The wind here is nuts and I often lose my boil as it causes the kettle to drop below 212. Current apartment is situated in what was a river valley thousands of years ago and I get a direct blast of 12-15mph wind right off the ocean.
I adjust the flame and when the wind subsides the kettle goes nuts requiring me to constantly fiddle with the regulator. I have put windscreens around my brew area, but they only help so much due to the limited height and my ability to store something larger. I try to start earlier in the day, but I feel starting before 7am would not fly with the neighbors, especially when milling the grain. Wind starts to pickup around 10, noon if I am lucky.
Running my pump the entire boil helps as it keeps the wort at a more stable temp. Can anybody think of any reasons why not to do this?
I have done recipes with the pump running the whole time and not at all and didn’t notice any difference in them. Both had a strong boil going, so it might make a difference if you were dropping in and out of a boil. The pump running will keep the surface exchanging which will help to evolve any DMS that there is in the wort. So, I don’t think it will do any harm.
Is the boil going away because you are loosing heat due to the burn blowing out or the wind is just carrying off the kettle’s heat and that drops the temp? When I was brewing outside in the winter (10F) I would wrap a couple loose layers of aluminum foil around the kettle to stabilize/insulate it and that was quite effective at evening things out. I would kind of crimp it together around the bottom and the top of the kettle to make a little pocket of warm for the kettle to sit in.
I used to leave my chiller in full boil. The tubing outside of the wort would be way too hot to touch. Here, the chiller was actin like a massive heat sink. Stopped that practice half way through the first batch.
The pump will cause the wort to get colder. When it runs through the hoses it is losing heat. I think you should go with a better wind shield and grind the grains the night before.
I bought a cheap roll of roof flashing at Home Depot and made a shield that wraps around the kettle. It’s held together with two small bolts and hangs on the kettle handle with two small carabiners. When brew day is done, it unbolts and wraps small enough to slip inside the kettle for storage. I made it for my 15 gal pot so it would heat faster but I mostly use it with my 10 gal pot as a windbreak and it helps use less gas.
I might use Hooper’s idea or something like it myself. It’s not always windy here but it is often enough and often cold alone with it. I might include insulation along with it.
I get what you are saying here, but in practice I am not finding this to be the case. My theory is the pump is drawing wort from the base of the kettle, which is the hottest point, and circulating. In the two batches I have done this, I haven’t needed to fiddle with the propane nearly at all.
Watch out with the insulation. A buddy built and insulated direct fire mash tun, and the insulation did char and shrink back around the bottom. Never caught fire, so that’s good.
Looks good. I would need to notch for the valves and thermometer. Up side to that would be a thermometer heat shield. I don’t think I need to to go down as far, but I certainly wouldn’t mind if it means not having to cut a long strip off.
I wouldn’t worry about the grain oxidizing that fast. Crushed grain is good for a lot longer than that (up to weeks depending on humidity). Certainly, I wouldn’t worry about it going bad in the hours between when you crush it at night and use it the next day.
You can toss some of it in your mouth and chew it and if it is chewy then it isn’t so great. If it is still crunchy and the bits shatter against your teeth then it is fine. Like the difference between a corn chip that has been sitting out in the humidity vs one that is “fresh” from a sealed bag.
