brewing on an electric stove?

Hi so i finally got my beer kit but am running into a few problems already, for 1 the pot i plan to use for the boil in probably a 5 gallon steel pot from a turkey frying kit, will it cause off flavors due to the oil that was used in it? I had a hard time cleaning it all out. Second of all i am using an electric stove to brew on but it a glass top. I did a test boil with 2 gallons of water it took about 20 minutes before it started to bubble a bit but it wouldnt ever boil, i smelt something burning and it looked like a black cloud floating in the water? What can i do to help the water boil on this stove top?

Search around. Some people have built electric "helpers" using water heater elements to put into the pot. Some seem to boil exclusively using these devices. (Although it takes multiples that way.)

first: If it is from a turky fryer, it should be either Stainless steel or Aluminum, both are fine for brewing.

second: If your pot does not sut perfectly flat on a radiant heat stovetop, you are going to have a hard time getting a rolling boil.

Look into getting a 4gal stainless pot new so that you know the bottom is not deformed. you can do a 2-2.5gal partial boil in that sized pot.

Otherwise, look into getting a turky fryer base and brew outdoors.

also i just looked at the pot again and were the water was its now discolored?

Soak your pot in some Oxy Clean or the like for a little bit to give it a good clean and try your test boil again. I am one of the people that built an 'electric helper' (aka heatstick) and it works very well in combination with my electric stove to get a good rolling boil. I couldn't do it without one in my 8 gallon pot. They're a lot easier to build than it initially sounds, just make sure you use a GFI socket with it, you can buy them to plug inline at Home Depot if you can't install on in the wall.

Ky-Ale said:

also i just looked at the pot again and were the water was its now discolored?

Click to expand...

Sounds like your pot is aluminium, not stainless steel. I think you don't want to use Oxy Clean on aluminium, but I forget if that's true. Check before you do.

You may have to do a partial boil with a smaller pot like a 20qt
stock pot you can get pretty cheap. Then top off with water
that you've already boiled to remove chlorine from. Then start
looking for a propane burner to brew outside.

those ceramic/glass top electric stoves are rough. they're great for cooking, but suck for boiling wide pots with a large volume.

my stove like that, I had better luck doing two 12qt stock pots (a split boil) then combining in teh fermenter, and topping off to 5 gallons. split ALL ingredients evenly, for good hop utilization.

Ky-Ale said:

also i just looked at the pot again and were the water was its now discolored?

Click to expand...

That's the oxide layer on your aluminium pot. It's a good thing to have on your aluminium pot.

Check out this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/faq-aluminum-pots-boil-kettles-49449/

Until I get my Christmas bonus (and spend it on a propane burner system I've been looking at), I use my electric stove as well. I've just gotten in the habit of moving the kettle around on the burner every few minutes. You'll notice that the moment you move it, the wort starts rolling around inside, and it gets a good froth to the boil

I had one of those glass top stoves in an apartment years ago. One problem is that burned stuff builds up on top of the glass. If that is happening on yours, then you are not getting the pot as close to the element as it would be if the gunk was removed. I tried a lot of stuff, but the only thing that worked for me were those steel wool pads that are made from a plastic. They're green. Anyhow, I scrubbed and got rid of the gunk and the stove was better...hope that helps.