Mashtun & kettle scorching - solution ?

[Awfers]

Hi All,

I have a 300 liter Polsinelli brewing system which has a mash/lauter tun and kettle with what seems to be a very thin bottom (it is new from 2018 but I have not used it yet).

I have heard from other people with the same system that they get a lot of scorching in both the mash/lauter tun and kettle.

I emailed Polsinelli and they said there are two possible solutions for the mash/lauter tun:

1. Raise the temp more slowly, but they admit this may not solve the problem - Not ideal
   
   
2. Recirculate the hot wort from the bottom to the top of the mash/lauter tun - Also not ideal as I would need to buy another pump to do this and it makes more of a cleaning headache.

They offered no solution for the Kettle.....


I had an idea though, the local restaurants here that serve cheese fondue usually put a piece of thick-ish stainless under the fondue pot so that the burner under the pot does not burn the fondue in the pot, so I was thinking of doing the same with both the kettle and mash/lauter tun.

Have any of you had any experience in this sort of situation? If so, does anyone know what thickness of steel I would need to use?

Thanks,
Awfers

 

[jof]

Had to look that system up.
So I don't operate on anything like that scale.
I am guessing these are heated with a gas burner underneath. Does the company supply the burner, or do you provide your own?
Either way you are sort of on the right track, you need to ensure the base is heated evenly to avoid hotspots.
The thick piece of steel idea sounds like it will work (like school chemistry where the glass beaker is stood on metal gauze and not directly heated with the Bunsen burner)
Maybe some industrial chemical engineers have a more efficient heat distribution technology than just a steel plate.

 

[Awfers]

Had to look that system up.
So I don't operate on anything like that scale.
I am guessing these are heated with a gas burner underneath. Does the company supply the burner, or do you provide your own?
Either way you are sort of on the right track, you need to ensure the base is heated evenly to avoid hotspots.
The thick piece of steel idea sounds like it will work (like school chemistry where the glass beaker is stood on metal gauze and not directly heated with the Bunsen burner)
Maybe some industrial chemical engineers have a more efficient heat distribution technology than just a steel plate.

Thanks for your reply!

Yes, sorry, it is gas burner underneath. The same company supplied the Burners.

I'm looking to do this on a "cheap and cheerful" budget, so a piece of metal would ideally be best ?

 

[jof]

A quick search points me to 'heat diffusers'. Lots available for stove top cooking, not sure if they do them big enough for your system.

They look like perforated metal disks.

 

[Awfers]

A quick search points me to 'heat diffusers'. Lots available for stove top cooking, not sure if they do them big enough for your system.

They look like perforated metal disks.

Thanks, I had not thought of that... I will take a look!

 

[jof]

But as I said I'm not an expert & the only gas I use is for my camp stove, so wait for someone with more experience to confirm or give a better solution

 

[Awfers]

Understood.

So far what I have seen ranges from those perforated plates you mentioned to solid aluminium and also Stainless (for Induction)