Need Single Tier help - propane mash worries

[vahunter1819]

sorry in advance if this is wordy....so im looking to go single tier. rather than do a metal stand im building essentially a wooden box where i can store stuff under neath, attach my pumps underneath and then on top have three separate burner stands - each with a keggle on top (planning on two anvil burners and blichman under the BK). I would then pump water/mash/wort etc like every single tier stand.. now heres my dilema...i was gonna do a direct fire mash tun, or even thought about a herms system in the HLT and removing the middle burner, but regardless of which one of those i do, am i going to be monitoring my propane burner the ENTIRE time i am mashing? i have no desire to go electric. Ive sold my old cooler mash tun...have I screwed myself and bit off more than i can chew? help me HBT youre my only hope.

 

[jrcrilly]

Before switching to the controlled burners that will be in the final system, I did one test brew using the old standard high pressure burner under the HLT. The HERMS heat exchanger was in the HLT. I monitored mash temp and adjusted the HLT burner manually as required. It took very little babysitting - you shouldn't need to stare at mash temp every minute. The volume of water in the HLT (I had 11 gallons in it at the time) makes it respond slowly to burner changes. The smaller volume in the MLT would respond more quickly so you'd want to watch that more closely, if you use direct heat. I didn't try that; won't be using direct MLT heat until the controlled burners are installed.