Are Bucket Heaters Safe(for mashing)?

[vallonswayla]

I've seen comments on here and homebrewing/reddit from people saying that bucket heaters aren't food safe. I know they aren't tested and approved for that purpose, but that doesn't necessarily mean they couldn't be. Most people don't use them the way a homebrewer would. Interested in feedback.

Cheers-

 

[bkboiler]

Which one are you thinking of using? Got a link?

I just googled and saw one at Ace hardware that said "stainless" element but it also said "for livestock". That's a very different standard of food safety that personally I wouldn't use in my brewery, but others may know more about these tools...

 

[lump42]

If its similar to the Allied Precision 742G, several homebrew stores sell them, including morebeer. I think the biggest thing is that it's a stainless element and shield. They're not low watt density elements, so I wouldn't use it in a mash. It'll likely scorch. I've considered them for preheating strike water.

 

[vallonswayla]

Yes, it's the Allied unit that almost everybody is selling. I would just be using it to heat strike water as you said. I realize my post title was misleading, I meant safe to use the bucket heater to heat strike water for mashing.

 

[vallonswayla]

Which one are you thinking of using? Got a link?

I just googled and saw one at Ace hardware that said "stainless" element but it also said "for livestock". That's a very different standard of food safety that personally I wouldn't use in my brewery, but others may know more about these tools...

In my experience there seems to be one main manufacturer of these bucket heaters(Allied). One person said the chemicals in the metals/welds might have something nasty and that could leach into the water.

 

[LittleRiver]

...people saying that bucket heaters aren't food safe....

Grain is an agricultural product, and it inevitably includes small insects, soil, and other things that are technically not "food safe". If you could see the inside of some of the old water pipes that bring "clean" water to you, you would probably be shocked.

My take on bucket heaters is that they're fine for heating water. Plenty of people use them that way for additional heat if they have an under powered stove.

There is more of an argument against them for use in boiling (acidic) wort, especially if they're not of all stainless steel construction.

I use mine for heating a bucket of water when I need to clean a fermenter. I would be comfortable using it to heat mash water to strike temp, though I've never done that. I wouldn't use mine for boiling wort, since I'm not certain that all the metals are compatible with that environment.

 

[augiedoggy]

for water your likely ok.. depending on where they are made and for what market you want to be most concerned with lead solder if anything and even that is going to be a small amount... you likely have more heavy metals and minerals sitting in your hot water tank (which is why the CDC recommends to not consume water from your hot water tank btw) than this will contribute.

 

[bgmac]

I use this one to heat 5 to 6 gallons of sparge water to 170F on a GFCI circuit. Takes about 30 minutes and has a thermostat that allow it to go up to about 185F. Its all stainless steel. It is built really solid and have used it about 20 times now.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JB235C2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1