Has anyone else had a problem with their rectangular cooler/mash tun warping; i.e. the lid not fitting quite tight, the walls a bit pushed out? I have Coleman 70qt Xtreme. I have done 5 ten gallon batches and am beginning to notice it.
I have the same cooler but have not seen this. I’ve done about 20 5 gallon batches in it so far.
When not in use, where is it stored? In direct sunlight or really hot location?
The walls of my cooler are definitely warped, but it doesn’t effect the performance.
In my garage out of direct sunlight. It never gets hot in there. Our high desert nights stay cool even in the summer so the average temp remains in the low 60s in the summer.
Good to know Denny-thanks. Any concerns with the possibility of plastic/chemical leaching into the mash?
I have the Coleman Ultimate Extreme 58qt. I haven’t noticed any warping and the lid fits okay. I’ll take a closer look at it later today.
I found that mine warped from adding to hot of water for preheating 180f, I think if you keep it under 165 it would not warp.
Mine will do it in the cooler months, but not in the heat of summer. I considered putting a gasket around the lid to seal it better, but the problem did not persist and I never followed up.
Never too much of an issue with holding heat.
Not really, although I have no direct evidence. The interior is HDPE which isn’t supposed to do that.
A better way to do the preheat is to just heat your strike water 5-10 above your calculated strike temp. Dump it in the cooler and wait. As it preheats the cooler itself, it’ll cool down some. Once the water cools to strike temp, add the grain.
No water/heat wasted, no warping the cooler, etc.
I have a Coleman Extreme 70qt. The lid warped, but not the sides. I don’t think it is designed for the temps we use it at, but rather for cold temps only. Works good despite a consistent temp loss.
I have a red Igloo that is warped.
I have a blue Coleman that is not warped.
It has to be the exterior color right?