boiling point
 

Recently I've only been able to hit about 208 degrees on the stove top...I get what I would describe as a soft rolling boil from that temp, but is this gonna cause me trouble??

I'm planning on just stepping it up to a propane burner sometime soon, but should I worry about my past few brews??

I may be wrong, but from what I've heard/read, wort has a lower boiling point than water, around the temperature you are getting. I would say as long as it's boiling it's fine.

I think you'll be fine with a rolling boil at 208F. Heating anything to 208 for 60 mins will pretty much kill any bugs. I stepped up to a Bayou Classic gas burner in the fall and the burners are the way to go, especially for full boils.

yep...the most I can boil on my stove is about 4.25 gal...anything more and no boil! I'm making the switch, just don't know when.

AT my elevation, water boils at 209. Wort at slightly lower temps.

If it's boiling, it's boiling, no matter what the temperature!

BUT, it must be boiling. A rolling boil is required for proper hops utilization.

What you will lose is some bittering. The rolling boil isomerizes the hop oils and helps them dissolve in the wort. Providing the beer tastes OK, no problem. Certainly not going to hurt you (alcohol poisoning aside).

Does the pot have a layered bottom? I have three 20+ quart steel pots. One has an aluminum plate sealed in the bottom (for even heating), while the other 2 have thin steel bottoms. I can get decent rolling boils with up to 4 gallons in the two pots with the thin bottoms, but the one with the thick bottom barely manages it with 3 gallons.

Recently got a burner. Looking forward to the good weather to be able to do full boils.

yup, boiling is boiling. Once it hits its top degree and doesn't go any higher is because the liquid is boiling and the temp will no long get any higher until all the liquid has dissolved.

Depends on your altitude above sea level. I boil at 206 here at 6000ft

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