Steam Table Element

Hi,

Currently planning an electric brewery setup based on the countertop Brutus design and deciding in which heating elements to use.

My electrician (family friend) says that he would think a steam table heating element would be better, and mount it to the bottom of the kettle. The thinking is the flat bottom of the kettle is easier to mount a watertight seal to rather than the curved side of the pot. Obviously it would need a stand to raise the kettle over the junction box mounted on the bottom. Anyone see anything wrong with this setup/product? Thanks for the help

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008ZVZCCW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20



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There are hundreds, probably thousands of kettles out there with elements in the side. I can count on 1 hand the number I've seen mounted through the bottom. The side is a tried and provem method. One thing to keep in mind with the bottom is that some kettles have a tri-clad bottom which can lead to it's own issues if you are looking at welding in fittings.

Don't fear the curve, you can get it to seal.

I love how people are always afraid to stray away from what is tried and true.

If you have a good method for mounting this element to the bottom of your pot, go for it. The only thing I would have concern for is if the seal for the element were to leak the liquid would be dripping directly onto the housing for your electrical connections. I looked at the product from amazon, the housing does not appear to be water tight.

If you were to mount this thing horizontal and have a leak. The water would most likely want to just run down the side of your pot instead of onto the housing which contains your electrical connection.

TNugent said:

There are hundreds, probably thousands of kettles out there with elements in the side.

Click to expand...

Yup. Including even the smallest 10 gallon kettles - just large enough to fit an element. We did all sorts of leak tests, pushing/pulling the electrical box on the outside while boiling as hard we could (don't try this at home) and we couldn't make it leak using my recommend weldless mounting method.

Kal

Kal, did you look into the lower mounted elements at all? It seems that they are purpose built to be mounted to pans of water, without the need for any customization.

Not opposed to your method at all - I just would get this element/package for free and would like to take advantage if possible. If it's not recommended for some reason I will go the more "traditional" route


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It doesn't matter haw it mounts to the pot as long as it seals. What is the watt density? It looks like it might have a brass base which is a plus. $130 seems a bit pricey. You will have to do something to raise the pot.

Hokie_Brewer said:

Kal, did you look into the lower mounted elements at all? It seems that they are purpose built to be mounted to pans of water, without the need for any customization.

Click to expand...

Yes. Lots of reasons I didn't want to use them:

- More expensive - $200-300 (examples: http://www.kitchenstuff.com/steam-table-coffee-urn-brewers)

- They have to be installed on the bottom of the kettle which I didn't want to do so it was a non-starter right there. Installing from below means you can't ever really move your kettle and place it elsewhere. You need a custom table with a hole in it for the element. They're also too big to install on the side of a kettle - the element would hit the side wall. See below for an example pic. They would maybe be bent but I didn't want to do that.

- I don't remember seeing any ULWD ones, but this was some time ago so I may not be remembering correctly.

- Not as readily available.

I basically saw no benefit for how I wanted to brew given that many had been using $23 hot water tank heating elements for years. The biggest challenge I had was how to affix them to the kettle without having an NPS coupler welded on.



Kal

Facinerous said:

I love how people are always afraid to stray away from what is tried and true.

Click to expand...

"Tried and true" is exactly why people tend not to stray. It's not about fear but rather very practical skepticism. What I love is that there is always someone around to be the champion for out of the box thinking, no matter how quirky the idea may be. I'd say it's a pretty good balance.

If folks are discouraged from being the voice of reason, there's really no value in posting a question to a forum. Just assume it's always awesome to try new things and do it. Report back if it works, cry on a pillow if it doesn't ;-)

My version of the bottom-fed element in a keggle.
One aspect I liked about this approach is the easy installation of the element and enclosure. The element has its own captive O-ring gaskets and only requires the two 1/2 inch holes.

On the negative side, it obviously needs "legs" to provide the requisite vertical clearance underneath. Some one using a brew stand for the kettle could avoid the legs, but since I work off the counter top, I need them.

I used a 5500 watt spa element and it has performed flawlessly

Just an update on this thread, I decided to use the steam table element on my kettle. Borrowed a friends knockout punch set and the 2" punch is perfect for the hole required. Seal on the element is basically perfect because of the flat bottom and the surface area on the element seems to be very large compared to other elements. The kettle is temporarily sitting on some 2x4 blocks until something more permanent is made.

Also, thanks Bobby for the cam locks, bulkheads and ball valves - great quality and a really good price.





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