Burnt Wort

So Ive done some research and had some experience but want to get some opinions here.

Has anyone had any problems with getting a burnt/smoky smell and flavor to your beer from a heating element.

I recently replaced the element and have done two brews with no issues, but my issue before was when I added any ingredients such as hops, spices, chocolate, etc. My element I believe would get caked on quickly and overheat causing the burning and also tripping my GFCI sometimes. So now I am putting all ingredients in a bag and it seems to work fine.

has anyone had this problem before or have any ideas to improve.

I did back when I was playing with using an element to ramp up/maintain mash temps so I went back to using my coil in the HLT....kind of a stay with what you know and works for you mentality but the rest of my system is electric. Converted from gas and would never go back.

You could get a ULWD or LWD element. They are supposed to help prevent scorching. I'm currently planning my small eBIAB setup, and am planning on using these elements.
http://bostonheatingsupply.com/SP10868KL.aspx

BoxBrewer said:

You could get a ULWD or LWD element. They are supposed to help prevent scorching. I'm currently planning my small eBIAB setup, and am planning on using these elements.
http://bostonheatingsupply.com/SP10868KL.aspx

Click to expand...

Already using a 5500 watt LWD element.

Yes, I used to use my kettle to heat up sparge water for my HERMS system, which allowed quicker heat up time in the HLT after the strike water was added to the mash tun. I would be heating the kettle water at the same time as the strike water in the HLT. I would then pump it into my HLT while the mash was starting. I saved time if I missed my strike temperature but heating just water in the kettle would put a scale on the element. When I went to boil the wort, I got a nasty burnt taste in the beer from scorching wort. I don’t do this any more and the element was easily cleaned. I make a point now of making sure the element gets scrubbed thoroughly after each batch. It seems the scale would “trap” wort against the element and give it time to burn, IMO.

Yes. Use HERMS. Way less chance of a gotcha. I have had it happen using RIMS and thus went to HERMS.