travlinScott

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So, I've been wanting to go electric and move my brewing in to the basement. I came a cross a good deal (or what I thought was a good deal) on an 1800w "commercial" induction plate. And bought an 8 gal kettle that the seller confirmed was "induction compatible". When I got the kettle, it does hold a magnet although a little weakly.

I tested the set up with water ahead of time and it seemed to get it up to boiling ok.

But when I brewed and tried to boil with it, the boil was pretty weak. The thermometer on the kettle was reading like 218, but it wasn't a strong rolling boil like I'm used to getting. I just carried on with the brew as best I could, have yet to see how this beer will turn out. I suspect the hop profile will be off, but c'est la vi. If it's bad, I'll just chalk it up to experiment.

I thought I'd jump in here and see if anyone has any advice. Has anyone actually used a specific line of kettles that might work better with induction? Or should I be looking at an induction plate with more juice? I'm kind of hoping someone here might be brewing with induction and be able to give me specifics on equipment that has worked well for them.

Thanks

FisherBrewer

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I think 1800W is a bit low. I have a 240V 3500W induction burner and get a good rolling boil at about 2900W with about 6.5 gallons of wort. Less than that it's more of a strong simmer. I have a bayou classic 9 gallon kettle. They are very magnetic. It's best to have a narrow / tall kettle vs a wide kettle. My 15 gallon megapot, which is also very magnetic, doesn't get to a full rolling boil even at 3500W with 6.5 gallons.

travlinScott

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FisherBrewer - Thanks very much for the info. That is very helpful to me. Yeah, a "strong simmer" is a great way to describe what I had with this batch.

porcupine73

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Yes 1800 watts is probably just not quite enough juice to bring that much water to a rolling boil. You could add a bucket heater or heat stick on a separate circuit inserted into the kettle, that would likely do the trick.

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travlinScott

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Can either of you tell me what model induction cookers you are using? Or are there any other specific models you'd recommend?

FisherBrewer

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FisherBrewer

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Mine is the Avantco IC3500. I did a lot of research and this one was the biggest bang for the buck. I'm quite happy with it. One note however: the burner size is 8 1/2". So the larger diameter kettles won't necessarily work that great on it as I mentioned in my previous post.

travlinScott

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Thanks again FisherBrewer. The information is much appreciated.

DustBow

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I've been looking at induction for a while now, decided to scrap my "element system" and just go with the 240v 3500w induction cooker for now. I've also got the Bayou Classic 9 gallon pot. I only do 5 gallon batches and from what I've read getting 7 gallons of wort up to boil is not an issue at all.

FisherBrewer - don't those Megapots have the tri-clad bottoms with aluminum sandwiched between stainless steel layers? Maybe that is also hurting the heating capacity since aluminum won't work with induction.

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"Brewers make wort, yeast make beer."

"Brewing beer is neither complicated nor expensive. It's the responsibility of the brewer to make it as complicated and expensive as their spouse & budget will allow."

travlinScott

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DustBow - What model induction cooker do you have? I'm thinking I might go for a bigger one than the one I have and I'm trying to get a feel for what others are using.