Well folks, I am not sure if this is where my problems are, but I went to check my Gas One 10 gallon kettle thermostat today and found the needle to be at around 120 empty and stored in a shed in San Francisco. I am pretty sure it was not 120 in the shed, as it has been overcast and foggy all day. So, I figured maybe it needed to be reset, so I loosened the small nut on the back of the dial that should allow me to turn the dial and reset the needle. Nope, stripped. Well heck, so I put it in hot water and used a meat thermometer next to it to see what happens, thinking the thermometer will reset. Nope, it just kept turning to the bottom of the dial and was at about 60 degrees when my digital thermometer said it was at about 145. Damn, ok. Well, there is a nut on the stem, so I turned that thinking I could get the ring to turn and reset the dial. Well, I got the ring to turn, but when it did, the darn seal came loose and wrapped around the middle of the needle stem, rendering this thing useless. If I would have known, I would have told her to just buy me a kettle with no valves or anything. That would have been a ton cheaper and I could have bought a cheap digital thermometer to use during the mash. I am not happy, and have sent an email to Gas One to see what they say. If they don’t make good, I am going to plug the hole where the temp thermometer goes and use a digital anyway. I am already into this thing way more than I should be, but that is how it goes. Anyway, just giving all a heads up that, while I felt the kettle was cool, and my wife paid more to get something nice, it seems it is not working out that way. So now, I am wondering if the thermometer was off on my last 2 brews and that is why they are messed up? Only time will tell.
Man, sorry to hear that. Given the issues you’ve had, I think the thermometer could be the problem. Do you have to remove it, though? Why not leave it and just ignore it?
It has a fairly long probe, so if I am going to not use it, I might as well try and get rid of it so it doesn’t tear the bag up. I am just kinda bent up because my wife spent a lot on it, it my opinion. But we will move on and see what they say.
You could get another thermometer to put in that port. They come in a variety of lengths. I think it is a better measure of mash temperature down there than sticking a handheld probe in the top few inches. Of course you can have all kinds of variations throughout your vessel, both vertical and radial, and there is no such thing as “the” mash temperature, but I still feel that a probe submerged in the lower part of the kettle gives you a better reading than one stuck in from the top.
No, I don’t have one I can recommend. I use an RTD probe with an Arduino-based interface and display which is part of my PID loop for mash temperature control. It is too complicated and finicky for me to recommend it to other people, but it works for me.
Quick update. I got an email from the company and they are going to replace the thermometer. My thought is, I am going to put it back in and try again. But, I am also going to have a digital as well to make sure all is well. I am hopefully going to get back on track and get my beer groove going again. LOL.