I got an email from Sur la Table about a (relatively) inexpensive immersion Sous Vide machine. Can handle up to 10gal and hold it to within 0.2deg F. Anyone ever try this before for mashing?
Never for mashing as I'm not sure the machine would work well with more than liquid running through it (grains/husks). But for an immersion bath for temp control on fermentation, sour wort, or incubating dregs, would work well.
There are threads on HBT about using sous vide for BIAB mashing. The higher water-grain ratio probably helps, but some of them reference pumps to help with circulation.
I'm just getting into BIAB and don't own a sous vide device, so my opinion in unfounded, but that sounds right in theory. I would hazard that larger batch volumes (say 10+ gallons? Don't quote me) and deeper kettles might need circulation since the devices can be/are limited in how deep into the kettle they reach.
I have used my sous vide for mashing 6 BIAB batches now, and I absolutely love it. You definitely can't put the sous vide directly into the mash, but if you keep it outside the bag you should be fine. I've done batches from 3.5-6.5 gallons (full volume mashes), and I've been very happy with the temperature stability.
I can't comment on the one you have posted, I have the Anova and the all in one Sous Vide Supreme unit. Thing I like about the Anova is that it is very easy to disassemble and clean in case you ever get any wort caramelized on the burner. It also has a pretty good flow with the impellers it uses
This sounds like a really cool way to keep a stable mash temperature, but I think I'd be too worried about breaking a $200 sous-vide unit to actually do it. Sure would take some of the fuss out of mashing in a kettle, though.
