I am brewing my first 5 gallon batch of Caribou Slobber this weekend. All I have in terms of a heating source is a standard size electric stove with 4 burners (2 small and 2 large). Not ideal but are there any pointers anyone can give me so I can sort of know what to expect come saturday?
Edit: if I can be pointed to an already existing thread that talks about this that will be helpful as well
Yeah, expect a long brew day… 
Are you doing a full boil or are you going to top off? If full boil GOOD LUCK and if you are only boiling half with top off water it will still take awhile but not too long.
If you have two kettles you could split the wort and boil in both kettles with an equal addition of hops to speed up things. I brewed once on my electric range… bought a propane burner the NEXT day. I shit you not…
I agree with the above. My first brew was on an electric glass cooktop and it sucked. I couldn’t keep 2.5 gallons at a boil without a lid on it (which you should not use when boiling wort). So I wouldn’t even try a 5 gallon full boil.
It really depends on the quality of the stove and how well your pot transfers heat. It may work great for you. You can try a test run and see how long it takes you to get 2.5 gallons of water to a boil and see if you can keep a nice rolling boil without a lid. If you can’t, I suggest taking Loopie’s advice and splitting it into two pots.
Bring to boil with lid on, but watch out because when it comes to a boil it’ll foam out of the kettle. Then leave the lid partially on if you need to in order to keep a good rolling boil.
Sounds like a propane burner will vastly speed things up and keep things going smoothly. I am beyond excited to try this since I have been wanting to for quite some time. I appreciate the advice and wish me luck!
I use a 5 gal aluminum pot, and I can boil 4 gals fairly well. I have to top off since I can’t do a full boil, but I’m OK with that. Helps drop the temp down faster in the end I suppose…
They sell burners with an additional coil, which can help too.
I don’t like the idea of turkey fryers as there are too many gnats and flies out there! Plus it’s HOT here in Texas for far too long. And I LOVE the smell of the house after I’ve brewed!!!
Home depot has this one for $49 I have one as a secondary burner to heat my sparge water it will bring 5 gallons to a boil in about 30 min.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bayou-Classi ... oVkIobnacMWhen we bought a new stove my wife said to get one with an over sized burner for brewing. I brew three gallon batches and usually start the boil somewhere between 3.75 and 3.9 gallons; I have no problems with boiling. I think it could handle 5 if I had a larger pot.
