Can't get boil on gas stove.

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D-Hutt

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I'm trying to move from brewing with friends at their apartments to brewing in my own. I borrowed a buddy's 8g aluminum (it's cheap) pot to see if I could get a 6g boil on my stovetop. The stove is gas and has always been great for cooking, but we're in a rental so it's a standard mid-low quality stove. 6 gallons in the pot got to 205*F uncovered, and boiled (barely) covered. So I tried 4 gallons. Pretty much the same thing - 205ish, but boils when covered.

Do I have any options for getting either of these amounts to boil on my stove? Could it be the cheap aluminum pot - meaning should I buy a better one? If so, what's the best? Other ideas?

I wish I could go the turkey fryer route, but we're in NYC and don't have any outdoor space and I'd like to avoid explaining to the cops why I'm making a 6 gallon batch of oatmeal on the sidewalk.
 
Is there anyway you can get a pot that fits on two burners? I've got a 15 gallon pot that is shorter and wider that takes up half of my stove. I can get it to boil pretty easy. Takes some time, but once it's up there, it will stay at a rolling boil.
 
What color is your flame with the pot on? If it's yellow/orange, or if it ghosts out from the burner, the problem is the pot is blocking airflow. There should be a way to adjust the air inlet on the gas tube under the rangetop to allow more air to mix in, giving you a good blue flame.
 
Both good ideas - the pot I have only covers one burner. I hadn't thought of getting a squatty wide one...

The flame is mostly blue, but has some orange on the tips. I'll look for the air inlet adjustment to see what that does.
 
Search these forums for heatstick; that is what I use to assist my stove. Works great.
 
Anyone sell heatsticks? I'm not up for a big DIY project right now.

I'm giving my stove a full cleaning. I don't think I can get to the air supply, though. I can't figure out how to lift my range top - it seems locked or bolted down. I dl'd the manual from Frigidaire's website and it didn't say how to lift the range.
 
Whatever you do don't boil your wort with the cover on it! Look up DMS on the HBT wiki page and you'll see why. If you are limited by the btu output of your stove's burners then it will not matter what pot you get, unless of course you can get one that will bridge two burners. Apart from that the only other options would be do just do partial volume boils (3 or less gallons) and top off with spring water until you can get a gas burner capable of doing full volume boils, or go the heat stick route.
 
I brew buddy of mine built some heat sticks using the information on this page from Cedar Creek Networks. Be very sure that you're up to doing this correctly and safely, or you can do a lot of damage very quickly to yourself and your home!
 
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