Testing stove boiling power for first all-grain

[Homer]

So I've been wanting to do an all-grain for a while now, but the only thing holding be back is that I'm worried that my stove will might not be able to boil a large amount of wort.
So I tried a test tonight, I put 7 gallons of water in my large 15 or 16 gallon ss pot, spanning two burners. turned on the fire (with lid on at first) it went from 150 to about 210 in roughly 35 min (removed lid at about 200 deg.). It was slightly boiling at 210, I left it this way for another 25-30 min with no change, there were some fairly large bubbles coming up from the bottom, but far from a "good" boil.
Is this a good test, can I brew like this? I'm worried that with the higher specific gravity of the wort compared to water, it might be even further away from a good boil.

thanks

 

[avidhomebrewer]

I used to brew ag batches on my stove and it took quite a long time to reach a boil. A typical brew day for a regular strength brew would be about 9-10 hours minimum on the stove. With a propane burner, I can cut that in close to in half. Go with a propane burner if you can swing it.

 

[GryphonBrew]

Are you able to sit the pot over two burners at the same time? A friend of mine goes this route in the winter instead of brewing outside and it made a big difference in his boil.

 

[deremer]

can you boil two 3.5 gallon batches and then combine in the fermenter

 

[avidhomebrewer]

I would go with what gryphon suggested - if you can situate the kettle over two burners, you will be in better shape.

 

[bwomp313]

Are you brewing in a bag? If so, what I do for apartment living (soon to change) is I mash in the first bag with a a bit more than half the water for the whole batch, then mash in the second pot again for a shorter period of time which also sort of acts as a sparge, bring them up to a boil separately and combine them when boiling. Can be a little dangerous pouring the boiling water but it seems to go quicker that way. Plus I was getting pretty awesome efficiency.

 

[kyleobie]

I have problems getting a vigorous boil on my cheap apartment stove as well.

I boil mine partially covered and clean off the top of the lid every 10 minutes or so to keep DMS from dripping back into the wort. It's worked great for me for about 15 AG batches. Just requires a little more attention because of the DMS.

 

[mr_tripp]

Do a search for heat sticks. There are many people who use them to help speed up the boil. Some only use heat sticks.

Here is a popular build. Just be careful and make sure you have a GFCI. http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/heatstick.htm

 

[MalFet]

Vigorous boils are over-rated in my experience. Are you getting surface turbulence?

 

[chickens4life]

If the surface is being turned over you are good, the only reason for a boil is to constant mix the volume and turn the surface over to Sid volatilization of ect. You can even accomplish that with a pump and hold at 1-2 degrees below boiling if you wanted to (I think that is what a Pico brew zymatic does).

 

[agrazela]

If you are a cheap-ass like me, then this $35 110v bucket heater:
http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/037835-allied-precision-bucket-heater.html

Added to your typical large stovetop natural gas burner will cut your heat-up times in half, plus give you a bit more vigorous boil on your 5 to 6 gallon batches.

I've used the same one on 30+ batches now and it keeps on chugging. Just rinse it off after each use to keep the gunk from building up.

 

[rrvbrad88]

I use a hot rod heat stick from brewhardware.com on my stovetop. It works great and I would highly recommended it to anyone brewing in a kitchen. I had a 20amp outlet close by so I use a 2000 watt element and it's certainly sped things up!