Full boils on the stove top

My wife and I have been doing partial boils (about 2.5-3 gallons) and would really like to step up to full boils, but we live in a condo and don't think it would be wise to put a banjo burner on our balcony.

Before I drop some serious money on a 7 gallon pot I wanted to find out if anyone has been successful doing a full 5 gallon boil on a gas stove top.

Yes, several people on here do them. When I boil in the kitchen, I straddle the pot over two burners and crank them both.

You could also try buying a canning element. However, if your stove is a GE product, don't even bother with that!

hotstick might help if you cant reach a boil

Thanks for the replies!

Our stove is gas, 4 burners with 9" (on center) between the front and back burners and only 17" between the burners and the microwave that's directly above it.

The stove is GE, but I think the canning element is for electric stoves. I did a quick search on "hotstick" but didn't find anything that seemed like it would apply - so what is it?

You can split the wort up into two separate but equal pots and calculate hop additions accordingly. I use two pots to get the wort to a boil and then transfer to my 32 quart pot. From there it takes just a few more minutes to get it back to rolling and I'm off. My stove is small, low grade and electric, but it works just fine.

BangorBrewer said:

You can split the wort up into two separate but equal pots and calculate hop additions accordingly. I use two pots to get the wort to a boil and then transfer to my 32 quart pot. From there it takes just a few more minutes to get it back to rolling and I'm off. My stove is small, low grade and electric, but it works just fine.

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+1. I do all-grain this way, but started by doing split extract boils.

BangorBrewer said:

You can split the wort up into two separate but equal pots and calculate hop additions accordingly. I use two pots to get the wort to a boil and then transfer to my 32 quart pot. From there it takes just a few more minutes to get it back to rolling and I'm off. My stove is small, low grade and electric, but it works just fine.

Click to expand...

Awesome idea! I could get a 7+ gallon pot and do 1/2 in there and 1/2 in the pot I already have.

heat stick is basically a hot water heater element that is on the end of a piece of plastic pipe. I know this sounds crazy but if you use gfci outlet its safe. you can build one for about 50 bucks. I can boil 14 gallons in a keggle with a small 50000 btu burner with the help of a heatstick. Without the stick theres no chance. You can find a DIY build for these if you search brewing heat stick

Honus said:

The stove is GE, but I think the canning element is for electric stoves.

Click to expand...

You are correct sir, missed that part of your post.

I do full boils on my gas stove top all the time... Like someone said previously, just get a kettle that is wide enough to cover two of your burners and you should be golden... I've also found that using a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil as a partial lid (cover about 1/2 to 2/3 of top of kettle) will get a more rigorous boil. Patience is a must though, it can take a good 45 minutes or more to get to boil. My next project is going to be a DIY 1500w heatstick that I'll use to assist and hopefully dramatically speed up the boiling process.