Hop stopper over element?

So I recently acquired a large hunk of perforated stainless. I'll be making a false bottom for my MLT, and thought I'd make a hop stopper for leaf hops for my boil kettle.

My BK has a bottom drain, so I can't really use a screen - it has to be like a false bottom. So what I was thinking was putting the mesh over the element, so hops and other additions can't sit on the element itself.

But I'm wondering if that would affect the boil. Anyone have experience with this? I'm concerned that it would keep a small amount of liquid trapped down around the element (it's 40% open area).

But if I put the screen under the element, I'm also concerned that those 1-2 gallons of liquid under there will just hang out and not mix with the rest of the boil.

What say the masses?



-Joe

I'd say your concern is a valid one. I would worry about trapping heat under a FB if it was above my element. On the other hand I wouldn't worry about the liquid under the FB from getting mixed in with the rest of the boil, convection currents and a vigorous boil should take care of that well enough. JMO

I like the idea because it seems like with an element the whole hops don't circulate in the boil as they do when heating from below like on a stove or with a burner because the heat is not coming from the lowest possible point. It's actually coming from above the hops that are sitting on the bottom of the kettle. There is no force to get them moving after they get under there in my opinion.

It would be cool to try your idea in a test while only boiling water and adding a few ounces of whole leaf hops to see what happens. I just threw away some old and possibly not mature whole hops that I totally would have donated to the cause.

Boy, heck of a lot of help we were huh? Split decision...

kevink said:

I like the idea because it seems like with an element the whole hops don't circulate in the boil as they do when heating from below like on a stove or with a burner because the heat is not coming from the lowest possible point. It's actually coming from above the hops that are sitting on the bottom of the kettle. There is no force to get them moving after they get under there in my opinion.

Click to expand...

I would think convection would take care of that. It's not like the water below the element is somehow not getting hot while everything above it is.

Why not just make a hop spider? Much simpler and easier to clean. What would stop the hop screen from moving during the boil? I'd think the heat currents would make it move letting hops get under it.

Mostly because I don't want the nylon bag in there. I'm trying to get away from plastics in my beer where I can.

We'll see. I don't use whole hops much anyway. I may just make a lid with the mesh for my turkey fryer strainer basket and lower that in.

-Joe

Try Wire Baskets - Industrial Grade Custom Wire Mesh Baskets, AnySizeBasket, Three M Tool, a little pricey but you can get a basket for just about anything!

I guess it depends on what type of hops you plan in doing. But I wouldn't worry about it sitting on the element. As others stated a rigorous boil will keep it from "resting" on it. And you'd probably need a much finer mesh in order to stop pellet hops. I'd lay it on the bottom, below the element.