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erock2112 · 08-17-2009, 02:52 AM

Hey guys. I'm doing partial boils since my electric stove doesn't have enough power to boil a full five gallons. I've seen people who use something similar to a water heater's heating element to help boil water for beer. I'm wondering if something similar would give me the push I need to do a full boil. Opinions/Experience?

doggage · 08-17-2009, 09:12 AM

Yes, but you should be very careful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggage

For a heatstick, I installed a 20 Amp breaker and ran 12 gauge conduit to my outlet. Then I made a GFI extension cord (i.e. - a male plug -> conduit -> GFI outlet, all in a weather-proof box). Plugged in my heatstick (2000 watt 120 volt) to that and was good to go.

Heatsticks are also so versatile. Mine can heat up about 3 gallons to boiling in about 30 minutes (haven't timed it yet). They also come in handy if you don't hit your mash temp quite right. I use mine to break up grain, while heating if necessary. You can also just heat your strike water directly in your MLT (even if it's a cooler) if you put a bit of JB Weld on the end of the heatstick.

It would be only a couple extra steps to adapt these heat stick directions (also linked in a previous post) to an electric keggle. As mentioned above, you'd absolutely need a GFI outlet, and to be sure that the elements are grounded to the keg. However, instead of going to all the trouble of installing the element(s) on the keg, why not just use a heatstick or two instead? Then you can also use the same one for the mash, sparge, ...

Crazytwoknobs · 08-17-2009, 03:39 PM

Are these the same thing as those charcoal starters I keep seeing at hardware stores?

springer · 08-17-2009, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazytwoknobs

Are these the same thing as those charcoal starters I keep seeing at hardware stores?

no no no do not use them in water. Heat sticks use the electric element from a water heater.

erock2112 · 08-18-2009, 06:43 PM

I boiled 6 gallons of water yesterday to test the wort chiller I built. I boiled 3 gallons in the main pot and one gallon at a time in a smaller pot, adding to the main pot when the smaller pot began to boil - in about 30 min I had 6 gallons of water boiling. Not sure why I didn't think of that before, but that'll work! And I have to brag about the chiller's success: I had the 6 gallons of boiling water down to 80 degrees in 25 minutes! Much better than several hours in a tub or the fridge.