I guess this is a stupid question...

[sawwas72]

I've been brewing all grain for a while with a square cooler. It's gotten a little worn and I've bought cylindrical igloo cooler to replace it. Here's the problem, I use a digital probe thermometer with an alarm that goes of when the temp lowers or raises above what I set. It's awesome but the coolers got a screw on lid. I can't screw on the lid without messing up my probe cord and I don't want to keep opening the lid to check temps. Is there another workaround other than drilling a hole in the lid? Thanks in advance.

 

[DirtyOldDuck]

I just trust my mash tun (although I am working on putting a thermometer in the lid). I stir a lot when I dough in and don't see any reason to open the lid during the mash because I know that my tun won't lose more than a degree or two, usually not even that. I insulated the lid which really helps hold the temperature. RDWHAHB.

 

[zachattack]

You can always drill a hole through the wall or lid and seal it with some food-grade silicone.

But if you preheat the tun you shouldn't need to worry about a drop in temperature. I never see more than a degree or two of loss, even for a 90 minute mash with a 9lb grainbill in a 10 gallon cooler. The lids are generally uninsulated, so you can insulate it if you want (or just pile towels on top of it during the mash). But if you're losing that much heat, there's another problem.

 

[pelipen]

Once you measure a few times, just trust it. I measure when I stir a few times, they are stable when preheated.

I drilled holes in my lid around the outside lip, and shot it full of expanding foam insulation.

 

[sawwas72]

Well, with so many people that confident in these coolers, mabe I should relax. One of the reasons that I decided to go with one these is because of their good rep. I'll give it a shot.