First brew under my belt

Well my first brew is done and in the primary fermenter. All went well other than it seemed to be a bit slow to get water up to temps to steep and boil. Anyone have this problem with an electric stove? Other questions I came across
Should I cover the brew kettle while steeping and boiling?

Should I stir in yeast or just put on top?

What should I use to clean brew kettle? Soap or no soap?

And my starting gravity appears to be 1.040-1.045? Brew is a cream ale is this normal. As I read more the temp of wert will effect this?

Thanks in advance to everyone for your help.

Covering the kettle might help speed heat-up time minimally, but there is no real benefit to keeping wort covered until after the boil, when it's possible for germs to fall into the pot. Although I suppose using a lid could affect the amount of boil-off, which is something some people calculate and account for in their recipes. Since boiling is a method of sanitizing you don't have to think about germs until the heat is off.

Don't bother stirring in the yeast. It will naturally circulate and reproduce to perfection.

Use whatever you want to clean the kettle, but remember that "clean" means there's nothing in it, at all. So if you use soap, there should be no soap in there when you start brewing.

I believe that's a normal OG for your wort, but most hydrometers are calibrated to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Changes in temperature will change your readings substantially. Your hydro probably came with a paper that has a conversion chart.

I just threw a cream ale into the fermenter yesterday. OG was 1.042 @ 62 degrees. You're good.

My electric stove takes FOREVER to get 2+ gallons of wort to a boil. I'm definitely gonna buy a propane burner Real Soon Now.

Agreed. My stove takes forever to get 2.5 gallons up to boil.

I wouldn't bother covering.

Clean is fine, most stuff will just boil off anyway.

Pitch the yeast and call it good. Just make sure you shake the hell out of your wort and water before you pitch to get some good aeration. That can affect your gravity as well.

Temp affects it, but if your at like 80 degrees, it affects it like .002 or something like that.

Hope it all works out great for ya! Can't wait to taste it can you?

a trick my roommates and I use when we're cooking and need to boil a lot of water on our rather bad electric stove. we fill the electric kettle, and add that to the water on the stove. it goes way faster if you boil water in 1L batches and add it.

i've seen a few people complaining about the slowness of their stove, thought i'd try and help

Well all looks well when I got home from work there is air coming out of the air lock so I must have done something right.!!!! Thanks For all of the input it wasvery helpful. Can't wait to brew my next brew.

One tip: I think most here would agree that you should not use soap (dishsoap) to clean brewing equipment. It will leave a residue that will kill the head on a beer. Especially kettles and fermenters; I don't use it on anything. Use PBW--powdered brewery wash, or Oxyclean Free (no scent). Particularly scummy post-brewing fermenters can be filled w/ a PBW or Oxyclean solution and left to sit overnight. This will sufficiently loosen most of the gunk to where it can be rinsed out or gently scrubbed off. Use care cleaning your plastic ale pails (use a soft sponge, and do not use it for dishes) as to not scratch the interior, which could potentially give bacteria a place to live. Glass carboys can be cleaned with a carboy brush; however a brush is not recommended for better bottles as they may scratch.

Congrats on the first brew.