Purchase an electric heat source???

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ayoungrad

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I live in an apartment without outdoor space and only a ceramic/glass-top stove (my kitchen only has about 16 square feet or less of open floor). I am able to bring 3-3.5 gallons to a boil on my stove and have made some good beers but I'm thinking about moving to full boil. I am going to try splitting my batches into 2 pots and that will likely work in the short term but it has its obvious drawbacks.

Assuming I will quickly tire of this I have started looking into a new electric heat source. From what I see, there are heatsticks, electric brew heaters and convection heat plates amongst a few others.

Heatsticks seem to have a limited lifespan according to some and don't seem to be sold in ready to use format. It seems many are not standard U.S. voltage or require a dedicated outlet?

Electric brew sticks seem to cost about $150-200, which I don't mind paying but I have never seen reviews of them.

I saw in a couple of places that the convection heat plates have difficulty with big volumes.

Is there any good solution? In a nutshell, what I'm looking for is a powerful electric heat source that I can use in my tiny kitchen to create rolling full boils and end up with 5.5 to 6.0 gallons after a 60 to 90 minute boil. And I'd like to buy it ready-to-use for under $500. It this possible? Or is this what everyone on here is looking for?
 
Thanks. I looked briefly. A few things that would be great if I ever move into a bigger place and in the meantime, a bunch of options as well.

Thanks again.
 
Wow, this site is great, Jawbox, any experience with any of their electric heat sticks?
This is exactly what I was looking for.
 
If you want to do full boils quickly you'll need to use at least a 3500 watt heating element in my opinion, 5500 watt is better. However, these require a 240V/30A electric service (standard dryer outlet). If you can get access to a dryer outlet you'd be good to go.
 
Check out this link. (Amazon link at bottom of this post) It may be a fairly reasonably price option for you. I have this setup, and it's worked well for me. Not perfect, but perfectly workable. It will keep a rolling boil on about 6.5 gallons and get there fairly quickly. I think the heating element's around 1650 watts on 120 volts.

Caveat: The heating element is not failproof. Mine burned out after about a year's fairly heavy use. 14-18 sessions. I thought the whole setup was toast, but when I called the manufacturer I found that they'd ship me another heating element ( heatstick, really) for $28.00 post paid. The new unit worked great, and I'm back on track.


An additional thought: The heating element just hangs over the side of the liquid vessel. The bracket the heating element hangs on trips a switch on the back of the heating element that allows it to turn on. It seems to me that the heating element safety switch could be easily bypassed by an external wedge to close the circuit. That way the heating element could be used in any metal vessel, not just the Cajun cooker, as it's a fully enclosed and grounded unit.

So, if you already have a nice aluminum or stainless wort cooker, you could call the Cajun people and just order the $28.00 heating element and hang it on your existing pot. It's probably cheaper, and better made than most heat sticks.

BTW: I cracked open the heating element that went bad on me. The electronics for the thermostat control and the LED readout were the problem. I was easy to I.D. the key wiring and rewired the unit to bypass the thermostat and readout elements and connect the 120v and ground directly to the calrod. Works fine and will use for a backup or to heat additional water in a stainless steel pot I already have.

I've ramble on here, and may have lost the thread, am on homebrew number 2, my limit, so bare with me. If you have questions, let me know, I'd be glad to provide further details.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002JQ3KQ4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
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I used the same electric fryer set up for my first AG batch. Came out really good.
 
About 30-45 minutes depending on the volume of the strike water and the initial temperature of the water. Just a guess — I'm retired and ain't in to the timing thing too much anymore. The cooker's not going to set any speed records, but it's up to most tasks, just takes a little more patience than propane would. I think the convenience trade-off's worth it though.
 
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How many gallons is this?
About 6.5 gallons. Larger would be nice, but the size works for me.

BTW, one of the reasons I think the unit can boil such a large volume of wort with a relatively small heating element is that the aluminum pot is inside a larger metal jacket with about 3/8 inch of dead air space in between. This seems to trap the heat from the kettle. Even at full boil, the outer jacket is only slightly warm. I'm getting to sound like a salesman on these things, just wish I could find a way to make a commission.:rolleyes:
 
A word of advice on heating elements. Your going to want to have some sort of GFI in you circuit. These things draw lots of amps and can easily kill you if your not careful. Be sure to either get a cord with GFI in it or a GFCI breaker in you panel to protect yourself.
That being said you'll need to use 240V for a good boil unless your using your stove as well as the element. If you have 20A circuits in your kitchen (which you should have if your place has updated wiring) you can run a 2k watt 120V element max. This should be ok for full 6.5 gal boils if you use the stove heat too.
 
Anyone using insulation around the Cajun Injector to help make and maintain the boil easier? Thanks for the idea guys. I've been wanting to go electric (my stovetop is looking rough), but the cost has kept from taking the next step. This is a reasonable option.
 
Anyone using insulation around the Cajun Injector to help make and maintain the boil easier?

BTW, one of the reasons I think the unit can boil such a large volume of wort with a relatively small heating element is that the aluminum pot is inside a larger metal jacket with about 3/8 inch of dead air space in between. This seems to trap the heat from the kettle. Even at full boil, the outer jacket is only slightly warm.

Sounds like extra insulation would be unnecessary.
 
You're probably right Dr. Fancois. Just can't ever have too much insulation. ;)

Picked one up today at Academy for $80. Gotta give a go this afternoon!
 
If you want to do full boils quickly you'll need to use at least a 3500 watt heating element in my opinion, 5500 watt is better. However, these require a 240V/30A electric service (standard dryer outlet). If you can get access to a dryer outlet you'd be good to go.

Hatfield,

The 3,500 watt do not require the standard dryer outlet correct? I rent in Chicago and those outlets are nearly impossible to come buy for under $1600 a month for a 1 BR so it's just not going to be an option for me anytime soon. I've been wanting to put together an electric system with as big of a pot as I can have without a dryer type outlet...... Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm in a situation similar to that off blizzard's. Been stovetop brewing for almost a year and I'm really ready to move up, but I have a small place and no outside.
 
Dr. Francois - Academy is a brick and morter store. (www.academy.com). The store I went to had several in stock.

Brought the thing home and wanted to see how long it would take to boil water. Let's just say this isn't going to work for the impatient types out there.

In bringing to boil 6 gallons of water, here are my readings with the Cajun Injector Electric Turkey Fryer:

0 min 76 degrees
5 min 84 degrees
10 min 92 degrees
15 min 102 degrees
20 min 111 degrees
25 min 120 degrees
30 min 128 degrees
35 min 136 degrees
40 min 145 degrees
45 min 153 degrees
50 min 161 degrees
55 min 169 degrees
60 min 177 degrees
65 min 183 degrees
70 min 191 degrees
75 min 199 degrees
80 min 205 degrees
84 min Boiling!!!!! (Strong boil too)

So... Takes forever, but gets there eventually. Once boiling, it was a much stronger boil than I can achieve on my stovetop though. FWIW.
 
But it looks like it wouldn't be too terrible to go from mash temp to boil.
I must say, I am intrigued. I will be much more intrigued come February in Michigan.
 
Actually, a 3,500 watt heating element would definitely need a dryer outlet. At 120Volts a 3,500 watt element would pull 29 amps! The biggest element you could use on a 20amp dedicated circuit would be a 2,000watt element. (this would draw close to 17amps)

Like someone mentioned above, one option would be to use your stove top and add a 2000 watt heat stick to the pot to help speed up your boils.

Otherwise, you would need to find yourself an apartment with a dryer outlet:(

Hatfield,

The 3,500 watt do not require the standard dryer outlet correct? I rent in Chicago and those outlets are nearly impossible to come buy for under $1600 a month for a 1 BR so it's just not going to be an option for me anytime soon. I've been wanting to put together an electric system with as big of a pot as I can have without a dryer type outlet...... Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm in a situation similar to that off blizzard's. Been stovetop brewing for almost a year and I'm really ready to move up, but I have a small place and no outside.
 
Would it be possible to ask the owner to put one in? From my understanding they are not that expensive to get put in and don't cost all that much each brew day (like $.40).

Proabably not an option. My landlord is the spawn of Satan.......
 
The electric stove is usually plugged in to a 50A outlet so if you slide out the stove out you might be able to use that to plug in a cord that goes to a sub panel with 2 30A 240V breakers and go from there.
Dave
Burrning Barn Brewing
 
I'd suggest a 2000 watt element and a supplementary heat stick or combining with your stove. This keeps you on 120 which will be easier to manage in your situation. I'm going to be using a 2000 watt element in combination with a commercial bucket heater (~1000 watt) on my next brew and will let you know how it goes. (Seperate circuits obviously)
 
David & Mako,

Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into these options (I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to electrical work) and see what fits my situation. I'm trying to put together a HERMS system so it may a little bit more complicated in my situation.
 
If your stuck with 120v in an apt, I would suggest using two 120v heat sticks. One on the kitchens gfi, one on the bathroom gfi.
A friend of mine uses two 120v sticks in his garage for large boils. Both sticks will bring up the temp pretty fast, then you can remove one to maintain the boil You can get online gfi cords at HD for about $25 if you need them.
As a landlord myself, I don't let my tenants know I brew. Don't want to give them any ideas!
 

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