BIAB mash/sparge questions

If adding salts to change the mash pH, put them in the mash. If adding only for flavor, put them in the kettle after the mash.

 

The more water you withhold, the better your efficiency will be within reason. Double crushing or finely crushing the grain will also boost your efficiency.

I doubt there's much difference between dunk and rinse. BIAB is all about convenience. Do whichever is easier.

Salt additions will depend on a number of factors. Software such as Brewcipher (search the forums for it) will be your friend here

 

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml
Check out the 'Can I Mash It' in the link above. It won't solve any problems but will let you know where you are going to stand.

I do it same as you. Dunking you need another pot for so I don't find it particularly helpful.

 

In brewcipher, turn off the biab option and adjust the mash thickness parameter on the reciper tab until the strike and sparge water volumes are what you're aiming for

 

C&P'd from the popup comment...
"If you do BIAB, but do NOT include all your water in the first infusion, select 'N' from the dropdown."

Given your situation, you might want to set the indicator to "N," then change the Strike Water to Grain Ratio on the recipe tab until all but 2 gallons of your total water are in the strike portion. If that's still too much mash volume for your kettle (and if you have the latest version of Brewcipher), you'll get a warning (assuming you have entered the size of your kettle in the "Mash Tun Capacity" parameter on the Brewhouse tab).

 

Depending on what's in your mash, a change in water volume may not affect your pH enough to move the number, particularly if you're using distilled water.

ETA: start adding some salts and you'll see the pH change when you toggle BIAB on and off (thus changing the mash water volume).

 

Here's a few things that I've done to refine my process that I think have helped increase my efficiency (I've gone from mid 60's to 77% on a 1.066 OG pale ale on my last batch):

Double crush grains (don't have a mill but my LBHS does it for me)
Insulate the pot during the mash to keep the temp as steady as possible (I've been using some reflectix insulation but I hear old blankets or sleeping bags work well).
Stir the crap out of the mash after doughing in and then every 15-20 mins
Before each stiring, I remove 2 full sized drink pitchers of wort from the ball valve on my pot and poor back on top of the mash creating a kind of ghetto recirculation.
No mash out, just pull the bag and place it on a grill grate resting on top of the pot, then sparge 1-2 gallons of ambient temp water (why have a second burner to heat sparge water, I BIAB to KISS)
I use a GH/KH water test kit and water chemistry software (been using brewersfriend since I have my recipes there) to calculate my salt additions to hit my target mash pH and water profile. Salts added to the strike water only, none in the sparge.

Hope that helps, if I think of anything else I'll let you know.

 

Can just add me to boost the ABV. A friend of mine does all grain with a small mash tun then adds dme to get the desired ABV. If you have a 10 gallon pot you wouldn't need much dme.

 

I BIAB in a 7 gallon kettle on a little turkey fryer set up and have run into similar issues. What I do to start is fill my kettle with my water and do all my water treatments there in the beginning. This does limit me to only being able to brew with 7 gallons of water. But I've been doing 1.070 worts and it has worked out fine for that. I use distilled water so I always add salts and acid to drop the ph a little. Then pull off 1 to 3 gallons of water depending on how much grain I have for the recipe. Those 1 to 3 gallons go into a large stock pot I have for cooking and then goes onto to my regular stove top to be heated to mash out temp (170). I know that requires additional equipment but I've found that it really works well. Then I heat my kettle to my strike temp and add my grain. Mash. Then pull the bag and set it in a big colander I found that sits nicely in the top of my kettle. I let the grain bag drip for a while then get my spare sparge water from of the stove and slowly pour it into the colander over the grain. I have to say this part of the process is a little dangerous as you have to handle a heavy pot of hot water. But I've tried batch sparging (or dunking) by pouring the sparge water over the grain in a5 gallon bucket but it was hard to get ALL the water and grain to fit and got a little messy.