Here’s my new setup for making mash. The first mash is in it right now, and it seems to be working like a charm!
Inkbird ITC-308 temperature controller from Amazon
Hamilton Beach 6-quart Slow Cooker from Walmart
Put the temperature probe in the cooker and cover it with a towel. Put a bowl of mash in the cooker and covered tightly with foil. Maintains the target temp without getting the probe covered in mash, and could maybe do multiple small mashes at once.
Once I get 5-6 hours at 150 deg F, I’ll take the setpoint up to 180 deg F for an hour to denature the amylases. Should work in theory anyway. 😁
Interesting but many reported reliability failures in the comments. One person said hitting it made it turn on or off. I'm guessing it is a physical relay? Does it click?
A solid state relay (SSR) would be more reliable. I use an SSR controlled coffee roaster hooked to a laptop.
It does click. Interesting and will have to keep an eye on them. I've had good luck with them so far. I use one with a heating pad for my proofing box and one with the probe inside a dorm fridge to hold the temp at 37 deg for starter and YW storage.