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**RIC0** · 02-13-2013, 12:41 PM

I've brought 5 gal to a boil on my glass stove top but yes it takes some time. Have done two 4 gal boils which took time but did it and had good beer in the end.

**edmanster** · 02-13-2013, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SharonaZamboni

As mentioned before, the bottom of the pot needs to be completely flat. I use the largest burner on my glass top, and it took about 20-30 minutes to bring my four gallons to a boil. I don't think that straddling two burners will work well with the glass top, since they seem to need complete coverage or they cycle on and off too much.

thats why i love my stove.. i have the bridge element and have done 10 gallons with a lesson. watch for the break

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pickettj

I can tell you, for a fact, that it will not. You may get a good roll but you'll never reach a hot break.

i have to babysit mine with a spray bottle even at 6.5 gal in a 12 gal pot because my hot break will go over and i dont use fermcap or baby gas drops.. it does depend on the burners and how flat the bottom of the kettle is!!

runs4beer · 02-13-2013, 01:02 PM

Not all glass top stoves are created equal

I have a 50 amp Kenmore glass top and I have no problem getting 7 gallons of perboil volume up to a rolling boil at which point I dial back it down from 10 to 8. I'm sure that kettle and burner size has something to do with it as well. I have an 11w x18"h kettle and the burner is 10" I don't brew on the kitchen stove that often as I have small children and I have a designated room with my eHerms set up in that I do 10 gallon batches on. But if I want to quickly crank out a two vessel BIAB I use the kitchen stove to knockout a 3 hour 5 gallon batch. As was said the only to know is to do a test run. If you have a powerful stove and it still doesn't work see if you can find a kettle that is no more then one inch wider then the burner.

**IslandLizard** · 02-13-2013, 01:57 PM

I have an 8 gallon 14" wide SS kettle (NB Megapot) with a thick heavy triple-layer sandwiched bottom and do 6-6.5 gals full boils.

First I used a Kenmore glasstop stove and could barely retain a rolling boil using 2 burners, although the pot didn't entirely cover both elements, and I had to keep the lid partially on.

When we moved, we bought a new stove, a Samsung which has a triple element. The element is large (11.5") and my 14" wide kettle with a perfectly flat heavy bottom just covers it. Looks very promising, but looks can be deceiving.

I can only retain a full wild rolling boil if I (partially) cover the pot with the lid. So I use the lid part time, on and off, to blow off as much of the dimethyl sulfide precursors as possible. I'm thinking about using an insulation wrap of some sort around the kettle next, which might enable me to omit the lid entirely, as we are supposed to.

Without the lid, there is a boil, yes, but I wouldn't call it rolling.

Also there is a lot of weight on that glass top with that 6.5 gallons of wort in the kettle. I make 100% sure there is no sand, grit or other things between the kettle and glass top, and I don't dare to move or slide it once set. No tipping either! I also watch like a hawk for boil overs.

In short, this whole setup scares me a bit. I think I'm approaching some physical limits there. I'm looking for alternatives <nods>.

So, it all depends on the power and heat output of the element(s) and how the thermostatic controller regulates things. I can hear the element(s) cycling on and off while set at full power. Wish they could be set slightly higher, but that may damage things in the long run, who knows.

So I'd say, if you can get the boil to work with your setup, using either 1 or 2 pots, that's great for the short term, but think about the other options presented here for the future.

**Brewnoob1** · 02-13-2013, 02:08 PM

My own experience, I have a 7.5gallon aluminum pot that I use for full boils. On my glass stove top, I can get it to come to a soft boil. Definitely no rolling boil. I have a 12 gallon aluminum pot that takes FOREVER to come to a boil. It too will only burp or so when boiling on the stove top. Propane strictly for that one now.

**Pickettj** · 02-14-2013, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RuffRider

His claim is absolutely correct. Unless you raise the pressure of water (such as in a pressure cooker) and thus raise the temperature the water will boil at, you cannot raise the temperature past the boiling point.

Once you reach approximately 212 degree's at atmospheric pressure, latent heat of vaporization is added to the water causing it to flash to steam. This is why the volume of wort goes down during the boil. If the liquid in your turkey fryer was at 260 degrees, it would immediatly flash to steam...in it's entirety...gone. No more wort.

I stand corrected. The artificially high reading must have come from heat radiating offof the sides of my pot. I did lose a LOT of volume during the brew so I was definitely hotter than my stove boil. The boil I get on my glass top is less than impressive, even with full contact.

And a prior post is true, not all are created equal. Some may do a better job but mine doesn't so worth a darn. I can not get to hot break on my glass top stove no matter what I try.

Pelican521 · 02-14-2013, 12:21 PM

Agreed, I did my first extract on my kenmore flattop and with such a high gravity after I added 6+ lbs of DME, I had trouble getting my partial to boil.

I also read on several posts here and elsewhere to line your stove with foil to catch any boil overs. Do not do this on a flat top, I completely ruined my cook top. The foil burned into the stovetop, and when my wife used a cleaner (made for stove tips, it had a chemical reaction and actually ate into the glass!

Needless to say, it almost ended my brewing career...

If I knew all of the issues that involved using my stovetop I would have just went into my shed and pulled out my turkey fryer.

After doing a ton more reading and from experience I'll only be using propane.

My 2 cents