I purchased an Anova Sous Vide immersion cooker on Amazon prime day for $69.
Part of my motivation was to use it to warm up strike water while I'm at work via wifi. Then, when I get home, do full volume mashes to shorten my brew day.
I didn't really think through it because of the low purchase price. My mash tun is a 70 qt coleman icechest with a stainless braid filter. With 7-8 gallons of full volume strike water the sous vide needs to be mounted pretty low, but the lid still wont shut. The head of the sous vide would line up about even with the cooler lid and it's pretty big, so cutting a hole in the lid doesn't seem viable. Also, if doing a 10 gallon batch, the sous vide needs to be mounted higher.
The only reasonable way I can think to mount this thing is to put a piece of Styrofoam down in the cooler a few inches and leave the lid open. Then cut a hole the size of the shaft in the Styrofoam. The Styrofoam will insulate and prevent evaporation and ride low enough to allow flexibility to do 5 or 10 gallon batches.
However, I'm wondering if someone has a better idea or has already solved this. Or if there is a better material to work with. I'm a little worried about foam particles flaking off or contaminating, but I've never worked with it. I guess I could use plywood, paint it, and spray foam the back side of it......any input is appreciated.
Part of my motivation was to use it to warm up strike water while I'm at work via wifi. Then, when I get home, do full volume mashes to shorten my brew day.
I didn't really think through it because of the low purchase price. My mash tun is a 70 qt coleman icechest with a stainless braid filter. With 7-8 gallons of full volume strike water the sous vide needs to be mounted pretty low, but the lid still wont shut. The head of the sous vide would line up about even with the cooler lid and it's pretty big, so cutting a hole in the lid doesn't seem viable. Also, if doing a 10 gallon batch, the sous vide needs to be mounted higher.
The only reasonable way I can think to mount this thing is to put a piece of Styrofoam down in the cooler a few inches and leave the lid open. Then cut a hole the size of the shaft in the Styrofoam. The Styrofoam will insulate and prevent evaporation and ride low enough to allow flexibility to do 5 or 10 gallon batches.
However, I'm wondering if someone has a better idea or has already solved this. Or if there is a better material to work with. I'm a little worried about foam particles flaking off or contaminating, but I've never worked with it. I guess I could use plywood, paint it, and spray foam the back side of it......any input is appreciated.
