Brew stand/cart material

I've been planning my eBIAB setup, and the only thing I can't figure out is the table or cart that everything will be sitting on while I brew.

I thought about a sleek, sexy stainless kitchen prep table, but metal is a conductor, and would cause heat loss.

Wood is an insulator, but I worry that boiling temps would ruin the finish.

Plastic is also an insulator, but could melt.

Tile top? Or any of the above with a silicone mat under the kettle?

Look at one of the wire rack shelves sold at Sams.

I used one of these under my kettle. It protects my wood brew table top.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Edge-Glued-Round-Common-1-in-x-17-3-4-in-Actual-1-0-in-x-17-75-in-680435/202017011

pizza_man said:

Look at one of the wire rack shelves sold at Sams.

Click to expand...

Didn't think of that. Are they sturdy enough for the rigors of frequent brewing?

gtmaus said:

I used one of these under my kettle. It protects my wood brew table top.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Edge-Glued-Round-Common-1-in-x-17-3-4-in-Actual-1-0-in-x-17-75-in-680435/202017011

Click to expand...

Ooo, certainly cheap enough!

Thanks folks!

I used one of the SS tables from SAMs and used plasti-dip on the bottom rim on my keggels

+1 for the wire cart, I order my from theshelvingstore.com really happy with it. I have bottom ports on on my BK and MLT and the wire shelves were easy to mod. to allow this.

runs4beer said:

+1 for the wire cart, I order my from theshelvingstore.com really happy with it. I have bottom ports on on my BK and MLT and the wire shelves were easy to mod. to allow this.

Click to expand...

Is that an 18" or 24"? How do you like the size?

Seems to fit your pots pretty well. I had planned to go with wood but unless I use recycled pallets (been on my mind lately after seeing some nice builds in the DIY forum) I don't know that I could save any money over one of these wire shelves.

Ki-ri-n said:

I used one of the SS tables from SAMs and used plasti-dip on the bottom rim on my keggels

Click to expand...

I'd need to coat my kettle, but a plastic/silicone mat would probably do the same thing.

runs4beer said:

+1 for the wire cart, I order my from theshelvingstore.com really happy with it. I have bottom ports on on my BK and MLT and the wire shelves were easy to mod. to allow this.

Click to expand...

Actually seeing it, I like the idea of wire racks. Would make it easy to mount pumps, a chiller, and anything else that may need mounting.

I used a Werner platform ladder to hold two burners and a small Werner ladder for pump, rims, and controller.




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eulipion2 said:

I thought about a sleek, sexy stainless kitchen prep table, but metal is a conductor, and would cause heat loss.

Click to expand...

I think that heat loss is completely negligible and can be ignored.

Over the years I've used both a wood table (with cork mats) and a stainless table and I've never noticed any measurable difference in boil rate or heat rate.

Wood table with cork mats under the boil kettle:



Similarly sized stainless table, no cork mats under the boil kettle:



A couple of inches away from the kettle, the table is barely warm so there's not that much heat conduction.

If you're concerned about it and want to go stainless, you can always get some cork mats for it. With my previous wood table the mats were a requirement as the table was varnished.

Kal

Awesome. Thanks, Kal!