Testing Your Wort with Iodine

[Petrolhead]

I have been reading about this simple, apparently, process and wondering why it isn't the go to method of mashing.

If it is a simple case of testing the wort with a small drop of iodine to see if all the starch has been converted to sugar then surely this is the route to go rather than following a 60 minute or 90 minute boil blindly.

So what am I missing....

 

[Drunkula]

* Brewer education.
* Availability of iodine now the government thinks we'll use it to make weapons' grade adamantium mech armour.

 

[Sadfield]

If you are missing the iodine...
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/301600295828

Warning: May contain science.

 

[Hanglow]

Because all that fully converted starches means is that the starches have been converted to fermentable and unfermentable dextrins and sugars. This could easily be done in about 15mins with some grain bills. The longer the mash, the longer various enzymes have to chop up longer unfermentable chains and make them more fermentable. Your mash steps/length should be based on your grainbill/yeast and what beer you want to achieve. An iodine test won't really help you with that, except perhaps if you want to know the earliest time when to runoff the least fermentable wort from the mash

 

[Richie_asg1]

Could be down to the UK not using it as a medication anymore. I think hospitals still swab down with it before surgery though as it stains everything brown.
I had some sealed in a jar in a white painted cupboard once. Turned that brown except where the bottle was standing. It's the little element that likes to get out.