Stainless steel scorch solutions

DPB · 03-25-2009, 12:39 AM

I purchased a ss pot and noticed scorching especially with the stout beers. Would setting the ss pot on a sheet of aluminum aid significantly to the distrubution of heat avoiding scorching. Are there any viable solutions or should I stick with aluminum?

**beerthirty** · 03-25-2009, 01:01 AM

Waht your a talking about is a heat disperser. It would have to be fairly thick, say 1/4". I used this setup when I was boiling things we don't discuss on this forum. The down side is it takes more BTU's and time because you have to heat the plate and keep it hot. It will spread the effective energy to the diameter of the plate thus reducing the chance of scorching by lowering the heat per square in.(bigger area, less energy per square in)

ArcaneXor · 03-25-2009, 01:07 AM

It's not the material that causes the scorching, it's the thickness and design of the bottom of the pot. Most decent stainless pots have a sandwiched design with an aluminum or copper core to distribute heat evenly and minimize scorching. Some cheap pots don't have that and are much more susceptible.

**beerthirty** · 03-25-2009, 01:20 AM

Just about any thin material will scorch(laminate or not) with the burners we use. Personally I don't crank it up until the boil has started, then adjust to a rolling boil. I have never had a problem with scorching in the BK. Now the HLT is another matter. Since I'm not worried about scorching sugar, I crank that puppy up to the full 170,000 btu and end up scrubbing mineral deposits off every other brew.