Electric Burners

Hi All,

I am new to brewing and I am planning to start with small scale operations. My brewer friend has told me that I will need to boil about 3 gal of liquid to be able to make a 5 gallon carboy worth of beer. I am planning on conducting my brew operations in my basement and was planning on using an electric burner for heating.

I have found 3 burners that I thought might work for boiling the brew liquid.

• Waring Pro SB30 1300-Watt Portable Single Burner at Amazon
• Max Burton 6200 Deluxe 1800-Watt Induction Cooktop
• Cadco Portable 1500W Electric Single Burner HD Cast Iron Range

These 3 burners have a considerably larger power rating then most other portable burners.

I would think they would be sufficient for boiling 3 gal of liquid. Any replies regarding these products or general comments on using electric burners for brewing would be appreciated.

can all of these support the weight of your pot plus 3 gallons of wort safely?

Do you have just a household, kitchen stove? If you're not concerned about smells filling the house or taking up some kitchen space, partial boils on the scale of 2.5 - 3 gallons can just be done on the stove. I do 2.5 gallon boils, usually takes 15-20 minutes to get it boiling on a 10 inch burner on High. Just make sure to keep the lid on the pot, makes all the difference in the world!

While I agree with lucky about the stove, don't leave the lid on. DMS makes beer taste like cooked corn: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/DMS

I think he meant that you should leave the lid on until the water is boiling and before extract is added (assuming, of course, that you're not steeping grains first).

So use a lid if you want help getting the water warmer quicker, but once you add anything, don't cover.

dime1622 said:

I think he meant that you should leave the lid on until the water is boiling and before extract is added (assuming, of course, that you're not steeping grains first).

So use a lid if you want help getting the water warmer quicker, but once you add anything, don't cover.

Click to expand...

Yes, sorry I didn't make that clear.

With grains, I usually steep in a separate pot with x amount of water, and then start heating 2.5 gallons - x amount of water in my brew kettle, adding the grain tea when it's ready. Either way works though!

I could not discern the weight capacity from the Web Pages. If the BTUs of any of these units were sufficient but the device was tipsy due to weigh, I was planning on building some kind of support device around the burner.

My Range is ceramic top range where the stove surface is slightly recessed so a large pot is only half on the burner or is tilted quite a bit due to part of the pot sitting on the raised rim of the stove.

Rich711 said:

My Range is ceramic top range where the stove surface is slightly recessed so a large pot is only half on the burner or is tilted quite a bit due to part of the pot sitting on the raised rim of the stove.

Click to expand...

Ahh then yes this might not work. If you're planning on buying a separate burner for brewing, you'll probably find that most people will recommend a propane burner instead of an electric one. It'll be much easier to step up your process when and if it becomes necessary. You COULD use the propane burner in your basement, but it is not recommended and should usually be used outside, which is another potentially limiting factor depending on your living situation.

I just tried to boil 3 gal water in my 6gal pot outdoors(70F, light breeze) with a 900 watt electric burner, took a long time to reach 180F, wrapped the pot with a towel to insulate, reached 190F. Point being 900 watts won't cut it, but I bet a 1300 to 1800 watt burner would probably do fine if you want to go electric, which appeals to me for the simplicity, and potential to connect to a thermostat with a probe in the pot, for accuracy and boil-over avoidance. Propane burner will do for today's brew.

Rich711 said:

My Range is ceramic top range where the stove surface is slightly recessed so a large pot is only half on the burner or is tilted quite a bit due to part of the pot sitting on the raised rim of the stove.

Click to expand...

What diameter pot are you trying to use? Would a smaller diameter pot fit on there better? I do 5 gallon batches on my kitchen stove without any issues.

Check out this thread. Most of us use the Advantco 3500

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=301722