coypoo
Well-Known Member
Is it ok to boil water in a glass flask on an electric cooktop?
Boerderij_Kabouter said:Use a few plys of tin foil under the flask and you are good to go. The problem occurs when the heat from the electric coils is to concentrated (if that makes any sense) and localized. This creates stress within the glass and can cause to fatigue within the material and eventual breakage. The tin foil spreads the heat and the fracturing is avoided.
Hammy71 said:I'm very paranoid about my flask. I know they are rated to go from hot to cold (ice water bath), but I just can't bring my self to do it. I boil my starters on the electric stove in a pot, cool the pot in a sink of cold water and then transfer the wort to a sanitized flask. Little more work, but saves my sanity.
I've seen those ut I ever understood why it would work. I guess its just one contact point, not hot/cold/hot like a coil does.If your handy with 2 pairs of pliers you can bend a coat hanger or two so that it barely lifts the flask off the top of the ceramic cook top or coil heating element. I saw commercial examples that I just copied....
I always set the heated wort off on a hotpad to cool some before throwing it in cold water, I think thats asking for trouble no matter how you heat.
My flask lasted about a year...
I had never heard not to do this, so my flask and my electric stove were partners. However, one day, the stress caught up with it. Even Pyrex can't handle it repeatedly, it seems.
I set it into ice water to cool, and lost all my boiled wort. Fortunately it didn't waste the yeast, nor cut me. Just cracked and dropped the bottom into the icy water.
Now, I use a saucepan and transfer to the flask.
Do you boil the wort in your carboys or do you sanitize them?
I don't understand the need to boil starters directly in your glass flask. The odds of breaking the flask or burning yourself are not worth the sanitation benefits. Just sanitize with Starsan for the recommended contact time and you're ready to go.
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