I’ll take it under advisement. I can definitely see that there will be significant heat loss from a spray type sparging/recirc diffuser system. I guess I’m confused about how the cooling output can be used if it doesn’t come on until maximum temperature (set point plus deadband).
I guess the question is what is most important during mashing stage. Which affects the enzymes most, maximum wort temperature, or maximum grain bed temperature? If the grain bed has more effect, then the temperature probe should definitely be in the mash, not on the RIMS tube. But that can lead to pretty significant heat bands, even with recirculating, as well as wort scorching in the tube. This is where it seems agitation becomes important to homogenize temperature, but at some point, agitation has to stop (after mash time is up?) to allow the grain bed to filter the wort. That would certainly avoid a stuck mash or dough ball. Sometimes I feel like I’m misunderstanding several things that make perfect sense, if that makes any sense.
Im hoping I learn more from all this, and preferably not that I wasted money on the RIMS. I have learned that I can’t keep using the dragon for mashing and expecting different fermentation results. It’s simply too big for the objective. I’m reasonably sure I can better avoid scorching the mash, which is the first step. Being able to better control step mashing will let me try more complex recipes.
