"You'll find different stills have different temp gradiants. The temp you mentioned is iindeed the ethanol vaporization area but remember that the wash is 80-90% water. So it will take more heat to accomplish the task of vaporization at that ratio. You will need to learn what temp works best for your setup. With my junk if I try to capture anything at the lower temps its kind of a waste of time.
Run a wash or two and learn what temp is best for your setup, move the heat up and down to get a idea of the best cooking temp......happy stillin."

On my rig I find that the shortest run of heads is when I keep the temp at just over 174.2 or 174.3. I get a short head run,about 1/2 quart on a 23L wash and then I seem to be able to keep it steady at that temp without adjusting anything until the run is about over then temps start to climb but until then I am getting 94 percent pure output steadily. It takes about 6.5 or 7 hours to run mine at that temp though. I use the thermometer more as a guide to see if anything is changing during the run. I also proof my run every 1/2 quart to make sure I am getting a good output and I smell/taste the drips about twice every 1/2 quart as well. I also make sure that my cooling water stays cold with frozen milk jugs during the run.

Thanks for that reply Shovel, good stuff!! I have a few questions as well.....Ive heard a lot of seasoned still vets say that they know their rig so well that they dont even monitor temps. Im a rookie, and still trying to fine-tune my methods, sp I pay close attention to my temps. My question---I run an Essential Extractor II, with the thermometer in the top of the column. Could someone explain to me why I would want to know the vapor temp in the top of the column, rather than the liquid temp in the kettle??? It seems redundant to me, and Ive been thinking of running a digital thermometer with a lead long enough to reach down into the middle of the kettle. Any thoughts??

Isnt that one of the base fundamentals of distillation, to separate 2 liquids with different boiling points? So therefore wouldnt you want to keep the kettle temp as close to 174 as possible as to boil the ethanol ouT and not the water?? Hey guys, by all means, if Im concentrating on the wrong things, please tell me, you aint gonna hurt MY feelings lol!!!!

But, heres two things that Ive struggled with doing properly---you say turn the heat on, do you max heat? You say turn the water on, do you mean max water flow? Maybe Id have an easier time and make better more consistent product if I could wrap my head around the fact that the different parts of the distillate can make the column temp rise and fall.

As far as kettle temp, there is no thermometer down there. Its a Brewhaus Essential Extractor II, with only a temp in the top of column. Thats what Ive struggled with understanding, why would I not want to monitor the actual liquid temps? Lol Im the type of guy who gets my head wrapped around one thing and cant tear myself away from it

"Hi Traceyman,


You have to bring your wash to a boil If you want to distill it. And since you can't control the boiling point of a liquid, it doesn't really matter what that temperature is ... so monitoring the liquid temp doesn't really give you much useful information.

--JB"