How to calculate water warming time when ambient temperature is X

[JesseM]

Hey!

I might mash today. I'm currently putting things on a paper to figure out how long would it take.
I'm going to use 10l kitchen pot and mash in an oven. It's going to be a small batch, around two gallons.

Anyway, for the best possible results, I want to keep my oven temperatures low.
Say the oven is 200 degrees, and I stick 2 gallons of water that is around 70 degrees in there. Does anyone know how to calculate how long it should take to heat up that amount of water to a specific temperature?

I was planning my schedule would be something like this:

95 degrees - 20 minutes
122 degrees - 30 minutes
147 degrees - 20 minutes
161 degrees - 60 minutes
Then rising the temperature to 172 degrees for a few minutes.

Thing is, I struggle to estimate how long would it take to heat up the water. I don't want to put my oven to 400 degrees just to do this in a reasonable time. Any calculator that could give me good estimates? I know, it wouldn't be accurate as those malts are going to affect as well, but I'm looking to get an idea what temperature I should use for my oven.

Thank you again and happy brewing!

Jesse

EDIT: Actually, I wonder if it would work out by simply mixing water (70 degrees) and malts together and placing these in the oven that's around 180 degrees. Let them sit there once I hit the target of 162 degrees for the wort - turn off the oven and let it sit there for an hour. After that, mash out in 172 degrees.

The idea is to slowly raise the temp, getting to those desired temperatures. I bet it would take 20-30 minutes to rise from 143 degrees to 162 degrees, and that should be enough for that range. I think this could work, just need to figure a good temperature for the oven! Any comments, someone tried doing it like this?

 

[mongoose33]

Why don't you just heat it on the stove? If you have a thermometer, you could do this in about 15 minutes.

When people mash in an oven, it's usually to maintain temp, not heat the water.

And if it were me, I'd simply wrap the mash tun with blankets or sleeping bags; trying to gauge what the oven would do is unlikely to work out well the first time.

 

[JesseM]

Just out of curiosity, why don't you just heat it on the stove? If you have a thermometer, you could do this in about 15 minutes.

I thought about that, but I want to keep the heat consistent and gentle. I did my very first batch like this, and it turned out fantastic. After that, I changed equipment and has failed over and over. It's possible using stove would do just the same, but I haven't tried it that way, and I desperately need to make a drinkable beer this time around.

 

[mongoose33]

I thought about that, but I want to keep the heat consistent and gentle. I did my very first batch like this, and it turned out fantastic. After that, I changed equipment and has failed over and over. It's possible using stove would do just the same, but I haven't tried it that way, and I desperately need to make a drinkable beer this time around.

I'm still not understanding. Why do you need to heat the water in the oven? I understand wanting to use the oven to maintain mash temp--though I'd never do that--but why do you have to heat the water in the oven? That strikes me (sorry ) as needlessly time-consuming and complicated.

 

[JesseM]

I'm still not understanding. Why do you need to heat the water in the oven? I understand wanting to use the oven to maintain mash temp--though I'd never do that--but why do you have to heat the water in the oven? That strikes me (sorry ) as needlessly time-consuming and complicated.

That's a valid question, no worries!
Using the stove to warm the water, it's super hot from the bottom of your pot, right? In the oven, I can warm up the water more gently, little by little.
Now, like I said I'm not sure this would make any difference... but doing it slowly and gently can't be any worse, just more time consuming I suppose. The idea is to get the water to warm up more consistently.