weirdboy

Recipes 

I had no problems with using the automotive firewall insulation wrapped around my BK on the stovetop. I was able to bring 7 gallons to a nice rapid boil using that, which was the absolute most that would fit in that BK.

maztec

Recipes 

I moved, gave up on doing it on the stove top, and went all electric.

Honestly, buying a larger kettle, poking a hole in it, and installing an electric element is easier (and cooler!).

tryn2brew

Recipes 

This stuff looks like it would work great, but it is expensive. 5 ft x 5 ft sheet is about $250 + shipping. Does not absorb liquid, and good up to 1200 def F.
["Pyrogel XTF"]http://www.aerogel.com/products/pdf/Pyrogel_XTF_DS.pdf[/URL]

I'd only need 1 ft x 4 ft for my pot, and a couple of straps to hold it in place. The edges could be covered with AL tape if deemed necessary. Looks like it would work to me....

HomebrewMTB

Recipes 

Just wanted to report successful full boil stovetop brew on Friday. I just got a 32qt aluminum pot a few weeks ago and was able to get it to boil with the lid on but it took more than an hour from hot tap water and wouldn't boil without the lid. I was concerned about it but forgot to pick up some insulation material. I wanted to brew right away so I thought I would try out the aluminum foil idea. I was unsure about the effectiveness of alum foil wrapped on an alum pot but it worked out well. Three wraps of foil and I was able to boil 7 gallons without the lid. The foil looked ghetto as anything but was effective.

I'll probably end up building a heat stick anyway because I want to reduce my brew time but the tin foil tricked worked well in the mean time.

Royski

Recipes 

I just ordered some of this foil-covered insulation from Home Despot - $27 shipped for plenty of material to cover my two eight-gallon kettles. Looking at the part number and picture, it is the same as the Bonded Logic insulation mentioned above, sold at a higher price at JC Whitney and billed as "the same technology developed by NASA to protect its spacecraft."

Royski

Recipes 

The insulation arrived from Home Despot: it seems to be cotton-backed foil, not any magical NASA stuff. I'll probably try it anyway on my gas stove next time I brew. I think if I start it a couple of inches from the bottom of the pot and protect the edge with foil tape, it should be OK barring a sustained boil-over and flareup.

Royski

Recipes 

Here is a closeup of it installed with foil tape


At first the foil tape at the bottom started to cook and stink so I made the insulation end a little higher up. Working nicely like this



It sped up the time to boil a little bit. It definitely requires a lot less heat to keep the boil going.

azoteman213

Recipes 

Of course! Cotton wrapped with aluminum foil! I have been reading this thread for almost an hour and I had totally forgot about this. I used aluminum foil and cotton to wrap my distillation columns in chemistry lab (the real insulator was the cotton, I just used the aluminum foil to hold it in place). I will try this cotton/aluminum foil on my next brew. I do not perform full volume boils yet, but any help getting my wort to boil is appreciated!

rico567

Recipes 

I used the automotive firewall insulation purchased from JC Whitney to insulate my 30qt. Proctor-Silex SS pot. Absolutely solved my boil problem on my propane gas cooktop. Whitney also sells the temperature-resistant adhesive and foil tape for applying this stuff. My total cost (which includes WAY more insulation than the pot needs, probably enough for 3-4 pots) was about $45 delivered.

The gas flame doesn't bother this application at all, and I've been using it for 3 years, the last 2.5 doing AG out in the garage over a Bayou Classic SP-10 propane burner, which puts out FAR more heat than the kitchen cooktop.

__________________
“Malt does more than Milton can / To justify God’s ways to man”

-A. E. Housman (1859–1936). A Shropshire Lad , 1896.

Calichusetts

Recipes 

Great solution...I'm sure this opens up a lot of avenues for many brewers on this site