BIABasket

[snails07]

I'm building a basket out of a bigw pot and wondering if this setup will work. It should hold about 5kg of grain.

Do I have enough holes in the pot and will the mesh I'm using be too fine?

The mesh is just a cheap splatter guard, which is finer than a normal kitchen sieve.

Thoughts?

 

[spog]

The mesh will work very well, it's the crush that will determine how your setup will work. Voile bags are a hell of a lot finer.
If the crush is too fine you'll get lots of flour from it, you don't want that, so a bit of tuning of the gap on the mill would be needed.
You'll need to experiment with the fit of the mesh to the bottom of the pot to stop grains escaping around the edges .
IMO too many holes in the bottom of the pot will weaken it and it'll start to distort etc.
As for the legs on the pot I see you have the excess of the bolts protruding into the bottom of the pot, best cut them back as low as possible so they don't damage/ puncture the screen, file them smooth or rounded ?
Or if possible use dome nuts to cover the thread ends.

 

[Lager Bloke]

Good idea-would using the bolts to secure the mesh work?

 

[snails07]

Thanks spog, all sound like very good points.
One question with the mesh and to stop grains escaping around the edges - I had figured that the weight of the grains would hold the mesh down and everything would eventually settle so there'd be no chance of grains escaping.
I'm recirculating back onto the grain if that makes a difference.

 

[sp0rk]

I'd make a ring out of 1/2 copper, flatten that out inside the pot and either solder it to the inside of the pot (soldering stainless mesh by itself is a kent)
Or bolt it down every inch or 2 to hold the mesh down

 

[n87]

I wouldnt imagine you would need to secure the mesh down, the weight of the grain would do that.
With recirc, you will be able to pick up some of the crap that falls through aswell and put it back where it is meant to be


Also, regarding the bolts, get yourself the right length bolts, and put them through from the top with a nut from the bottom. Thats how i do mine.

 

[klangers]

You're gonna want the mesh removable. It isn't too fine to function properly, but it will get clogged with husk etc and need periodic cleaning.

 

[Blind Dog]

Agree the weight of the grain should hold down the mesh, and that you'll want to be able to remove it for cleaning. The weight of the grain keeps the BM's bottom mesh in place, even though the BM recirculates the mash liquid up through the grain bed. You shouldn't get too much crap passing through yours either - bottom mesh on a BM is coarser than a splatter guard and works fine unless you grind the grain to a fine powder which is not a great idea anyway.

 

[bradsbrew]

Another option could be to use a false bottom screen on top of the holes you already have. To secure, use a bolt and washer through your centre hole and the centre hole of the falsie. That way no grain will get through, it's easily removable and you get the benefit of less likely to have stuck recirc.

Cheers