New to all all-grain brewing

[noodleface84]

Hello guys. I used to use this site a couple of years ago for advice on extract brewing. I've probably done 6 or 7 of those now with mixed success...I still do the odd one, however I am looking to move into the world of all- grain ...

My issue is... I bought a 37 litre stainless stock pot a while back and wanted to use it... trouble is, you need either an electric heater plate or a gas burner underneath it.

My gas cooker in my kitchen has a rubbish output and it would take days to boil it!!

What options are there without me having to buy a burco tea urn?!

Cheers

Nick.

 

[enkamania]

Do a search for heat stick. You can buy or build.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Wow...thats a really open ended question. Do you want to lean more toward electric or do you prefer gas? Both have a lot of options....

Ive seen people use turkey fryers, crawfish boil stands, actual home brew designed gas burners, hell I even saw someone use their gas grill... (I don't recommend this but I did see it)

Then electric...you have different elements and wattages and volts...I am not experienced enough to even touch on that.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V5R9K76/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00264G584/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.northernbrewer.com/edelmetall-bru-burner

http://www.northernbrewer.com/center-of-gravity-brewhouse

the links will go for days....so its a preference thing man.

 

[noodleface84]

Thanks for the previous replies! I've decided to use my 37 litre stainless steel stock pot, but will convert it.

Now I've read somewhere that all the fittings should be stainless steel because if you boil brass, it can expose the lead?

So I'll drill and fix a stainless lever valve at the bottom, a temperature gauge above it, on case I use it for the mashing at some point...

As for heating it, I was aiming for using electric elements. The options are an immersion heater from a hot water cylinder, or I can use the little elements from those crappy little plastic kettles you use to make your tea or coffee!

I believe they're 2.2 kW. What suggestions do you guys have??

Cheers,

Nick (noodleface84)

 

[jerbrew]

There's always Induction heaters as well. If you're going to use a submerged heater I would make sure it has enough wattage to boil your wort. You also want something with low watt density to prevent scorching your wort (or make sure it's being stirred a lot while you're heating up to a boil). Like this if you plan on using 120V:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016XMF0LW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

And you need to make sure you're plugged into a GFCI outlet on a breaker large enough to handle it. If you have a 15A breaker (P=IV and you should use only 80% of the max load for continuous use) you can handle about a 1440W element a 20A would get you around 1920W element

 

[noodleface84]

A low density heating element? Does that mean the outer surface of the element doesn't get quite as hot?

Surely that would take twice as long to boil wouldn't it?

I think a normal element and just keep stirring is better, no?

 

[RM-MN]

A low density heating element? Does that mean the outer surface of the element doesn't get quite as hot?

Surely that would take twice as long to boil wouldn't it?

I think a normal element and just keep stirring is better, no?

No, a low watt density heating element puts out the same amount of heat as a high watt density element, just spread out over more area. Think of it as the difference between a gas stove burner and an oxyacetylene torch. Once spreads the heat, the other has it at a very small area.

I'd probably skip the thermometer in the pot. For all grain, you need to heat the water to the proper temperature so that when you add the grain the temperature falls to the range where conversion of starch to sugar can be done by the enzymes. Use a hand held thermometer or one that can be suspended from the side of the pot.