I have done about 75 batches with my current igloo 10gal cooler. When I clean the false bottom, the cooler gets scratched. I noticed there are new false bottoms with a rim on them to prevent this.
My question is whether all the scratches I've accumulated cause an issue? I'm getting good efficiency, so I don't think I have tunnelling water during the sparge. Am I carrying flavors over from one beer to another? Risking contamination of some kind (yes, this is pre-boil) ?
To be clear, this is a 10gal round cooler and I am running 5gal batches of all flavors.
So do I need to replace my mash tun?
Thanks.