Electric stove vs. Butane Burner

[JRDroid]

So I have read that electric stoves are not ideal for boiling your wort. I have an electric stove. But I also have a 10,000 BTU butane camp burner. Which would be better for doing 2-3 gallon boils in my 5 gallon enamel brew pot, the electric stove or the butane burner?

 

[PintOfBitter]

10000 BTU is approximately equal to 3000W, so if you know the power of your stove, there's your answer!

 

[JRDroid]

I have no idea how powerful the stove is lol. I live in an apartment, so I didn't buy it. I'm assuming its probably super cheap though since it is in a rental. Could I test it by seeing how long it takes to bring like 2.5 gallons of water to a boil on each?

 

[mixedbrewer]

2.5 gallons is no problem on an electric stove, as long as one of the burners has a large surface area. Mine has 3 small ones and the one larger coil. The large coil works well, the smaller coils, no such luck.

 

[Andy_LV]

dont have to boil all the 2.5galons, I think timing half gallon would give you idea

 

[BMan1029]

I tried brewing on my stove, but it did not have enough cahones. Bought a turkey fryer, been happy ever since

 

[PintOfBitter]

5 gallons on the stovetop will make you weep when after 90 minutes your water is just barely starting to simmer. 2.5 should not be a problem. For this volume, I would just go with what's most convenient for you.

 

[JRDroid]

Ya, I only have a 21 quart pot so I will only be doing partial boils, 3 gallons tops.

 

[ToastedPenguin]

If you want to stay indoors, in the kitchen and use your stove top you can use a heat stick to aide in getting up to and maintaining a strong rolling boil. I do full 5G boils in my kitchen in a 10G pot using my stove top and a 1200 watt heat stick. The total pre-boil water volume is 6.5 gallons and I am able to get it to a boil in about 10 min from a 170 steeping temp.

David

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

3 gallons should work just fine. I have done 4 gallon boils on my crappy Roker electric with decent results.

The electric would also be quite a bit cheaper and far more efficient. You can expect around 70% of your heat to make it into your pot with electric vs 30% with a gas flame so even though the butane is rated at 10000BTU, your will only get about 3000BTU into your pot or about the same amount of heat as a 1500Watt stove top thingy...

Just use your stove.

 

[msa8967]

Just for clarification...BTU's are a measure of energy and Watts are a measure of power (the rate at which energy is delivered). Often when someone says the heater delivers 50,000 BTU this implies that it is measuring BTU per hour. It is like saying filling your car tires to 30 pounds of pressure, when you really mean 30 lbs per square inch.

1 BTU/hour = 0.293 Watts (Joules/sec)

In comparison you need to ask about delivered power as what fraction or precentage of energy supplied by the heating device will be transferred to the brew kettle.

 

[Burtonair01]

Does anybody use a camp chef for boiling? Thoughts?