Help with heating strike water/wort faster

[sunshine22]

Hello all,

ive run into a snag with my current electric keggle setup. I normally stick to 5 gal batches but my kegerator has struck a leak and can’t get cold. In the meantime, I picked up a 2.5 gal keg that I can fit in my apartment fridge. Ideally I want to experiment with some SMaSH recipes. My question relates to this item:

https://www.amazon.com/Dernord-Imme...9ee-4cfb-88bc-6ef07085aec5&pd_rd_i=B0734SYDZ4

I want to be able to do full boil recipes on my gas stovetop. However it is vastly underpowered. If I clamp this to the top of the kettle, will it heat my water faster? I do not currently have the ability to drill holes into pots and my HLT, which I’ll be using to boil, is too wide for an induction cooktop. So I’m looking for an auxiliary to my gas burner. Thanks so much! Any input is appreciated.

 

[bracconiere]

i've heard of people using something like this before....

https://www.amazon.com/Kingwork-UL-...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

edit: (i'm stupid, so i just used a paring knife to bore my orifices ever so slightly. which i wouldn't recommend)

 

[mongoose33]

Sure it'll heat the water faster. Anything that applies additional heat to the water will do that.

One or two other things you can do is make sure the kettle is covered--it makes a surprising difference to how fast the water heats up. The other might be to get some fiberglass insulation (no backing) and wrap that around the kettle to insulate it. Use wire to hold it there.

If you use the heat stick a lid won't be as easy to seal down, you could use some aluminum foil.

 

[bracconiere]

The other might be to get some fiberglass insulation (no backing) and wrap that around the kettle to insulate it. Use wire to hold it there.

i don't think that would be a good idea, i get flames up 1/3 of my kettle sides...

 

[mongoose33]

i don't think that would be a good idea, i get flames up 1/3 of my kettle sides...

That's why I said fiberglass....

I once looked into doing something like this--had fiberglass insulation with a facing on it. It burns. Fiberglass isn't flammable, but it would melt at some temps.

I'd ask why you're running flames up 1/3 the side of the kettle, but that's a different issue....and it doesn't sound like OP has flames that even approach the sides.

Question: can direct propane flames melt fiberglass insulation?

 

[sunshine22]

mongoose33, Thank you...I have heard of unsulating the kettle, but I am not crazy about doing that while the gas is on. I am hoping to be able to put the gas on high and plug in the heat stick at the same time. I have heard of a heatstick from brewer's hardware, but I am not keen on spending ~$100 when I already have an electric kettle...

 

[mongoose33]

mongoose33, Thank you...I have heard of unsulating the kettle, but I am not crazy about doing that while the gas is on. I am hoping to be able to put the gas on high and plug in the heat stick at the same time. I have heard of a heatstick from brewer's hardware, but I am not keen on spending ~$100 when I already have an electric kettle...

The reason I said fiberglass is it's not flammable. I can't think of any other insulation that won't burn. If your heat is really weak, you're likely losing a significant amount of heat from the sides. You might not be able to do anything about that.

Here's another alternative--I did this when I had a weaker propane burner. I'd heat up some of the water on the propane burner, but also heat some up on my stove. So you might think in terms of multiple places to heat water instead of just the one, depending on your circumstances. Can you use multiple burners? Have a hot plate?

One nice thing about heating on a hot plate is you can set it up to start heating, make some coffee, cruise the web, read the newspaper, whatever. Even if you were able to get the water to 130 degrees before you'd pour it into the regular boil kettle, you'd be that much further ahead.