Full boil questions

Ok, so i'm looking to go from doing partial boils to doing full boils and I have a few questions:

1. Can a full boil be done on an electric stove? If not, is there some kind of insulation that might work to get the boil going?

2. How big of a pot do I need to get?

I'm looking at this one.... http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1036-Stainless-Steamer/dp/B0009JXYUA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1262540790&sr=8-2

Thanks for your help.

1. depends on your stove. glass top stoves won't do full boils due to safety mechanisms. electric coil stoves and gas burners might work, though you may need to straddle two burners or insulate the kettle.

2. 36qt is 9 gallons, should be good for 5 gallon batches.

1. Maybe for a 3gal batch, but if you're doing the standard 5gal batch you will probably need to get a turkey fryer or banjo burner.

2. For a full 5gal batch I start with around 6.55gal usually, so I would say a 7gal pot is your minimum with some foam control (fermcapS).

Someone may chime in and tell me I'm wrong, I've never boiled on my stove.

Most of the horror stories I hear about broken glass tops on electric stoves happen because someone went from partial to full boils in 32+ quart kettle. The bottoms are never perfectly flat on these pots, so you have different pressure points at different heat settings with different pots. With the increased weight of a 6.5gal starting boil, and the increase in time the coil is on to get the boil rolling, it's a recipe for disaster. No pun intended.

Long story short, if you have a glass-top stove, get a turkey burner and do your thing outside in the garage or on a deck/patio (watch it at all times!), maybe put down a tarp to help with boil-over cleanup.

I have seen people post here with pics of using water heater insulation wrap modified to fit their kettles, though I wouldn't use this method with an open-flame gas stove. YMMV.

FYI, if you want to do this inexpensively, here's a good burner: Bayou Classic SP10.

A nice 40qt aluminum kettle from Johnson-Rose here (note: no lid).

With a lid, the price frickin' skyrockets from every place I've checked, dunno why. I just cover mine with aluminum foil while I steep.

Brewing outside is not an option for me as I live in an apartment. They frown upon grilling and that sort of thing on the deck that we have. That's why I'm looking to use the stove.

Understood. It's not something everyone can do. However, the glass top thing still applies. From what I hear, if you have to replace that top, it's going to be almost as expensive as replacing the stupid stove!

Partial boils are not a bad way of going. Adding most of your extracts near the end of boil is the best tip I've seen yet in doing partials.

Good luck!

I have a 30qt pot I do boils in on an electric stove. It is a little under sized giving room for hot break and evaporation. When I was doing extract brews, I would have to do a little topping off. Now I collect wort in a couple of other smaller pots as well to get myself to full volume. It takes me just over an hour to get it to boil. This is without a lid or insulation.