2 Hours until full boil

[MadHopper3]

Hello!
Long time lurker, first time poster.
I'm about to start my first batch, a hefeweizen, but tonight I tested out my new 32 Quart pot. I have a natural gas stove, and I put the pot over both burners, and the oven does put off some great heat, but still took close to 1.5 to 2 hours for a full boil of 7 gallons of water of cold water. I'm starting off with All grain, skipping extract all together, and my concern is, is it okay to boil the wort I just siphoned from my mash tun for an extended period of time. I know the wort will be at about 150 in the mast tun so it shouldn't be too hard to bring it up in temperature. I'm just curious, minus water evaporation, is it bad for it to boil for extended periods, this is before hops. Thanks! I'm still a noob.

 

[masskrug]

You will be fine.

 

[TimmyWit]

Hello!
is it bad for it to boil for extended periods

I don't think this is the question you intended to ask. You will still boil for 60-90 minutes, right? As far as it taking a long time to get to a boil, you don't have anything to worry about. Just check how much wort you lost to evaporation 15 minutes prior to the end of the boil and adjust as necessary. Take note of your evaporation rate on your system so that you can account for it on your next brew.

 

[abeasst]

No big deal just means you have time to sanitize your equipment and enjoy a couple beers.

 

[DoWBrewer]

Consider buying a heat stick like this. I was able to buy one on sale for about $35. It will help bring things to a boil much more quickly.

You might also consider mashing in your oven if your kettle will fit. If you have a BBQ thermometer, just set your mash temp and turn on your oven. Get your water up to strike temp and then mash in. You will have to experiment with whether or not you can just turn the heat off completely.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Consider buying a heat stick like this. I was able to buy one on sale for about $35. It will help bring things to a boil much more quickly.

You might also consider mashing in your oven if your kettle will fit. If you have a BBQ thermometer, just set your mash temp and turn on your oven. Get your water up to strike temp and then mash in. You will have to experiment with whether or not you can just turn the heat off completely.

That's a pretty sweet thermometer for $20. Do you stir it to make sure the temperature is even throughout the mash before you start the rest?

 

[DoWBrewer]

That's a pretty sweet thermometer for $20. Do you stir it to make sure the temperature is even throughout the mash before you start the rest?

I don't actually own that thermometer. I have one similar that I used when I first started doing all grain. I do own the heat stick and use it when I do 5-gallon batches on my induction burner in my basement.

There is a section in Gordon Strong's book Brewing Better Beer about mashing in the oven. I would imagine you would mash as normal. Dough-in, stir thoroughly, put the lid on and put it in the over.

Another idea is to wrap your kettle in Reflectix and fasten it with velcro. I do this with my induction burner. I believe it is good to 190 F. You can leave it on while you fire the kettle as long as the flames don't reach the insulation. I start the Reflectix about an inch off of the bottom of a 15.5 gallon Bayou Classic.

 

[cobrem]

Somewhat silly suggestion - if you have some other pots, can you shave off some time by boiling 4 pots of smaller volume first, and then transferring them into the kettle? You'll lose some heat when you transfer, but getting it to nice and hot should be a bit quicker.

I end up doing a split boil with a 4 gallon and 3 gallon pot. It takes too long to get my 10 gallon kettle up to speed.

 

[DoWBrewer]

Somewhat silly suggestion - if you have some other pots, can you shave off some time by boiling 4 pots of smaller volume first, and then transferring them into the kettle? You'll lose some heat when you transfer, but getting it to nice and hot should be a bit quicker.

I end up doing a split boil with a 4 gallon and 3 gallon pot. It takes too long to get my 10 gallon kettle up to speed.

I would assume that would be more efficient.

 

[eastoak]

Hello!
Long time lurker, first time poster.
I'm about to start my first batch, a hefeweizen, but tonight I tested out my new 32 Quart pot. I have a natural gas stove, and I put the pot over both burners, and the oven does put off some great heat, but still took close to 1.5 to 2 hours for a full boil of 7 gallons of water of cold water. I'm starting off with All grain, skipping extract all together, and my concern is, is it okay to boil the wort I just siphoned from my mash tun for an extended period of time. I know the wort will be at about 150 in the mast tun so it shouldn't be too hard to bring it up in temperature. I'm just curious, minus water evaporation, is it bad for it to boil for extended periods, this is before hops. Thanks! I'm still a noob.

if you are hoping to stick with this hobby for the long term you'll want to get a proper burner or two. the first burners i bought cost me $10 a piece on craigslist and one included a 7.5 gallon pot.