I'm new to stillin, but I have built and steam tested my own rig. Getting 100% condensation using a 3/4 by 18" long head pipe from the pot lid to a 1/2 soft copper worm. I started with a pretty tight coil 14" round and spaced about 1". Wound up having flow issues and useless condenser coils. Cut it down to 3 wide coils and had much better production results while maintaining 100% condensate. I'm running with a standard stainless pot with a good clamped seal. Building pressure to push the worm. My question is: now that I have the engineering done, what's a good first mix to make about 3 gallons of mash?

There are a lot of easy moonshine recipes out there. "Home Distillers Workbook" by Jeff King is a good start. On Kindle its like 3$

After so much research you can make your own recipe. For my first run I did an straight corn whiskey recipe.
It is good to start off with an easy recipe that way you are not out much if you flub it up. When I was still learning I made some mistakes.

Everyone told me when I was first starting that I should get a good recipe and use it. . . Well I did not listen.
I have read 100's of recipes and used what I had handy and made my own recipe. I have only been boozn about a year now. I am still learning but I have also made some incredible tasting stuff.

I would not expect your first run to be a master piece. There are many kinks you will have to work out. Like making the proper cuts or size of jars you use, finding the right temp proofing and flavoring. Whether it be with fruit, candy, essence, or oak chips.

So I say pick an easy one. One that you know will work. And give it a try.

To all who checked my thread. My maiden voyage was a success, the first batch came out extremely tasty and was about 110 proof before proofing. Looks like the recipe is good for home drinkin shine. Trying a few different things now, different yeast, more / less sugar, more / less corn. Looks like the still is working great. Thanks again for the inputs guys, feel free to post any other helpful tips or questions.

I was thinking of taking out the sugar for now and making some watermelon brandy using brewers yeast. The only problem is the temperature at which brewers yeast needs to ferment. Won't be able to use that until the summertime. However with the cool activation of bakers yeast I might be able to score at least 100 proof. I think watermelon shine would taste pretty good.

When you say "running it through to a high proof" are you re-runnin the finished product? Or do you add the shine back to the mash and run it again? I've read about running through again but there were never specifics. I thought 100 proof with bakers yeast was a good run the first time but hell, if I can make 140 or 150 on the product I'll work that in.

Running my second batch, made some modifications to the worm for more downhill flow, only thing is now I'm getting a huffing effect from the tail end. It feels like vapor coming out but my worm is still cool at the bottom coil. Am I losing alcohol vapor here? The first jar was an easy 130 proof, second a little less, working the third jar now. I'm running a 3 gallon mash and not really sure how much good shine I should be getting. Not running a thumper, but I'm cookin 200 deg to push my pressure pot. (Higher pressure = higher boiling point). Just asking some questions now because as the name applies, I am still new to this. Any info is always greatly appreciated

Evidently my phone is slow. I apologize for duplicate posts.

Turns out the next batch I cooked was excellent!!!! Ran it slow and cool, bout 180 deg before pushin the worm, also made a mod that took care of the huffing effect. The last batch of three gallon mash made over 5 pints of good strong shine. Using a pound by gallon recipe it worked great. Thus the reason for this thread, finding the perfect recipe, and fellas, I believe I have found the perfect recipe for good quality shine. Thanks to all that replied to my thread, and to all......happy good times shining.

Guys, we all know the moonshiners secret to success. Apple pie moonshine. And I have found a VERY good tasting but still strong recipe for apple pie. I'll share the recipe on the basis of replies to this thread. Unless you have a badass recipe already. :) happy shinin

Well. Lets hear that apple pie recipe. I have yet to find an apple pie recipe I like.