Ss Brew tech BME heating efficiency

[ninkwood]

I'm wondering if anyone whose used the ss brewtech BME kettle with the dished base and firebox can comment on this kettle's heating times.

SS claims these kettle's heat up faster than traditional flat bottomed kettles, and going back in time on the threads I've found it seemed like they initially were going to share data on this but it doesn't seem like that ever happened. I'm wondering if this is because the proof wasn't in the pudding?

I'm looking at buying my first dedicated kettle and I'm not married to this design, but I'd like to have the option to use it on my indoor stove (I'm fortunate enough to have a wok burner that's pretty good) and would like to get all the efficiency I can out of it. All I really need is a bottom drain and a whirlpool option.

Thanks!

 

[adhomebrew10]

Are you wanting to use it for a mash run or a hlt/kettle? If a mash tun the infusion mash tun is the way to go. 0 dead space and you can hook it up to a rims for recirc and sparge. I have 2 bme kettles the infusion. I am about to do a pilot batch but my first tests doing boils with water were way better than my last setup, especially is you can combine with a high btu burner. But the kettles will leave a quart or two behind and don’t have a false bittom

 

[ninkwood]

Are you wanting to use it for a mash run or a hlt/kettle? If a mash tun the infusion mash tun is the way to go. 0 dead space and you can hook it up to a rims for recirc and sparge. I have 2 bme kettles the infusion. I am about to do a pilot batch but my first tests doing boils with water were way better than my last setup, especially is you can combine with a high btu burner. But the kettles will leave a quart or two behind and don’t have a false bittom

I'm actually planning on getting both the bme kettle and infussion mash tun in 10G - the mash tun is an absolute certainty, it's exactly what im looking for and there aren't really any close substitutes that are readily available to me in the Canadian market (other than plastic coolers).

I'm not getting too fancy off the hop, in fact I'm only planning on buying the kettle and the mash tun to start and using gravity for transferring. I eventually plan to add a pump, recirculation, and whirlpool capabilities in addition to an outdoor burner as you mentioned.

Glad to hear that you're satisfied with your improvements! I'm wondering how necessary recirculation even is with a well insulated mash tun? I can understand it from a wort clarity standpoint, but it doesn't seem the infussion needs any help maintaining temps so long as you pre heat it.

I figure I might be able to save a couple hundred dollars by getting a no name brand kettle if the bme "improved heating times" is just marketing. But heck, it sure would be alot more fun to look at the two together!

And until I move outside, I can use any heating efficiency I can find. It's freezing here in the winters and extremely hot in the summers, so indoors will always be something I want to keep as an option.