My pot never boiled when i brewed on an electric stove

[Darklordenron]

I found it extremely difficult to get 2.5 gal to a boil when using my electric stove on full blast the other day. The burners are too small and don't put out the heat I needed. It seemed to never get beyond a simmer. It never even came close to foaming up, so after awhile i just got sick of waiting and i brewed as usual. I tried using a couple burners at once as well, with the pot sort of on each burner, no go. Can I scale back the amount of water used in the boil next time? I really dont want to get a dedicated burner if i dont absolutely have to right now. Are there any tricks i can use to get a better boil? Perhaps more importantly, will my beer turn out ok?

 

[jwk526]

I'm pretty sure you can put a lid on it until it comes to a boil, then take the lid off. It should keep it close to the boil temp at that point.

 

[Darklordenron]

The problem lies with the fact that I can't see the wort when I cap it after adding some DME. I'll never know when it starts foaming up so that I can attempt to control it. Are you saying remove the lid after I get a consistent boil and then simply leave it off? It took absolutely forever to boil also.. Stupid electric stoves and their learning curves!

 

[Malintent]

a lower volume of water will certainly boil easier. I don't know much about partial boiling (I got hammered in another thread when I made fun of partial mash brewer's "tiny little pots and pans". Oops.

 

[Darklordenron]

I'm simply scared of doing full boils with my 24 quart pot. The electric stove would likely take hours to reach a boil with a full 5 gal! My stove sucks and is possibly the worst one made..

 

[malkore]

electric coil stove? or electric glass/ceramic top?

because the nicer glass tops have temp sensors in them that kill the heat if your pot is more than an inch wider than the burner.

to protect the cooktop. I had the same issue, couldn't get over 170F because my burner would only stay on 5 seconds of every minute, and I gave up after 90 minutes. 3 gallons of water.

it might be that...or it might be lack of BTU's

 

[Darklordenron]

It's an electric ceramic top. If it would stay on constantly, I would have no issue getting a boil, but it doesn't work that way I just might have to use a turkey fryer or something like that. And I would have to brew outside, which worries me because of things flying around in the air while I brew. Blast.

 

[billf2112]

I have the same issue. I simply put two burners on high and center the pot between them, and boil another gallon in another pot and when it gets to a rolling boil and the brew pot is about to boil dump it in.

Get a full rolling boil everytime.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I had the same problem (although my stove uses coils). I picked up some thermal insulating wrap from home despot and cut it to fit my kettle (leaving an inch or so at the bottom so it didn't get too close to direct heat). It's definitely helped. Used to take forever to get anything with 3 gallons. Now I can actually boil 4 gallons passably (still takes a while though). Not a perfect solution (still can't do a full AG boil), but an improvement is an improvement.

 

[dougdecinces]

I'm still on using my stove to brew. Unfortunately I don't have a garage, so brewing on a fryer is out of the question. Fortunately, however, I have been able to get up to 4-4.5 gallons to boil. I mostly do three gallon batches. If I have to do a 5 gallon batch, I just top it off when it's cooling.

 

[Hastur]

I have somewhat of the same problem. I cover the boil until it gets close to boiling, then partially cover it so I can see when it starts to foam up.

 

[o4_srt]

I'm still on using my stove to brew. Unfortunately I don't have a garage, so brewing on a fryer is out of the question. Fortunately, however, I have been able to get up to 4-4.5 gallons to boil. I mostly do three gallon batches. If I have to do a 5 gallon batch, I just top it off when it's cooling.

Plenty of people boil using turkey fryers without a garage. Garage just makes it more comfortable.

 

[Darklordenron]

Well, I just checked in on it and it is indeed undergoing fermentation. I can only assume and hope that I didn't stress the yeast enough to have an incomplete ferm. I think I really need an immersion chiller or something though, seems like it would really help. I used the supplied hope which came as loose leafs, so I have a few on the top of the carboy that are just hanging out. They seem to have come out of my muslin sack while stirring the wort on the stove. Ah well. I bet it will be tasty either way! Next time, though, I'll be way more careful and prevent scaring myself!

 

[madbaldman]

Must be luck of the draw. In my apartment, I have a bottom of the line Hotpoint electric stove that gets 6 gallons to a rolling boil fairly quickly in a 7.5 gallon pot.

 

[ayoungrad]

I use a ceramic top stove. It is difficult to boil 3.5 gallons but I put a lid mostly on, leaving it cracked open and this results in a nice rolling boil. No boil-overs, I can see the surface of the liquid and it allows DMS to escape.

 

[IceFisherChris]

Wrap some tin foil around it to make a heat blanket. Might not work but it's worth a try. But if your stove can't even boil 2.5 gallons, its REALLY weak...

As for your beer turning out okay, I think you should be totally fine. The lack of boil and temperature may mess with your hops a little but you really don't NEED to have a boil to make beer. Another one of those misconceptions to brewing... Beer doesn't have to be boiled for 60 minutes like everybody thinks. In fact, you could just mix the water and malt extract, ferment and you'd get beer. Not something I would bother trying though... Lack of hops and chance of infection isn't worth it though.

 

[Mustangfreak]

When I brew on the stove (2.5 gallons only) I cover it with a lid till the water is boiling and then add my extract and partially close the lid and keep a hawk eye on it. After it boils, I remove it completely.

 

[Zamial]

I have no idea if this will solve the issue for all stove top boils or not but I am guessing it would...they are also pretty easy to make...

http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/heatstick.htm

GL

 

[RevFry]

I have no idea if this will solve the issue for all stove top boils or not but I am guessing it would...they are also pretty easy to make...

http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/heatstick.htm

GL

Funny, I'm on my way to put together a heat stick today because I actually deformed the element on our electric stove while brewing last.

Picking up a new element, too. Doh!