What do you set your e-kettles on?

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I am building my stand and it will have a laminate top. I'm thinking I don't really want to set the BK directly on it. Looking for some ideas if you have any.
 
I am building my stand and it will have a laminate top. I'm thinking I don't really want to set the BK directly on it. Looking for some ideas if you have any.

My stand has that "running boards" metal on it. I have no idea where the guy who built it got it, but it works great because it cleans up so well and doesn't get hot. The photo is hard to see:

dscf5538-47721.jpg


That's version 2.2 or something (it's changed quite a bit since the photo again!) but you can see the stuff I'm talking about. It's actually pretty shiny and not unattractive. My MLT and HLT are currently bottom draining, and it's not easy to cut through but it's possible but it doesn't sound like that matters to you.

(I know the stand is uglier than heck, but it works. Just look at that metal sheeting, please! :cross:)
 
I set them on milk crates for now. I do have a stainless prep table I will eventually set up
 
Yooper said:
Diamond plate!!!!!! Yes. Not "running boards metal stuff". :D

"Running boards metal" makes any stand look pretty - yours included. Thanks for the idea.

I'm thinking also of a large trivet - like antique maybe. Or also thought about buying a single granite or ceramic tile.
 
"Running boards metal" makes any stand look pretty - yours included. Thanks for the idea.

I'm thinking also of a large trivet - like antique maybe. Or also thought about buying a single granite or ceramic tile.

Ceramic tile would be gorgeous. I'm accident prone, so I wanted something that wouldn't break. I drop stuff all the time, and I clean up a LOT of spills.

The outside of the E-kettles do get quite hot, as I'm sure you know. A large trivet look would be awesome.
 
My E-kettles also are on a wooden bench, and are resting on thick, round placemats from Kohl's.
(http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-442181/sonoma-life-style-striated-round-placemat.jsp)

They are 20 gallon Blichmanns, which have flat bottoms and fit perfectly on the circumference of the placemat. Many people use cork, which is very heat resistant (and relatively expensive) but I figure that my HLT never goes above 170 degrees Fahrenheit, My mash tun is usually around 154 or so, and my boil kettle (of course) is at 212. I have never had any issues with the bench beneath the mat getting too warm or warping. Works great for me. And, because of the nice alignment with the bottom of the Blichmanns, you can't even see them! And at $3.00 each, it's hard to beat. Works for me.
 
Slitting 1/2" hose up the middle allows it to be easily installed on the bottom of a keggle and does wonders for insulating it from the surface it rests upon. (Use the material of your choice, I happened to have reinforced vinyl laying around when I built mine.)
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Thanks for the input everyone! Some really great ideas!

The thought occurred to me this morning - would a concrete stepping stone stand up to the heat?
 
Thanks for the input everyone! Some really great ideas!

The thought occurred to me this morning - would a concrete stepping stone stand up to the heat?

Realize "the heat" is only boiling wort. Even your laminate should be able to handle 212F. A better reason to insulate the bottom is to minimize heat loss.
 
Realize "the heat" is only boiling wort. Even your laminate should be able to handle 212F. A better reason to insulate the bottom is to minimize heat loss.

Excellent points. I should also mention that I have even one more reason to put something underneath - I would like to raise the height of the BK an inch or two above the laminate (simply because of my cfc is gravity fed).
 
I've done three boils, with one for 2 hours, on my laminate countertop with no sign of wear on the countertop. I have a keggle so just the rim makes contact.
 
Had my 120V 2000W e-kettle on a 1" thick wood chopping block during a 1 hour BIAB mash and following 1 hour boil and it warped...maybe cheap chopping block/wrong wood? Epicurean cutting boards are rated to 350 degrees but crazy expensive. A 12"x12"/16"x16" granite or marble tile would work and less than $6 each at Home Depot.

If I get my stainless prep table together it wouldn't matter but might try silicone mat and kettle would't slide around. Anyone know where a person can find a 16"x16" square of thick silicone?
 
I should also mention that I have even one more reason to put something underneath - I would like to raise the height of the BK an inch or two above the laminate (simply because of my cfc is gravity fed).
Cut a circle out of a piece of rigid insulation from HD.
 
Zombie thread...

Any more thoughts, ideas, comments as to what would work?

Not worried about setting my brew bench on fire (wood ignites around 300F).. but it does get a little warm, and who knows how high laminate flooring (what I used to top my bench) will go before ignition..
 
Zombie thread...

Any more thoughts, ideas, comments as to what would work?

Not worried about setting my brew bench on fire (wood ignites around 300F).. but it does get a little warm, and who knows how high laminate flooring (what I used to top my bench) will go before ignition..

I doubt that your e-brew kettle is going to get hot enough to do any damage to laminate flooring. My E-BIAB keggle sits on my brew cart (a "re-purposed" gas grill chassis) atop a piece of a commercial interior office door that I picked up when they were remodeling a nearby building. It's laminate over heavy-grade press board. There's not a mark on it.
 
I use a shelf system that I bought at Lowes. I spent around $40 with the wheels. Each shelf will hold 200 pounds and it's easy to wheel around the garage where I brew.

image-377940482.jpg
 
On my original setup I used a wood table with cork mats under the boil kettle and it worked great. Nothing used under the MLT or HLT:

IMG_6495.jpg


On my new setup I switched to a stainless table and don't use anything at all. More than a couple of inches away from the boil kettle the table is barely warm:

IMG_2253.jpg


I did try a couple of large thin silicone pizza mats under the boil kettle but it did very little to keep heat out of the stainless table.

Kal
 
I did try a couple of large thin silicone pizza mats under the boil kettle but it did very little to keep heat out of the stainless table.

I am getting set up to switch to e-brew from propane. Have a stainless utility table. Kal, I totally trust you since you are the e-brew man, but stainless on stainless seems like they are going to conduct heat.

You used something like this and it made no difference?
 
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I found large thick silicon mats on Amazon....think they were called dish drain mats....anyway very nice thick silicone
 
Kal's setup is over the top awesome!
I set my 20 gallon pot on an octagon fish tank stand.Actually works really well
 
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