'preheating' LME before adding to kettle

I'm brewing partial mashes these days (and right now!) and I usually do the late extract addition. Somewhere between 2-6lbs of LME.

Ever since I started using a propane burner outside it takes a while for me to get to a boil again when I throw in the LME and the wort chiller at 15 mins. Especially on days like today when its windy and cold.

So I was wondering if there was any issue with me boiling a small amount of water (2 qts) and putting the lme in there and giving it a 'head start' before putting it into the kettle outside?

Does anyone see any issues with this?

So I'm 15 mins into the boil here.

If anyone wants to chime in now would be an awesome time!!!

thanks

A lid on your brew pot makes a HUGE difference on how fast you get back to boiling.

Uncover it once you get to a boil, to avoid DMS in the finished beer. I see no problem with preheating LME. Hell, it might make it easier to handle.

I throw my LME tub in a sink full of hot water when I start my boil. By the time I'm ready to add it, it's hot and much thinner.

I ran out of time and just chucked the LME in with the chiller, corn sugar, irish moss - all the stuff i usually add at 15 mins.

pot lid is on but doesnt get a good seal because of wort chller hoses coming out the top.

I do heat up the lme in the sink to make it easier to pour but i still finds it takes a long time to get to a boil. Right now its been in the pot, on the burner 15 mins and no boil yet.

next time I will try the pre-heat/ boil lme trick.

I hate the amount of heat my chiller sucked out of my wort at 15 minutes...so now I just toss it in at flameout, or at flameout -1 minute.

Folks on here said that was good enough, and after researching pasteurization temps and times, I figure they are right.

You don't really HAVE to boil LME. You can always add it at flameout and make sure it gets stirred in well.

those are both good ideas.

I could just add the lme AND wort chller at flame out, avoiding these headaches and wasting 20+mins of propane and time.

that sounds easier than boiling some lme with a little water. less pots to clean up too!

Switch to AG and the problem goes away

budbo I am sooooo ready. just need to buy and convert the bigger cooler.