[brewinhard]

Do you guys preheat the cooler by adding hot water in it first, and then adding your brewing water/ grains? May sound like a stupid question but I believe some coolers function a little better this way if you "pre-heat" them.

I used to, but I decided it's an unnecessary step.  It took me only 2 brews to dial in how much hotter the water had to be if I didn't preheat.  Eliminated a step and some time.

This.  Plus, I bring my mash tun inside in colder weather to make sure I have a reasonable temp I am working with.

[deadpoetic0077]

Do you guys preheat the cooler by adding hot water in it first, and then adding your brewing water/ grains? May sound like a stupid question but I believe some coolers function a little better this way if you "pre-heat" them.

I used to, but I decided it's an unnecessary step.  It took me only 2 brews to dial in how much hotter the water had to be if I didn't preheat.  Eliminated a step and some time.

This.  Plus, I bring my mash tun inside in colder weather to make sure I have a reasonable temp I am working with.

Great! Thanks for the advice guys!

Thinking about this has made me think of another question, so sorry to go a little off topic here, but when you are mashing in a cooler while doing biab, can you just remove the grains and lauter the wort out using the standard cooler drain valve? Im thinking HSA isn't such a big concern at this stage right? And may not be a critical thing on a homebrew level to begin with right?