[jvr1010]

Did my first all grain today in a new mash tun.  What suprised me was that I had 2 gallons of dead space.  I thought this was a bit excessive.  Does anyone else have this issue, or should I chop down the feet a bit?  Thanks in advance for any advice/tips.  John

[tubercle]

What feet???

Describe your tun.

Mine don't have feet.

[corkybstewart]

My manifold lies flat on the bottom of my cooler, I have less than a quart left in the mash tun when I'm finished.

[jvr1010]

I have a ten gallon mash tun with feet under my manifold to keep it elevated off the bottom.  I put two gallons of water and added four more (To get my water to grist ratio of 1.25).  Thanks again guys.

[tubercle]

Use braid laying on the bottom.

 Put in a coil of copper wire in it if it collapses.

You're not trying to fly sprage, are you?

[jvr1010]

No, I did a batch sparge.  Things went well.  Had 12.75lbs of grain with room to spare, but if in the future I want a big batch, I'd like to use some of that room.  It wont collapse cause it's stainless steel, the copper idea is great though.  Knew someone here had good idea of what to do.  Thanks

[rjparjay]

I have a ten gallon mash tun with feet under my manifold to keep it elevated off the bottom. 

I say remove them. No need to keep them off the bottom. If it puts your manifold below your spigot, you can just use a 45 degree elbow to connect them.

[Jimmy K]

That is excessive. Remove the feet and use angle or tubing to connect the manifold.

[AmandaK]

No feets here. I let my braid lay right on the bottom of the mash tun. I drain all but maybe 0.25 gallons out of the tun.

[denny]

No feets here. I let my braid lay right on the bottom of the mash tun. I drain all but maybe 0.25 gallons out of the tun.

Yep, same here.  And if I tilt my cooler at the end of the runoff, I can get that last qt., too.

[harbicide]

My MT is a converted keg and my FB sits on the transition from the sides to the domed bottom.  I have about 2 gallons beneath the FB.  Since I fly sparge and draw from the bottom, and I vorlauf 2 gallons, I have not found any problems with getting up to 80% efficiency.

[Pi]

My MT is a converted keg and my FB sits on the transition from the sides to the domed bottom.  I have about 2 gallons beneath the FB.  Since I fly sparge and draw from the bottom, and I vorlauf 2 gallons, I have not found any problems with getting up to 80% efficiency.

+1 here
I use an inverted keg with the "bottom" cut out. FB fits like Harbicide's and i get zero dead space loss. When calculating mash thickness I add 6L. to 1.25 liters per pound to account for the dead space and hit my strike temp. every time. It took a couple batches to dial in the correct thermal mass, now i'm getting consistent 85-87% efficiency with a fly sparge (not getting into the batch vs. fly sparge debate here).

[hopfenundmalz]

My converted keg system use a pico brewing false bottom. I have 2.5 gallons of "dead space".  It makes pretty good beer.