Mash Tun Manifold

[Swifty]

I just did my first Partial on the weekend and didn't have a Mash tun so made do with pots. Not very effective. My question is, when making my Mash tun can I use polypipe to make the manifold as I reckon it would be easier to build and pull apart for cleaning. Or is copper better for some reason I don't know?
Also, where's the best place to get a 20-25 litre food grade bucket. They seem alot cheaper than buying as esky.
How have other people insulated their buckets?

If you haven't guessed I'm a little confused as to what sort of Mash tun to make.

[gregb]

I can see no reason why manifold could not be made from food grade polly.

Cheers,
Greg

[Swifty]

Thanks Gregb, I figure it would be alot easier and cheaper to make. Everyone seems to use copper though and I can't see why, it's getting so damn expensive.

[Ed]

Only concern I've seen mentioned is possible leaching of toxins from the poly at temps. I don't know if this is true though. Maybe something else to think about: Plastic tend to expand at raised temps, and I'd say it would be an idea to use split pins at any joints to help hold it all together but still allow for disassembly.

Cheers, Ed

[rwh]

Copper's one of those things that will only continue to get more expensive. I've seen estimates that to bring the whole world's population up to 1st world living standards, we'd need three times as much copper as exists in the Earth's crust.

That's why in countries with lots of destitution, people steal powerlines and other wiring for scrap.

My mash tun is one of those rectangular eskies with a manifold made out of the stainless steel braiding from a toilet water supply hose. Easy, and seems to work fine.

http://www.tastybrew.com/articles/dennyconn001

[Duane]

swifty, if your going for the bucket mash tun, check out my blog. Have just put up pics of my old one. Very easy and cheap to make. Served me well for many batches. Have just upgraded to a 55lt esky

[Swifty]

Thanks guys. I'm thinking if I'm going to do it to get an esky from day 1.
What's the heat loss like on the insulated buckets? Does it compare to the esky?

[Duane]

Swifty,
I havnt used my esky as yet. Still waiting for welding to be done on my kettle and hlt, but the temp loss of my insulated bucket is zero for 60min and 1c for 90min.