all grain with an electric stove?

[thisgoestoeleven]

I've been watching some BIAB tutorials on youtube, and it seems like a good setup for an apartment brewer like myself who wants to start going all-grain without buying multiple pots, converting a cooler for a mash tun, etc. My concern is being able to boil 5-7 gallons on my coil burner electric stove, and doing so without damaging anything. Does anyone have any experience with this? All the videos I've seen have been on gas ranges.

 

[Goblism]

most electrical stoves will struggle with 5 gallons if they can even achieve a boil. I would suggest building a heatstick to aid your stove. The only requirement is that you MUST have GFCI on your outlet.

 

[1stTimer]

When I started brewing I had to use an electric stove top and I remember it taking what seemed like days to boil 2 gallons of water. I cant imagine it would effeicent at all to try this with all grain. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

 

[gstrawn]

My stove can handle 5 gallons easily, but it takes a while to do it. With my BIAB I boil what amounts to my first runnings in my larger pot, and then my ~2.5 gallons of sparge water in a smaller 3 gallon pot. When I bring them both to boil I consolidate them into my large pot and boil away

 

[gstrawn]

I get about 80% efficiency, and I have made many successful beaches this way. The only real challenge for me, is maintaining mash temperatures. I'm always messing with the element to find the right spot to maintain temperature. It's a challenge hence why I'm looking into a cooler mlt. But you can boil it

 

[two_hearted]

I did it for a year with full 6-7 gallon boils on an electric coil stove. I did AG in a round MLT cooler. It took a while to get a boil, but so does my turkey fryer.

 

[landshark]

One of my first Extracts was on the stove. Took an hour just to get the 3 gallons to boil.

However, I been doing my AG lately with a mixture of stove and "Turkey Fryer".

If you can split the water to multiple smaller pots, like 2 1/2 gallon stock pots, then combine all in a Cooler. Once you are in the Boil Kettle though.... Getting from the 150 deg to a boil for 6 to 7 gallons is going to be a chore, unless you could split that as well, and then combine them once you have them both at boiling...... Although pouring 3 gallons of boiling wort into another 3 gallon of boiling wort sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

But, when there is a will there is a way. and dedication to making beer brings ingenuity.

 

[kaboom505]

I haven't started AG yet, but do boil on an electric stove.

With a smooth glass stovetop I found the cheap SS kettle took forever to boil. It seems like the circular "ridge" stamped into the pot's base as a stiffening feature prevented good contact with the glass. Everything went so much faster with a properly smooth/planar based pot.

With electric it looks like good contact is everything.

 

[marmonduke]

I have a propane turkey frier but find I rarely use it just for convience. It does take a while to get a boil going with 6-7 gallons but I can get it to boil on my electric stove. I use the lid to get it to a near boil then leave off for the rest of the boil duration.

 

[BigRob]

I boil on a crappy apartment electric stove, have no issues boiling 7 gal.

 

[smalliewader]

My electric cooktop takes about an hour to bring 3.5+ gallons to boil. I just do 3 gallon AG batches because of this.

You could easily do BIAB in one pot this size.

I'm getting a propane setup so I can move to full 5 gallon batches.

Smaller AG batches are always an option. I get about 5 six packs from my 3G set up, it just means I brew more often. There's no rule that says you must do 5 gallon batches, it's just the norm.

 

[Qhrumphf]

One thing that worked for me was to wrap my kettle with insulation. I can do BIAB AG with minimal heat loss (I lose maybe 2 degrees over a 60 minute mash). The stove still struggles a bit to boil just under 5 gallons (about 30 mins to get there and it's not as vigorous as I'd like), but I'm able to make decent 5 gallon AG batches with partial boils that way. I might be able to boil more than that, but I've held off upsizing my 5 gal kettle until I can go outside with propane, so I'm not sure.

 

[scottland]

I did it for a year with full 6-7 gallon boils on an electric coil stove. I did AG in a round MLT cooler. It took a while to get a boil, but so does my turkey fryer.

I did the same thing. I had an 8 gallon aluminum pot that my electric stove had no issue bringing to a boil. I mashed in a rectangular 48qt cooler. Did that from batch 1. I had a glass-top electric stove though. I have no experience with the coil top ones.

 

[Jawbox0]

Just remember, if you're buying your ingredients in bulk, there's no reason why you can't scale a recipe down to 3 gallons or so to fit your gear. An apartment stove should have no trouble with that, especially if you insulate.

 

[Thehopguy]

I do all grain in a cooler and boil 7+ gallons on my crap electric stove as well. There's a power burner in the front and I put my kettle on both the power and the back. Works like a charm

 

[Bradinator]

One thing that worked for me was to wrap my kettle with insulation. I can do BIAB AG with minimal heat loss (I lose maybe 2 degrees over a 60 minute mash). The stove still struggles a bit to boil just under 5 gallons (about 30 mins to get there and it's not as vigorous as I'd like), but I'm able to make decent 5 gallon AG batches with partial boils that way. I might be able to boil more than that, but I've held off upsizing my 5 gal kettle until I can go outside with propane, so I'm not sure.

+1 to this.

I do the exact same thing for my electric brew-in-a-bag. I bought a bunch of ducting insulation, wrapped my kettle in it and boil away. I get an vigorous boil after 30 minutes, but I need to keep the top on until then.

Here is my ghetto brew kettle.

I do the mash in this as well, just wrapping it in a couple towels. Holds the temperature very well.

 

[1stTimer]

Now I really hate our electric stove. Everyone elses seems to work fine. But it helped me talk SWMBO into letting me get a jet engine (propane burner) that brings my full boil on a 10 gallon ag batch to a boil in no time at all. Love that thing.

 

[1stTimer]

I've noticed that it looks like everyone else has an electric coil stove. Ours is just flat glass. Wonder if thats why mine was always so slow.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I've noticed that it looks like everyone else has an electric coil stove. Ours is just flat glass. Wonder if thats why mine was always so slow.

I've always had coil or gas, never had flat glass/ceramic top, but my understanding is that most flat tops have auto-shut offs to prevent the surface from getting to hot and getting damaged. Not an issue boiling water for pasta, but not conducive to boiling multiple gallons of wort.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[wheathead]

I have a ceramic top stove, that took forever to bring 3 gal to a boil for extracts & partials. Now I'm into AG and use an electric heat stick to augment the stove top, easily bringing 7-8 gal to a boil. I also insulate the pot. I can shut off the stove top and just use the heat stick for my 60 or 90 min boils. BTW, I do BIAG method.

 

[klyph]

This is how I do it
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/stovetop-110v-single-vessel-system-265939/

 

[DannPM]

I do 7 on a ceramic stove and I hate it. Getting a jet burner soon.

 

[SFSpencer]

If youre talking about a coil electric stove,buy a canning element,and switch your largest burner out with that.Definitely helps.....also wrap your pot in fermwrap or even aluminum foil..Still most electric stoves arent gonna be able to handle 6-7 gallons of wort.

I do two boils,two identical pots,split all hop additions in two etc etc...makes for a long ass day.But if i want to do AG,thats how it has to be.

 

[klyph]

Or you could put a 120v element in your pot like I did and boil like a madman.

 

[bovineblitz]

Try my ghetto strategy:

Place pot on burners, fold foil up against sides of pot (including over the back burner, that heat will still be useful even if the pot doesn't cover the whole thing), wrap a few more layers of foil around the pot (being sure to seal it against the stove and the top of the pot), then boil 8gal in 30min like me!

If you still need a little more power get a canning element to replace your big burner, it puts out a bit more heat. Also keeping the lid 1/4-1/2 way on can help you get a more vigorous boil.

 

[pernox]

I haven't started AG yet, but do boil on an electric stove.

With a smooth glass stovetop I found the cheap SS kettle took forever to boil. It seems like the circular "ridge" stamped into the pot's base as a stiffening feature prevented good contact with the glass. Everything went so much faster with a properly smooth/planar based pot.

With electric it looks like good contact is everything.

Winner.

I start boiling with 7.25 gallons on my slick-top and it boils like a madman all the way through.

 

[Bradinator]

Try my ghetto strategy:

Place pot on burners, fold foil up against sides of pot (including over the back burner, that heat will still be useful even if the pot doesn't cover the whole thing), wrap a few more layers of foil around the pot (being sure to seal it against the stove and the top of the pot), then boil 8gal in 30min like me!

If you still need a little more power get a canning element to replace your big burner, it puts out a bit more heat. Also keeping the lid 1/4-1/2 way on can help you get a more vigorous boil.

Respect.

 

[hypergolic]

Just remember, if you're buying your ingredients in bulk, there's no reason why you can't scale a recipe down to 3 gallons or so to fit your gear. An apartment stove should have no trouble with that, especially if you insulate.

I just scale my recipes down to 2 1/2 gallons and do all grain on my apartment stove. Yeah I don't end up with a lit of beer but I like brewing and it gives me a chance to experiment.

 

[thisgoestoeleven]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback. I've got 7.5ish gallons of water in my brewpot on the stove, and if I can get a boil I'm going all grain for my next batch.

 

[thisgoestoeleven]

On an unrelated note, I'm getting my minifridge back from my brother (he's finally moving out of the dorms), and picking up a tower conversion kit over the holidays. If all goes well, I can start kegging my all-grain beer in one fell swoop!