Difficult to boil on your electric stove?

flars · January 28, 2018, 3:51pm

Brewing an extract Chinook IPA a few days ago. I brought the 2.5 gallons of water up to 150°F and added the steeping grains. Did some supper preparations and came back to the kettle a half hour later. Rinsed the grains and turned the heat to high for the boil. Half hour later no boil. Lifted the kettle. Only three of the center coil rings were red hot. Used tongs to pull the warm coil and replaced with the coil from the large back burner. Boiling in three minutes.

The front burner does all the high temperature and large kettle cooking. I guess 10.5 years of hard work isn’t too bad before needing replacing this coil.

brewmanchu · January 28, 2018, 4:56pm

I’ve been contemplating the switch to gas as my electric stove is just about shot. Been wanting to do smaller batches to experiment more but the electric stove struggles bringing water to a boil for spaghetti noodles.

jjhakamaa · January 28, 2018, 9:06pm

My electric couldn’t boil the wort unless the lid was on. Will be using a burner next time.

loopie_beer · January 28, 2018, 11:26pm

If you’re brewing extract this isn’t as big of a deal as most of the DMS has been boiled off during the processing. However if your brewing all grain you need to boil if the lid vented significantly to allow the DMS to boil off. Even with extract I would vent to not only drive off any remaining DMS but to also ensure I got boil off to hit the desired OG.

dmtaylo2 · January 29, 2018, 1:53am

I have brewed 140 batches on my stovetop. I’m not about to stop now. Having a good stove helps. Boiling in 2, 3, or 4 pots on more than 1 burner also helps for batches larger than mine. Since I usually only brew 2 gallons, stovetop is ideal for me. However last month I brewed 6.5 gallons. It was doable in 4 big pots.

tominboston · January 29, 2018, 2:23am

I just ordered a 240v gfci breaker to add an outlet in my basement. I am going to try a 3500 watt induction burner and see how that works.

jimrmaine · January 29, 2018, 2:36am

With most of the electric stoves we’ve had over the years, we have to replace the coils every 5 years or so. Fortunately they’re not too expensive and easy to replace yourself.

hd4mark · January 30, 2018, 2:09pm

I’m used to the big propane burners I use up north so while we are hiding out from winter in Florida with no natural gas and I don’t have a propane burner I’m frustrated with electric.

One thing I hate about electric is that in the event of a boil over just turning it down won’t stop it like with gas. Consequently I use an electric hot plate outdoors rather than risk my wife strangling me if it boils over on the stove top. It is painfully slow and won’t get to a boil without the lid at least partially on.

Even though propane is about three times more expensive I think next season I will have to bring down or buy another burner.

voodoo_donut · January 30, 2018, 4:29pm

For whatever reason, my stovetop boil was “wimpy” this last brew, and consequently I was off a few gravity points(low), and had a bit more wort than expected. I’ll have to look into this. Didn’t notice a problem however with 2 other recent brews…

wilcolandzaat · January 31, 2018, 10:07am

Best way to go gas. Only part. You got to boil out side. Kind of down fall if you do live in a area where its cold. Find out. With gas beter heat control. And the boil goes much faster

voodoo_donut · January 31, 2018, 2:46pm

Wilco, just curious, how do you handle brewing outside in the tropics? Here, between clouds of salt marsh mosquitoes, triple digit garage temperatures, and 100 percent humidity, for 9-11 months out of the year, I brew indoors…
I mean, I could, I have propane, but this is supposed to be at least in part, a pleasant hobby…?..

jmuracn · February 1, 2018, 4:16pm

I have a 2-5 gallon induction setup i use “sometimes.” I havent every had an issue bringing 3 gallons to boil on the stove, but anything above that i just run outside and toss it on the burner. it makes life much easier and faster. i do love the induction for small batches and temp control though.

tominboston · February 1, 2018, 6:37pm

How many watts and what make induction burner do you use? Seems like mixed reviews on some. I am thinking about the 3500 watt Mai Cooker, as I saw some people using it for brewing and have been happy with it.

jmuracn · February 1, 2018, 6:39pm

Its an 1800 watt unit off amazon. it works okay for mashing but i have to boil on the stove or gas burner

sneezles61 · February 1, 2018, 10:41pm

Why not get setup for an electric kettle? You have all kinds of options out there… Sneezles61

tominboston · February 2, 2018, 2:00am

I just want it as an option and maybe to heat sparge water while fly sparging. I thought of the electric kettle but then need an external controller, and have to drill a big hole in my kettle …the induction burner would be a convenient option even for small extract batches for the boil.

sneezles61 · February 2, 2018, 12:00pm

I just looked at commercial electric hot plates, and see there is one made by Avantco, 208 volt, 3500 watts of heating potential… That might be a good buy at $180.00. I do my split batches and do steep specialty grains while brewing the base up… I’ve got some thinnin’ to do bubba louie! Sneezles61

wilcolandzaat · February 4, 2018, 9:57am

Thats why i brew. Àround. 12 till 6. No bugs no wind. And not so hot around. End of day. Put the system on the front pourch. Protected by. Bushes. For a while. Did at night. But impossible. Mosquito. And way to warm

brew_cat · February 4, 2018, 12:11pm

Electric coffee pots. They are cheap and run on 120 . I have a couple for mashing they heat the water to 180 . My two will give me 4.5 gallons add another gallon of cold water I hit 165. Works even better for small batch. Brewing which is the only thing that really works on an electric stove top easily

BourbonDan · April 1, 2018, 9:23am

Discussions of electric brewing with a Robobrew or a Brewer’s Edge Mash and Boil are conspicuously absent from the forum – perhaps because NB doesn’t sell them. The Grainfather is appealing but for me. The $1000 price tag is not. Sixteen years ago, I had been brewing 5-6 gallon AG batches for a couple of years after starting with extract. Really enjoyed it, using a ported 10 gallon Polarware and propane burner in my garage. Then I went through a divorce and back to apartment living and sold the brewing gear. I bought a small 3rd floor condo in 2016 with a smallish kitchen and ceramic electric stove top. My 22 year old daughter and I have brewed a couple of 1/2 batches but I really want the ability to do 5 gallon all grain again. Now this is possible compared to 16 years ago. I have no basement, no garage and I can’t use propane on the balcony. Affordable units like the Robobrew or a Brewer’s Edge Mash and Boil are very appealing to homebrewers like me. The Gigawort initially had some appeal to me but it can’t do full boils for 5 gallons. I’d rather spend $299 on a Mash and Boil versus $199 for a Gigawort and it’s limitations. It’s great to see options for customers like me – I just hope more HB retailers will start catering to us as well.