Glass stove top

[frozennorth]

Can I brew well on a glass stove top or do I need to buy a propane burner?

 

[palys2]

I did my first brew on a glass cooktop, it took forever to get my wort boiling. Used a burner from a turkey fryer ever since and haven't looked back. So my advise is go with the glass cooktop, but plan on upgrading.

 

[JINKS]

In the winter I boil on a glass top. Takes around 1:45 hr to bring 5 gallons in a 8 gal pot to a boil. During summer I use a turkey fryer burner.

 

[MaxStout]

I have a glass-top stove and had made a few extract and partial-mash batches. But I upgraded to propane a year ago, as I moved to BIAB and a much larger kettle.

You can do small batches on a glass-top, but it takes time to get things to a boil. And don't ever let your kettle boil over. Baked-on sugar is almost impossible to remove.

 

[SDouglas82]

I brew on a flat glass stove top. I usually only boil 3 gallons and top off with 2 gallons of cold water afterwards. It does take a while to get a boil going, but you can do it. I usually cover half the kettle with the lid to help bring to a boil and remove once the boil starts.


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[The10mmKid]

The key to brewing on the glass top is the pot has to be absolutely flat. That little recess on the bottom of my turkey fryer has an air gap that impedes heating.

'da Kid

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I guess it probably depends on the wattage of your burners. I've never brewed on anything other than my glass stovetop. Started with 2-3 gallon extract boils in a 5 gallon BK and moved up to partial mash and 4 gallon boils. I currently do AG BIAB full volume boils (6.5 - 7.5 gallons) in a 9 gallon pot. Part of the key for me is having a tall, thin BK that fits perfectly on the stovetop element. I think the narrow diameter helps concentrate the heat better. And yes, a perfectly flat bottom helps.

It does take about 30 minutes to get to a boil after mashing but I do a slow "trickle sparge" through my raised grain bag so I start the stove while I sparge into the pot. The net result is that I'm just about to boiling temp once the sparge is done. I do get a good rolling boil - nothing crazy but good enough.

You can see pics of my setup on this thread -

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f244/bag-hoist-hanging-any-pics-466358/index3.html

 

[frozennorth]

Thank you all. We just bought this house and it came with a glass top oven. We plan to upgrade to a gas, but a wood stove and green house are taking priority. I shall let you know how it turns out.

 

[Hello]

Took me over 2 hours to boil 2.5 gallons of water. It wasn't worth it. I also saw someone post here a cracked glass cooktop as a result of the weight of a full boil batch. I know a real high wattage glass cooktop can boil much much faster. Mine just sucks. I went to propane and induction for inside when weather isn't great or I don't want to brew outside.

 

[Heavywalker]

I use one for my brews, I don't do full boils but I can boil 4 gallons at a time. It takes about 30 minutes to bring the wort up to a boil.

 

[Calichusetts]

I wonder why so many people are struggling with boils on this?

My glass induction cooktop is nearing 20 years old and I get a vigorous boil of 2-3 gallons in 15 minutes (I usually time it and its 18 minutes, 15 gets me a crazy hot break and I add some of the final runnings to tame it.)

Tips:
Start boiling first runnings while you sparge. Its boiling for a few minutes before I am done sparging and add it. Returns in 15

Agree with an above posters, get a flat induction approved kettle. And yes, taller ones are better. Find one that fits as close as possible to the dimensions of the element. This is hard for me with a very old stove, but new ones are getting into the 13 and even 15 inch range

Keep the lid on until signs of hot break, or even the boil itself. I take it off at hot break because it can very quickly come to a boil over if left on.

Finally, for you larger batch people, wrap your kettle in some insulating material such as reflectix or a welders blanket. They work really well for both mash and boil insulation. Google it or search the forum, tons of pics and DIY for custom wrap builds.

 

[tokerlund]

Can I brew well on a glass stove top or do I need to buy a propane burner?

I was worried when I started brewing 3 gallon batches in my aluminum pot. It worked just fine and boiled fairly quickly (I started with 140* water from the tap).

Then I moved to a 9 gallon SS pot. I went out an bought a turkey fryer because I knew it wouldn't work on the glass top. Then one day it was -40* outside and I tried the glass top. It actually boiled the 7.5 gallons in my SS pot faster and harder then the 4 gallons in my aluminum pot.

You can do it, but it depends on the stove and be careful you don't crack the glass with too much weight. One tip, I have a 2L electric tea pot. I have added about a gallon or two by first heating it to boiling in the tea pot then into the brew pot. This cuts down the wait time for it to boil.

 

[Calichusetts]

Or pull out the stove and plug in this bad boy:

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ava...r-208-240v-3500-watt/177IC3500 208*240.html

Boils 10 gallons, 7-8 easy. There is a thread on it and people love it. 5 gallons to boil in 15 minutes after mashing

 

[JonM]

In addition to all the comments about possibly cracking the top and the major PITA of boilover gunk on the stovetop, consider this: If the bottom of the pot is not perfectly flat, it can "walk" around when it gets hot. I wouldn't want large amounts of boiling liquid sliding around near me. Time to invest in a propane burner.

 

[The10mmKid]

I wonder why so many people are struggling with boils on this?

My glass induction cooktop is nearing 20 years old and I get a vigorous boil of 2-3 gallons in 15 minutes (I usually time it and its 18 minutes, 15 gets me a crazy hot break and I add some of the final runnings to tame it.)

Tips:
Start boiling first runnings while you sparge. Its boiling for a few minutes before I am done sparging and add it. Returns in 15

Agree with an above posters, get a flat induction approved kettle. And yes, taller ones are better. Find one that fits as close as possible to the dimensions of the element. This is hard for me with a very old stove, but new ones are getting into the 13 and even 15 inch range

Keep the lid on until signs of hot break, or even the boil itself. I take it off at hot break because it can very quickly come to a boil over if left on.

Finally, for you larger batch people, wrap your kettle in some insulating material such as reflectix or a welders blanket. They work really well for both mash and boil insulation. Google it or search the forum, tons of pics and DIY for custom wrap builds.

May be chatting about two different beasts, Cali.

My Glass Top is radiant heat. Has a 'ring of fire' elements under the glass. (Actually the oversize burner has four; I think)

'da Kid

 

[brewerJase]

I have a glass-top stove and had made a few extract and partial-mash batches. But I upgraded to propane a year ago, as I moved to BIAB and a much larger kettle.

You can do small batches on a glass-top, but it takes time to get things to a boil. And don't ever let your kettle boil over. Baked-on sugar is almost impossible to remove.

Use a razor blade. Works amazing for getting off burnt sugar. Just did it two days ago with some corn sugar


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[frozennorth]

Tokerlund, are you up here in the Banks too?

 

[Hello]

I wonder why so many people are struggling with boils on this?

Oh because not all cook tops were created equally. Trust me on that one. My struggle is the lack of power. I can read tips and tricks until I'm blue in the face, that stove ain't boiling 2.5 gallons water in any respectable amount of time. I've tried it with induction ready cookware too. No go. People "struggle" because their stove isn't powerful enough. It happens.

 

[Chadwick]

I had a glass top stove with the coil type heater below the top. It worked, but boils took a long time to get going. One morning, only a few weeks ago, I woke to find the glass top was mysteriously cracked all over. (honestly, I didn't do it and hadn't brewed any beer for weeks)

We got a new stove! It has the traditional exposed elements. Old school, but just fine by me. I brewed two batches this last week on the new stove. It heats much quicker than the glass top did. There is a major difference in stove tops. If I didn't mind the thought of the stream of bugs that would flow into my wort outside, I'd go with the outdoor propane approach. As it stands, I'll continue to brew indoors.

Truth be told, I encouraged the misses to consider going with a stove that has traditional elements because I had brewing in the back of my mind the whole time. (Isn't that just typical of a home brewer?) I expected the exposed would work better for brewing and from the results of the last two brews, I was correct.

 

[JohnSand]

For sure the stove matters. I do full boil grain batches on my Maytag. It's fairly recent and has a "speed heat" setting as well as a three ring heater. Either will boil over seven gallons pretty quickly. I didn't time getting to the boil, but I brewed, grind to cleaned up in 4:45 on Thursday. That even included bringing everything up from the basement, one hour mash, one hour boil, 45 minutes cooling. The pot bottom must be flat, and fit in the ring, or you lose too much heat. Razor scraper and some paste cleaner takes off any stains.

 

[Calichusetts]

There is a product called cooktop magic. It's amazing. No need to razor, just use a sponge. It's really worth it. Even for really tough stuff

It might be stovetop magic, not at home, but its a liquid


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[mpghm]

I found that when the pot is much bigger than the element, it will keep switching on and off, so I'm probably only getting 50% power.

Could it work to put a metal plate that matches the size of the element between the stove top and the pot, lifting it up just enough so that the glass around the element won't get too hot?

I don't have anything like that, but could use a bunch of smaller metal things, like pennies or something cheap and flat from the hardware store.

 

[JohnSand]

I think that might work. An aluminum plate should work. I considered it, but then just bought a narrower pot from Amazon.

 

[balrog]

My glass top range is about 8 years old, and has two small, two large "burners" and one of the large burners even has an outer ring that can be switched on. Fits my 5G partial boil kettle perfectly and will bring 3.5G to boil from steeping grain temps in about 15m, lid on, then lid off & switch to about 8-8.5/10 to keep roiling boil for 60 or 90m easy. Have never tried full boil and have no kettle to do so.

I will add that after 90m, even a little boilover is a beeyatch to razor blade, stovetop paste, barkeepers friend, elbow grease, sweat, swearing work to remove.

 

[Epimetheus]

With just the glass top elements, it took almost an hour to heat 6 1/2 gallons from 150F to 212F. It made good beer and drove off DMS as a boil should, it just took a long time.

The process has been improved to heat faster:
- insulated the kettle with 3 to 4 wraps of Reflectix, which also helps hold the mash temp.
- Augment the 2000W range element with a 1500W 120V homemade heat stick.
(seearch for directions how to make a heatstick if you like. Always on a GFCI outlet.)

The combination of glass top element and heatstick warms 6 1/2 gallons to a boil in less than 20 minutes.

I use the BIAB method in an 8 gallon pot on a glass top range. Mash grain into 5 gallons, pull and drain the grain bag, add makeup water to 6.5 gallons, boil.

 

[bobeer]

I had a flat glass stove top at my old place. It worked fine for 2.5-3 gallon batches. I eventually got a propane burner so i could do bigger batches.