Electric plan - Brewzilla + induction heater

[cactusgarrett]

Just looking for someone to shoot holes in my plan:

In the next few months I plan on transitioning over to all-in-one with a Brewzilla 65L. However, to supplement normal performance, I intend on getting this 1800W induction heater (120V) to mainly heat sparge water during normal brewing operations. More importantly, though, I was hoping to use it for the infrequent times I plan on pulling decoctions for german lagers, as I'm going to miss out on the ability to do that without the outdoor burner approach. One of the main reasons I chose that model is that it's one of the few that can handle a heavy weight on the top, as well as not having the control panel flat against the pot's bottom surface. I understand an 1800W 120V heater would take a while to heat room temp water to brewing temps, but provided I plan on only using it only for sparge water, I don't see that as too impactful. I'm really hoping, though, it can handle getting a thick decoction up to boiling temp in order to perform a traditional decoction step.

Does anyone have any experience in supplementing their all-in-one with an induction heater? Is it worth the cost/trouble?

 

[csantoni]

It was before I got my digiboil, which is not an all in one, but I did testing with this exact induction burner model and a 4 gallon heavy stainless steel pot. It had no problems getting the water up to 180F, but it slowed to a crawl after that and peaked at about 205F with 3.5 gals in the pot. It would work fine for sparge water and maybe with a slightly thinner-walled pot it could reach a boil, especially if your volume was only in the 2 gal range. I wound up returning it and opting for the digiboil as I needed a solution for my boil kettle but I think this could work for you and might get you your decoction.

 

[cactusgarrett]

peaked at about 205F with 3.5 gals in the pot.

Yeah, sparge I'm not too concerned about, given enough time to get it up there in temp (since sparge water temp is mostly irrelevant). Did you use any reflectix or insulation to help it along? I've heard that is a night/day difference. I do plan on doing that.

 

[Sammy86]

Just looking for someone to shoot holes in my plan:

In the next few months I plan on transitioning over to all-in-one with a Brewzilla 65L. However, to supplement normal performance, I intend on getting this 1800W induction heater (120V) to mainly heat sparge water during normal brewing operations. More importantly, though, I was hoping to use it for the infrequent times I plan on pulling decoctions for german lagers, as I'm going to miss out on the ability to do that without the outdoor burner approach. One of the main reasons I chose that model is that it's one of the few that can handle a heavy weight on the top, as well as not having the control panel flat against the pot's bottom surface. I understand an 1800W 120V heater would take a while to heat room temp water to brewing temps, but provided I plan on only using it only for sparge water, I don't see that as too impactful. I'm really hoping, though, it can handle getting a thick decoction up to boiling temp in order to perform a traditional decoction step.

Does anyone have any experience in supplementing their all-in-one with an induction heater? Is it worth the cost/trouble?

I don't have any experience with an induction heater but from the experiences I've read here and seen around the web they seem like a good investment.

Since sparge water isn't temperature dependent I haven't really concerned myself with it for my 65L. I will admit it does seem to take a bit longer to sparge with room temp water but I don't have any hard data to back that up.

this July I got myself a Digiboil with some gift cards so I guess we'll wait and see if the investment was worth it.

 

[csantoni]

Did you use any reflectix or insulation to help it along?

I didn't insulate. I'm sure that helps, you should try it and let me know if I should buy it again for decoction myself!