Thanks guys, these are all great tips. Double Crush, making sure my volumes of strike water are around 1.75 qt per pound, keeping the tun closed to prevent loss of temp. I will get working on creating a measuring stick for my boil kettle.
Try not stirring. I’m willing to bet that it won’t make any difference. I found that the only thing that happens when I stir during the mash is that I lose heat.
You really don’t need a calculator. Just mash with whatever ratio you like. After you run that off, measure how much you got and subtract that from the amount you want to boil. The answer you get is how much sparge water to use.
If you double crush - try throwing in some rice hulls and running off slowly to start during the Vorlauf - when its clear, let 'er rip. efficiency questions are almost always volume and temperature related, but I also found that going up to 1.75 quarts per pound or even a little higher increased the mash efficiency. YMMV, of course. The fellows above really know their shtick, so you should have most of your problem solved by following their lead.
Good luck and don’t give up tweaking!
I love how you make things simple, Denny! When thinking about it, this is probably the most accurate way of precisely measuring your needed water. I have always used a calculator… Most times it works, but occasionally you end up with a wtf happened with the water brew. I usually start heating my sparge water with about 20-25 minutes left in the mash. I may have to start sacrificing this time. I learn something everyday.
Franks, it’s those WTF! moments that made me go to the empirical method. I still calculate how much sparge water I think I’m gonna need, but I take measurements and make adjustments before I actually add it. You can still go ahead and start heating your estimated amount. Just make sure that you calculations leave you slightly on the high side so you can leave some out if needed.
I’m sure you mean that your og will be way off, not your efficiency. If you get 300 gravity points, the efficiency will not change because those 300 points are in 5 or 6 gallons, og of 1.06 and 1.05 respectively.
Time is important especially when you have a bad crush, you need more time for conversion to occur so you can rinse the sugars. If the op has not reached full conversion time can improve efficiency.
A longer time is also helpful for lower temp mashes.
+1. I mashed my last Saison @ 147 for ~100 minutes. It easily got down to 1.004 FG.
Yep, yep, I agree with you guys – good points.
Probably right, but it gives me something to do lol
Take a walk, drink a beer, post on the forum instead!
I will try it once, just for you
Lemme know if it makes any difference. I may owe ya an apology and a beer!
Will do. It will be one stir for doh in, and one at sparge in
Those are the only times I stir, Jim. Otherwise there’s a blanket wrapped 'round the cooler to hold in the heat. I go with Denny on the have a beer and post something plan 
Next brew day is Wednesday. Will test it out then
I don’t think anyone else caught this, but you said you batch sparge at 168F. If you’re adding 168F water, that’s not hot enough. I use ~180F or higher which brings the grain temp up around 170. A lower temperature will definitely hurt your extraction during the sparge. In case you’re worried, extracting tannins with high temp water is less a concern with batch sparging.
mtnrockhopper has another good point. My sparge water usually has to be about 190 F to hit mid 160s after adding and stirring. But my temperature is probably higher than others because I typically only make 2-3 gallon batches.
I’d recommend a stir right before running off the first runnings, too. When I have forgotten to do this I got reduced efficiency.
Sparge temperature shouldn’t make much difference unless you haven’t fully converted your grain before the sparge. A possible exception might be for very high gravity beers, but I can’t speak to that. For the beers I make, I often sparge with 150-160F water and still get efficiencies of >85%.
Nocosan, if your volumes are near accurate, they make it look like you have about 2/3 gallon of dead space in your tun. If that is true, that will hurt your efficiency.
Also, a starch test won’t tell you if you have converted your grain completely, only that the starch in solution is converted. Late in the mash, solubility of the starch becomes limiting, so that test is misleading. You should check the gravity of your wort, after stirring and vorlauf, to see in your grain is converted. Kai Troester has a handy chart that will tell you what the gravity should be based on your mash thickness, here.
One way to improve conversion with a less than ideal crush is to add a short alpha amylase rest up around 160F, which will improve starch gelatinization.