Glass Cooktops

[rjsilvers]

I've got an electric stove with a glass cooktop. I'm just starting out brewing and I bought a 5.25 gallon pot to boil with and I got it home and it says "Do not use with glass cooktops" on the side.

I looked it up on Google and it said anything bigger than the size of the burner may crack the glass.

Anybody else have any experience with glass cooktops and brewing?

 

[uwjester]

I think that's probably good advice. I think you'd have a hard time keeping 4-5 gallons boiling on a glass top anyway. That's what I have and I can keep 3 gallons going, but barely.

 

[rjsilvers]

I think that's probably good advice. I think you'd have a hard time keeping 4-5 gallons boiling on a glass top anyway. That's what I have and I can keep 3 gallons going, but barely.

Well actually I wasn't going to do a full boil. The recipe only calls for a 2 gallon boil and that's what I was going to do.

I also have a 3 gallon pot that I've used for cooking, but I wasn't sure if I could do a 2 gallon boil in a 3 gallon pot safely. Your thoughts?

 

[gruntingfrog]

I have a glass stove and did 3 gallon boils when I first started out. I was also using a 5 gallon pot and never had an issue. Granted, I only did 4 batches indoors before going all-grain on a propane burner outside, so this is probably not a valid sample size to determine the safety of brewing on a glass stove.

 

[cubbies]

huh, maybe I should have read instructions. I got my turkey frier a couple of months ago, and before that I did full boils (7gallons usually) on my glass top, electric stove. Took a long time to get going, but it was certainly doable. Sure am glad I didnt break the stove. SWMBO would have flipped.

 

[njnear76]

huh, maybe I should have read instructions. I got my turkey frier a couple of months ago, and before that I did full boils (7gallons usually) on my glass top, electric stove. Took a long time to get going, but it was certainly doable. Sure am glad I didnt break the stove. SWMBO would have flipped.

Heh. Did you use an aluminum or SS pot? I've always done my AG on a propane setup, but brewing inside does have it's benefits (cold days, more sanitary, etc...).

 

[AllGoNoShow]

I have a glass stovetop and always use pots that are bigger then the heating area....for brewing and just regular cooking. Never had a problem.

 

[splat]

I have a glass stovetop and always use pots that are bigger then the heating area....for brewing and just regular cooking. Never had a problem.

Me too...I have never heard anything about breaking the glass using a bigger pot... Hopefully wont be making too many more batches on the stove before going to all grain...

 

[Sean]

I have a glass stovetop and always use pots that are bigger then the heating area....for brewing and just regular cooking. Never had a problem.

ditto

I have a 14" cast iron skillet I sometimes use on mine, no problem.

 

[devaspawn]

I have a 6 gallon aluminum brew pot and a glass stove top. I have had almost 5 gallons in their at one point. Takes forever to get to a boil at that volume. I could not get a strong rolling boil. I experimented though and had the pot straddling the front and back burner and I got faster to-boil times and rocking boils as well. I would certainly be careful as this leave a bit of both burners exposed.

 

[malkore]

It depends on your stove. I have a spendy Frigidere ceramic cook top. it has heat sensors around the burners. I spent 90 minutes with a 30qt pot (13" diameter) with 3 gallons of water inside. I could not exceed 170F. The burner would only stay on about 5 seconds out of every minute because the stove was preventing damage ot the cook top.

I can only do stove top brews by using two 12qt stockpots, that are only about 1" wider than my burner. I can do a 3gallon AG batch like this, or an extract boil that gets normal hop utilization. I just split the ingredients evenly.

good luck.

 

[Sean]

It depends on your stove. I have a spendy Frigidere ceramic cook top. it has heat sensors around the burners. I spent 90 minutes with a 30qt pot (13" diameter) with 3 gallons of water inside. I could not exceed 170F. The burner would only stay on about 5 seconds out of every minute because the stove was preventing damage ot the cook top.

I can only do stove top brews by using two 12qt stockpots, that are only about 1" wider than my burner. I can do a 3gallon AG batch like this, or an extract boil that gets normal hop utilization. I just split the ingredients evenly.

good luck.

I have something similar. I think it has to do with the contact with the burner.

I have a few warped pots that do not heat anything. The burner cuts off. But the ones that are totally flat on the bottom, rock.

luck