Concave pot bottom

I just did a test boil on a new 4.5 gallon pot on my kitchen electric stove and it did not go so weel, what I did find out is the bottom of my pot is slightly concaved and doesn't touch the glass top of the stove. This is robbing me of precious heating power! ARe there anythings I can do to fix this? I'm thinking of setting it up on some block and dropping something heavy in the pot to try flatten it out - good/bad idea?

I have done that, it worked fine.

I put the pot on the floor in the garage, put a 4x4 post in the bottom, and wacked the post with a big hammer.

The pot I wacked was aluminum. Stainless I think is more brittle, but I think it will still work.

Yeah just tried it with a 20 oz (?) hammer and a cloth to stop the non stainless hammer wrecking the stainless pot. No luck really, all that happens is the bottom pops in and out . I think I need to put it up on a ring of bocks and really giving it a good whack with the hammer/wood combo.

Some pots start concave to have some give once its heated to boiling temps...I'm be careful about wacking pots if you don't know whether or not this is the case for yours. Have you contacted the manufacture?

electric_beer said:

Some pots start concave to have some give once its heated to boiling temps...I'm be careful about wacking pots if you don't know whether or not this is the case for yours. Have you contacted the manufacture?

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It never got to boil, thats the thing. The concave is so bad (about 1/8") that a lot of heat is lost in the void between the pot and the glass cooktop.

mattd2 said:

It never got to boil, thats the thing. The concave is so bad (about 1/8") that a lot of heat is lost in the void between the pot and the glass cooktop.

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Dang. Can you return it and get a new one?

Yes, if it is new, I'd return it. If it isn't... get a bigger hammer!!

Seriously, put it in the dirt or grass so the bottom can give a bit, but be careful not to over do it. Get a 4x4, and whack that mother! Move the 4x4 around as you are whacking.

Maybe trim the corners of the 4x4 so you dont have anything pointy.

Get someone to take pics while you are doing it!!! Great brew story!

uhhhh, instead of beating the crap out of kitchen ware, I think a metal circle (copper if you can find and afford it) the right diameter, may help 'fill the gap'.

get a really good heat stick... you are going to need it for full 5 gallon boils anyway as the cook top will never give you enough heat on its own. Use the heat stick to supplement the range heat.

There are several threads on electric systems and the consensus of most threads is that a typical home range can not kick out enough heat to get a good, rolling, full boil. There is also a good thread on making your own heat stick for about $50 bucks. Or, you can buy a nice stainless steel one from many brew supply shops for about 20,000 pretty pennies.

Thanks for the advic:
Heat stick - good idea but don't want to spend any more money at the mo, if I went this route I might just put a hole in the side and screw in an hot water element and not use the stovetop.
My other option is brewing outside on the BBQ, should be able to get 2 burners going. Don't really want to go this route but I might have to