Max pot size for stove top brewing

The other title I was going to use was "Did I just screw up by getting an 8g pot".

I'm interested in the methods that Deathbrewer posted for partial and all grain brewing on the stove so I wanted to get another pot to go with my 5g one. I think I screwed up though because I got an 8g pot (thinking it would be good for the future) without checking the dimensions. I really can't see this thing working on my stove. So before I look to try and send it back I wanted to see what others were using on their stove.

I used to use a 24qt stainless on the stove when I started out many moons ago. I used a gas stove, not a very powerful one, and only did partial-boil extract brews.

Recently started brewing again, and I picked up a 40qt aluminum pot. Trying to prep it by boiling 8 gallons of water for 30 minutes, I had it on my gas stove (which has a "power burner" in the front quadrant), but it A) was huge, just barely fitting under the overhead microwave, and B) took almost two hours to boil! So, I resorted to using a turkey burner out in the garage to do full boil brewing.

I'd say a 6gal pot is about the largest I'd try to use on the stovetop, and never for full boils. YMMV...

My first thought when I saw the title was: Whatever you range will bring to a boil

I use a 10 gallon pot on my stove and can JUST get 7 gallons to a rolling boil. The key for me was the size: I had 2 options, get a tall narrower pot or a short squater pot and I chose the shorter one since it fits under my overhead microwave AND it allows me to also use my back burner. I know I'm in the minority but I'd rather brew in my kitchen than outside.

When I drain the first runnings I immediately get that going on full power with a lid partially on to get it up to a boil. By the time that is almost to a boil my sprage water is ready to be run-off and I start adding that. Takes about another 15-20 min to get that going with the lid partially on. Once it's rolling I remove the lid and start the timer.

Eric

insulate insulate insulate Ijust started using a vary cheap light weight aluminium turkey fryer pot from a guarage sale. insulated the outside with a silver foil faced car front window shade cut to size we had laying around the house. I have no problems boiling 6 gallons on my stove

If I use two burners I can boil 7 gallons in about an hour.

I have an older Tappan range (gas stove) which has one high output burner. I never did research the specs on this model (note to self to do search) but the burner brings 7 gallons to a rolling boil in respectable time. I could probably do it quicker using a propane burner, but I have a decent setup in the basement, so I use my stove top.

I use a 10 gallon brew pot without any trouble at all.

Salute!

griffondg said:

I use a 10 gallon pot on my stove and can JUST get 7 gallons to a rolling boil. The key for me was the size: I had 2 options, get a tall narrower pot or a short squater pot and I chose the shorter one since it fits under my overhead microwave AND it allows me to also use my back burner. I know I'm in the minority but I'd rather brew in my kitchen than outside.

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I'd also prefer to stay inside for now. I've just started and I'm just getting the routine down so I'd hate to switch things up so soon into the hobby. The 8g pot I have does fit under my microwave but the diameter is just huge compared to the burner.

The problem is I need to decide before trying it so I can return it. I probably should have just went with another 5g pot. Now I either have to try to use the 10g one inside, or go look to throw money at this and get the turkey fryer to go with the 10g pot, or exchange it for another 5g pot.

Brewing the first partial mash this Sunday isn't looking good.

Pretz, just go with what you have and see what happens.


If you wait for all the lights to turn green you'll never get to town.



EDIT: If your 8 gallon pot has a large diameter it allows you use two burners at once.

I've seen a few wrapped in the silver insulation foil "Land of Oz" was talking about.Always an option.

LandofOZ said:

insulate insulate insulate Ijust started using a vary cheap light weight aluminium turkey fryer pot from a guarage sale. insulated the outside with a silver foil faced car front window shade cut to size we had laying around the house. I have no problems boiling 6 gallons on my stove

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Is this the type with the bubble-cells and foil on both sides?

http://www.reflectixinc.com/images/uploads/allpdfs/f41 foil bubble lit 7 04.pdf

greatest heat loss is through the sides, Most area, insulation is cheap even if you just use a towel, just keep it hiigh enough from bottom of pot to keep from burning down the house, you would hate to have a burnt house ale

the car window shade is foil over white plastic sheet , i looked at my local Home depot and the have insulation rolls that were not bubble, I dont think i would use the bubble wrap but if that is all u got give it a try, keep it high enough of the bottom of the pot to keep from bursting/melting the bubles

I think fiberglass water heater wrap might be better, less flammable....

This looks like bubble to me...

RCCOLA said:

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arturo7 said:

Pretz, just go with what you have and see what happens.

If you wait for all the lights to turn green you'll never get to town.

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That is true. But if it doesn't work then I have an 8g pot that is doing nothing but taking up space, which I can't return. Or if I wish to use it I'm forced to brew outside and spend more money on turkey fryer.

EDIT: If your 8 gallon pot has a large diameter it allows you use two burners at once.

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I did eyeball that but it probably won't work on my stove.

I wrapped a cheap towel around my pot and got a 4.5g roiling boil on my glass top.
You can always do less in your 8g pot.

Go to your local welding shop and purchase a Welding Blanket or Curtain. These are fairly high heat resistant and used where sparks and splatter occur during welding operations. They are not fireproof, but they provide more flame retardant than the bubble insulation shown above in the pictures.

I use one on my electric smoker as well as my Brew pot and if you keep it up away from direct flame contact, it will give you excellant insulating coverage.

Here is a link where you can see what the product looks like and decide for yourself if it provides the type of protection and insulating properties you need: http://www.wilsonindustries.com/welding-flame_shields.htm

Salute!

I just picked up an 8g aluminum stock pot yesterday for doing full stovetop boils. I did a test boil with 5g of tap water, and it boiled after about 75 min with the lid on. It continued to boil with the lid partially on but would stop boiling with the lid completely off.

rwiseman63 said:

I just picked up an 8g aluminum stock pot yesterday for doing full stovetop boils. I did a test boil with 5g of tap water, and it boiled after about 75 min with the lid on. It continued to boil with the lid partially on but would stop boiling with the lid completely off.

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Gas, coil or glass top?

northernlad said:

Gas, coil or glass top?

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Glass top.

Same as my POS glass top.Led to me buying a turkey friar.Much happier now.

RCCOLA said:

Same as my POS glass top.Led to me buying a turkey friar.Much happier now.

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+1 Depends on the stove, depends on the pot. If the pot is wider than your glass-top burner area, it's not going to heat efficiently no matter how much insulation you wrap it with.

I tried my first batch with a 21-quart enamel canning pot on my glass-top stove, and I couldn't even bring about 3 gallons to a real boil. The pot was wider than the burner area (but not wide enough to go over 2 burners), and it also had a raised center (not helpful!), so the whole brewing session went fairly badly. I bought a Bayou Classic SP-10 propane burner, and started brewing outside, which is great as far as I'm concerned. But if you really want (or need) to be able to brew indoors, then get a pot that fits your burner well and work within its size limitations. Obviously, just in my opinion/experience...

artguy said:

+1 Depends on the stove, depends on the pot.

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+1. Absolutely critical your pot be flat. The one I have has an aluminum pellet bottom and is as flat as my exwife. Ranges differ as well. The old ones do not work as well as the new ones.
Get as big a pot as you can but try and keep the diameter the same or barely over the burner.

I have an aluminum 28 qt pot from a turkey fryer that I use on my smoothtop range. I do full boils in it, but I have noted that it will take a long time to get to a boil, except when I put the lid on it. Bad part about that is that I need to be real close all the time for when it boils up, but the good side of that is that I don't lose very much to evaporation.

I do my brewing indoors on my gas range (all grain, 5 gallon batches). I have a 5 gallon and an 8 gallon aluminum pot. I do modified BIAB (DeathBrewer's Method). You should read the thread on "Improved StoveTop Boiling". That should give you several ideas on how to make your life easier.

I'm using a 35 liters aluminium pot on a coil cooking element stove. I don't know how powerful my stove is, but I observed that it takes 10 minutes to raise of 8°C, 26 liters of water.

I also tried to use two cooking element (half/half). But it didn't work in my case.

rwiseman63 said:

I just picked up an 8g aluminum stock pot yesterday for doing full stovetop boils. I did a test boil with 5g of tap water, and it boiled after about 75 min with the lid on. It continued to boil with the lid partially on but would stop boiling with the lid completely off.

Click to expand...

I have a similar size pot that did the same thing when I tested it with tap water -- wouldn't boil unless the lid was part-way on. I did my first brew with it yesterday, though, and I noticed that I could keep the wort boiling even without the lid... I assume that the foam covering most of the wort surface helped insulate enough to the point where I didn't need the lid. My guess is that in general, boil performance will be somewhat better with wort than with tap water.