Improved boiling on the stovetop!

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Sirsloop, thanks for the update. I think I may include the flashing, might be more durable than tin foil, as long as it works.
 
one thing to note... the flashing cannot take direct flame or intense heat without smoking due to a thin plastic coating on the metal. Its on there to keep the aluminum pretty and protected from the elements. If you want to use it on a flame, I suggest preburning off the plastic outside with a touch.
 
"sorry"? That's great! Now I get to find out on my own.

If it works I get beer, if it doesn't work I get to play with the fire extinguisher. :D Win/win!
 
ok, so i just got my 32 qt SS pot today, and was testing it out on my stove top to see if i could get 5 gallons of tap water up to boiling.. and i eventually did, setting the pot on two burners (regular metal coil burners) but it took over an hour to go from tap water temperature (i dunno maybe 60 degrees F or so) to boiling..

is this about normal for 5 gallons of water? i had planned on making some sort of insulation jacket anyway but was just wondering if about an hour and 15 mins was standard for boiling 5 gals of water?
 
Sounds about right for an electric stove.

It may be a PITA, but maybe you could split the 5 gallons of water into 2 batches, to heat at the same time, in less total time, then combine the water together when you throw everything else into the pot.
 
I do it with my turkey boiler setup. My kettle isn't big enough for the full 6 gallons of water plus the malt extract (this won't be such an issue with AG thankfully) so I leave out 2 gallons, get the 2 boiling in a smaller kettle, and once the big kettle boils down, I add some more water.

When we were doing mead (I could only talk people into a 15 minute boil, which is better than 1 hour) we started doing this, and we cut down the time for our batches to 45 minutes from start to pitch. 10 or so to bring water to boil, 15 boiling, and about 15 cooling, and 5 to strain/introduce some oxygen, and then you pitch. While you're pitching and storing, the water's on the boil again and your honey is already measured out.
 
TheFlatline said:
Sounds about right for an electric stove.

It may be a PITA, but maybe you could split the 5 gallons of water into 2 batches, to heat at the same time, in less total time, then combine the water together when you throw everything else into the pot.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about doing this but my question is what to do about steeping the specialty grains, or if doing a PM, what to do with mashing? Can you mash/steep in one pot, bring the other to a boil and then combine it? Or is that not good? Thanks!
 
There has to be a way of building a blanket using the durablanket. Maybe even sandwiching it between 2 pieces of aluminium ...you know....create a sleeve.
 
I recently got in a 60qt kettle and have been doing test runs with 5 gallons of tap water. I've used the method flyguy has posted here with the insulation. My setup is two electric coils.

1. No insulation: 1 hour minutes for 150->197 degrees max out for 20 minutes
2. One layer of insulation: 1 hour for 150->207 degrees max out for 20 minutes
3. Two layers: 1 hour for 150->207 degrees max out for 20 minutes

Here is what the pot looks like with the insulation:



The layer bumped up my max temp 10 degrees, but the second layer did nothing. Does anyone have a suggestion to get that last 10 degrees I need for a rolling boil? Obviously I can cover to pot to get the target temp, but I understand that's bad because of DMS.
 
You could look into a canning element or two for your stove... That might give you the extra few degrees. Also, insulate your lid, and keep it on until it starts boiling, then keep it half on. I haven't had any problems with this.
 
Ben25 said:
Also, insulate your lid, and keep it on until it starts boiling, then keep it half on. I haven't had any problems with this.
Click to expand...
+1 to this. I think as long as there's some way for the DMS to escape, your beer will be fine. I've made some really good beer whilst half-covering the pot during the boil - it helps keep the boil fierce but still allows the nasty stuff to evaporate off.
 
If only they had a material with great insulating properties, that was cheap, and was fire proof.

Grrrr. of all the luck. They do. Unfortunately it causes lung cancer.

Asbestos
 
Sheaffdogg said:
So I was searching around online and found the stuff that I should have used on my pot for the stovetop. If anyone's interested, here's a link to a site to buy online:

Heat/Sound Insulation : JC Whitney: Auto Parts & Accessories

They say its the stuff that NASA uses to protect the shuttles!

I guess I'll use the other stuff to wrap my pipes...
Click to expand...

sirsloop said:
Ok... Here's the dealy. I just got a new 40qt stock pot in and successfully boiled 6 gallons of 1.050 wort with it on a crappy gas range in a 750sqft apartment. I made up a little wrap thingy of my own and it held up GREAT!

So I got this insulation stuff off Ebay, but apparently it can only hold up to 180°F. When I got it I was bummed cause there was what looked like weak plastic on the inside. I knew this would not hold up to any kind of direct flame so I made a Lowe's trip with the intent to armor up. Cost was 19.99 and there's enough for AT LEAST another pot.

z0.jpg


...snip...
Click to expand...

Some of the links seems broken/outdated...

Is the stuff you used, sirsloop, the stuff Sheaffdogg posted?

Has anyone else insulated a pot for a gas stove? I have a 5 G aluminum pot that did not get my first batch in it to a good rolling boil. I had about 2.5 G of water with half my LME (3 lbs). I had a light rolling boil, but never got a hot break, and now my fermentation has stalled out at 1.020. It might be my lack of starter for my yeast, but it might be my lack of hot break...
 
Although I am far from deciding how I am going to put together a wrap for my HLT and MT I did stumble across this site:

nomex®,material,fabric,q9,padding,quilted,wrap,fireproof,resistant,fire,wire,cable,rail,electrical,sleeve,padded,race,drag,racing,military,III,wiring

Now, I can see how this stuff would be perfect for my MT as I could trim this to fit my valve/thermo/handles and attach some velcro for easy removal during cleaning. I am convinced though that this would not fair well on the HLT during heating. That is unless I could sew something on the bottom edge of the blanket to protect against my burner. I could be wrong though.

And, yes I know it is expensive but if this is a good solution to having a removable, fire resistant blanket without the problem of having any fibers/particles coming off and floating into your brew or having the blanket itself melting onto your kettle/keggle, then I would have no problem paying the extra cash.
 
I must add to the first reply above, on the second attempt on my friends AG brew day with 7 gallons in the boil keggle it would not come up to a boil with a bare keggle just hold at 191*F max with the cast iron hot water heater burner on natural gas. I live a block away, came back real quick with one of my old welding blankets and some Mig wire to insulate wrap the keg. Instantly the temps went up to a point of a rolling boil even cutting back the gas flow to app 80% of max flow. This with 65 degree weather. The blanket was only 1/8" thick but saved that brew session besides being flame proof and asbestos free as only 10-12 years old.
 
Anyone thought about neoprene? Is heat resistant, not sure how flame resistant.. if you made a sleeve out of it it would be easy to slip off for cleaning.

Hmmm.. that old wetsuit is past its prime anyway...
 
I'm thinking that welders' blankets look pretty good. Where might I find one of those? There's a welding shop nearby (never been inside), are they likely to carry those?

Even if I get a big burner and move outside (my next project), it'd be nice to use that to conserve on fuel and save time. Wouldn't want fiberglass getting into the wort, though... are they generally pretty solid and don't let go of fibers?
 
wow, i can't believe i didn't think of insulating my pot.

I work as a consultant on the waterproofing/insulating side of high rise buildings, this seems like a no-brainer to me.

Roxul mineral wool insulation is frequently used as a fire-safing material. It is flame resistant. I'm heading out to site now for a review, I'm going to see if I can find some scraps lying around.

I don't know how available it is to the average consumer, but roxul insulation can withstand temps up to 1000 degrees, which would mean you could most likely use it on gas stoves as well.

http://www.roxul.com/sw34066.asp
 
So I picked up some of that DuraBlanket, used it last night on a brew and it worked really well on my gas range with my 15gal kettle...

One thing I have an issue with is the durability of the `dura'blanket... because its 1) not that durable and 2) I tried not to touch it once it was on the kettle because I didn't want any small fibers being swept up into my beer. Anyone use this stuff and find something to coat it with or a material to sandwich the blanket between?

You all are more creative then I am with this sort of fabrication so I thought I'd see if anyone has come up with a good solution....
 
johnnyc said:
Must be the gearhead in me but the first thing that came to mind when looking to keep heat in was header wrap Exhaust - summitracing.com There's copper and ceramic and they work up to 2000 degrees!
Click to expand...

This seems like a good idea... So what would you wrap this around?

I will say, if someone could consolidate this info into ONE good concept that would work for us Gas (and Electric) range users, this has the potential for PROSTing.

I dare say even a sticky. :tank:
 
HVAC tape? Flashing as a heat shroud pop riveted as a sleeve to hold it around the pot?
 
anyone used a welders blanket to insulate a brew kettle on a stovetop? How well does it work?
 
I found a fairly cheap and effective way to insulate my 8 gallon brew pot and not have it get burned from my gas stove. I used a product called Heat Wave Pro. It is a thermal accoustic barrier product made of natural fibers (no fiberglass) and is faced on both sides with aluminum wrapping. It has a Class A fire rating and is very easy to work with. I used foil tape to seal the sides and put 2 grommets on each end to hold it around the pot. Since my pot straddles 2 burners I made a heat shroud/skirt out of gutter flashing/bib material that wraps around the pot and is held in place by some hose clamps. I went from barely boiling 5 gallons to a rolling boil of 6.5 gallons. It was very easy to make.
 
That sounds like an ideal product. Is it something that is carried at automotive stores locally, or did you have to order it from the interweb?
 
I ordered off the internet from a company called "Second Skin Audio." I have never seen it in a store. Just type in Heat Wave Pro on any search engine and it should come up. Be sure to get the "Pro" version as the regular "Heat Wave" product has facing on only one side. Nine square feet of the product was about $25 and shipping was about $12. It was more than enough for my kettle and lid. Now I have a good supply of melted Reflectix if you are interested ;-)
 
Interesting product Drbobcat. Have other people tried Heat Wave Pro now?

I can get mine to a rolling boil, but do not have a particularly efficient kettle. With my lid off, I consistently fall to 6F short of a full boil :\. Very frustrating. I have used a friends kettle with thicker walls that held the heat in better . . difference? aluminum bottom & stainless sides vs all aluminum. Mine is the all aluminum - great for heat transfer, but goes right out the sides :\.

What has been the best solution found so far? The thread seems pretty mixed.
 
I got my firewall insulation from J.C. Whitney, along with the spray adhesive to make it stick to the brewpot, and the foil tape to secure it. Total about $40 (with a ****load of insulation left over!). It does solve the problem, however. My 30 qt. SS brewpot would barely keep a full 5 gal. at a bubbling boil previously (on our Jenn-Air gas cooktop, burner rated at 8.5K btu), and now it can maintain a bubbling boil quite comfortably. Note that this is not the "volcanic" rolling boil that some seem to prefer. There is no burning or scorching of the insulation or tape, despite the gas cooktop.
I will soon be moving outside to do my first AG batches, and I question whether the insulation will survive a boil on the Bayou Classic SP-10. I'm contemplating a test boil using water to check this.
 
FlyGuy said:
Foam Control: I gotta put another plug in for this stuff. Magic. I had that turkey fryer pot within an inch and a half of the rim, and there was no danger of boiling over at ANY point in the process. Highly recommended stuff! Turns your 30 qt pot into a 40!!! ;)
Click to expand...

What is this "Foam Control" of which you speak.

By the way, thanks for sharing all your innovations. I'm going to get out and buy me some insulation and a plastic T. At some point I want to make a frozen yeast bank.

Perhaps you should write a book and make some money off your creative engineering.
 
Bobby_M said:
I know the thread died, but this looks really promising for you electric brewery guys:

Mcmaster.com
9349K2
Foam Rubber Insulation Plain Back, 1/2" Thick, 36" X 48" Sheet, Black
In stock at $18.88 Each

This is enough to do two sanke sized kettles 18" high by 48" around. A little high temp duct tape at the seam and you're golden... remove it when you want to or not..

Ultra-Flexible Foam Rubber Insulation

Fiberglass Faced
Temperature Range: Uncoated Plain Back, -20° to +220° F; Uncoated Adhesive Backed, +20° to +180° F; Fiberglass Faced, -297° to +220° F
Heat Flow Rate (K-factor): 0.27 Btu/hr. x in./sq. ft. @75° F
Density: 3-6 lbs./cu. ft.
Color: Uncoated, black; Fiberglass Faced, black with silver jacket
Wrap this foam insulation around ducts and large diameter pipes—it's moisture resistant and extremely flexible and soft. Insulation is made of closed-cell elastomeric Buna-N/PVC foam. Cut with a knife. Meets ASTM E84 25/50 for flame and smoke. Size is 36" x 48", unless noted.
Install plain back insulation with contact adhesive (sold separately below).
Uncoated insulation is for indoor use; can be used outdoors if coated with latex paint (sold separately below). Fiberglass-faced insulation is impregnated with aluminum for impact resistance. Use indoors and out.
Click to expand...

Has anyone tried this material? If so, did it work well? It looks pretty cost effective.
 
As someone else above noted, backpack stoves need to be efficient. Look at the flux ring heat exchanger that JetBoil uses. Looks like a radiator on the bottom of the pot. Maybe I have one in my Delorean that will work :)

Combined with an insulated lid, and maybe that Caldera cone setup, there are some good ideas in this thread. Need to get busy and test various options.
 

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