few runs should probably be on the conservative side so that you don't run short. Really though, on a smaller system, 5/10kw, you are probably talking about 1 gallon per hour of run time.

    If you are crazy about water chemistry, consider that the condensate additions are generally mineral free, depending on your own water chemistry you might opt for additional additives if necessary.

    Please do not kill yourself.

  • I agree with pumpkin, built one based on pints video. It works great, I use it for bourbon mashes and to heat 200lt sugar heads.

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