Induction Questions

[centralpabrewer]

I am seriously considering the move to induction brewing and giving up my 3 15gal keggles. With induction I could brew in my basement without risk of poisoning myself with CO.
I am looking at the Avantco IC3500 Countertop Induction Range. Connecting to 240v power is not a problem.

I have a couple questions I was not able to find answers to in the forums.

1. For those of you who use induction today, are you also using an immersion chiller? Does the immersion chiller cause any interference with the magnetic field between the cooktop and kettle?

2. I am also looking at purchasing new 10gal Spike Brewing kettles. They measure 13.8" in diameter. The user manual for the Avantco states "Do not use pans with a bottom diameter greater than 10 ¼”. Doing so causes irreparable damage to this induction range" as well as "Using pans with a bottom diameter greater than 10 1/4” voids the warranty." I'm not concerned about voiding the warranty, but what about using a pot larger than 10 1/4"? Are you all using pots larger than this, and have you experienced any damage or other issues with the induction plate?

 

[jonny24]

I've been looking to doing the exact same thing (moving into an apartment). From what I've read, there doesn't seem to be any problems with kettles being wider.

No idea about the coil though, that's a great question.

What's the rest of your system? I've been thinking about going BIAB, seems pretty easy to do with an induction burner.

 

[centralpabrewer]

Today I brew with a 3 keggle system and propane on my back porch doing full wort mashes. I use a single pump to transfer wort and a plate chiller for chillin. Every time i brew, i have to drag everything out of my basement and then drag everything back down when i am done. I just so over doing that, I need to simplify.

My plan is to downsize to a 4 gallon batch. I have been brewing over 10 years and have never brewed anything larger than 5 gals. I think i am going to get 2 Avantco induction ranges and 2 10gal spike brewing kettles, using one of those to do a full wort mash, or nearly full wort. I think this should also give me the option of doing a regular mash with batch sparging. I am going back to using an immersion chiller and a pump on each kettle. I like the efficiency of the plate chiller, but they are a pain in the a$$ to clean and some brews like heather ales or doing hop stands don't work so well with a plate chiller. I figure with this set up, i could easily add a RIMS later if I wanted to.

 

[Weezy]

The coil isn't going to impact the induction performance (if it's copper it wouldn't interact with the induction field at all). Neither is the pot size.

Induction just excites the ferrous material in metals that are within an appropriate range of the coils. The vibration of molecules causes internal friction I the metal, forcing the metal to creat heat.

Have fun with it! Love mine. Easy cleanup and very simple to run.

 

[centralpabrewer]

I think the fact that I will be able to brew in my basement where I won't have to drag everything out will make my brewing experience much more enjoyable.

Do you use the Avantco IC3500?

 

[Singletrack]

1. Does the immersion chiller cause any interference with the magnetic field between the cooktop and kettle?

Drop in the chiller at flameout. I never heat while the chiller is in the BK. This saves some energy/money and chills faster too. No infections.

 

[Rxbrewer16]

I too have the avantco 3500w unit. Works like a dream. I use a bayou 1064; although I'm not sure on the diameter, it is much larger than the cooktop. When heating water, you can see the heat ring on the bottom of the kettle. Size of the pot really is not an issue other than temperature distribution, so I stir my strike/sparge water to get a more uniform temperature reading, and with a full boil it doesn't really matter. I drop my IC in with 10-15 minutes left in the boil, and it does knock the boil for a minute or two but gets right back to rolling in short order. FWIW - do it!

 

[centralpabrewer]

Awesome. Thanks for he replies. I'm really looking forward to indoor brewing and a simplified brew day. Might even be able to brew after work too.

 

[Bigfly]

I use the Avantco 3500 and my 10 gal pot is about 13.6" in diameter. I have had no issues concerning pot size. I recirculate into a custom basket so there is always a ring of fine stuff stuck on the bottom the size of the induction coil. I would recommend using induction. Eventually I am going to add a RIMS to the system.

 

[centralpabrewer]

All I can say is WOW!. I dropped the money about a month ago on 2 Avantco induction plates and 2 new 10 gal kettles. I also purchased a Hydra Immersion chiller from Jaded Brewing. Yesterday was my first brew session on the new system and it was AWESOME!. First and foremost, just the fact that I could brew in my basement without having to drag all my equipment out onto my porch was fantastic. While there was a lot of water vapor, i just ran my dehumidifier during and after the brew session which took care of the moisture. I may consider adding a permanent vent later.

By far the quickest brew day for me ever. From the time I turned on the induction plate to heat the mash water to clean up was under 4 hours. At the highest setting on the Avantco, it only took about 25 minutes to heat the 7 gals of water in the mash tun to 153 degrees. Easily comparable to my propane burner. I also made an insulation blanket out of reflectix which held my mash temps pretty well. During the 60 min mash i only had to turn on the induction plate a few times at the lowest setting and only for a few minutes each time.

This was the first batch I brewed using the Minimal Sparge method Michael Tonsmeire describes in the Jan/Feb 2017 issue of BYO. With the new kettles I can do near full wort mash or traditional mash methods if the grain bill is very large.

And the Hydra immersion chiller took the 5 or so gallons of wort at the end of the boil from 212 to 68 degrees in under 10 minutes. So much nicer than my old plate chiller, and so much easier to clean.

I brew maybe 8-10 times a year and this was the first brew day in at least 2 years that I actually enjoyed myself. I can't wait to brew again.

Attached are a few pics from my brew day.

 

[oujens]

Thanks for posting. I've been eying these for awhile since I have a dedicated outlet in my garage for it. I've been wondering if I should go two avantco units or install a new outlet for 5500 watt elements. Nice to see your success.

 

[pytmnnh]

Regarding induction and immersion chiller when I put IC in pot things start boiling like crazy. It is stainless IC. Also, I now move IC to side of pot or get nice burn patch in center. I think it does conduct heat as it is resting on bottom of tri clad Edelmetall pot. Will probably start putting IC in at flameout as noted above.

 

[centralpabrewer]

Interesting. Makes sense that the stainless IC would also "conduct" the magnetic field, unlike copper. Something I had not considered. When I drop my IC into the boil, it drops the temp 4-5 degrees and take a couple of minutes to start boiling again. If i ever am looking for a new IC, I may seriously consider stainless for this very reason.

 

[day_trippr]

martensitic vs austenitic SS?

Cheers!