Heat stick

[john langley]

Brewing on a gas stove gets my wort boiling, but barely. I am thinking of augmenting the boil by adding an electric heat stick to the pot.

I'm reading that the 1000 watt bucket heaters you can find on Amazon for ~$40 aren't designed to boil and shut off around 180° or so. T or F ?

Is what I'm considering even sensible, anyone ever do it ?


I could use the Hot Rod, but was hoping to stay at 1000 watts..

Would a different choice in BK make a noticeable difference in my boil ? Aluminum ?

Currently using a bayou stainless pot...

 

[cyberbackpacker]

The bucket heater won't help you-- I tried it years ago and it did not help! I also tried to buy a different type of immersion heater from china, and it worked, but it rusted after 1 batch!

 

[Imhoppy]

For your consideration.... https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/index.php?posts/8672739

 

[bleme]

You really want to only barely boil. Chemically it will produce a better product.

However, a heat stick will help you get up to temp a lot faster, which is huge!

 

[seatazzz]

Is brewing in a garage or outside (on a deck perhaps) not possible for you? Propane burners can be found on craigslist or offerup for relatively cheap. I use a camp stove I got from Cabelas (about $80) that is sturdy and gets me to boil very fast, and is efficient on propane. Your other option, if outside/garage brewing is out of your reach, is possibly splitting your boil between two kettles, if they'll fit on your stove; although you will have to do some calculations for hop additions, I think. Greater minds than mine should weigh in here.

 

[Bobby_M]

Why the hard 1000 watts limit?

 

[john langley]

Why the hard 1000 watts limit?

Was concerned with tripping the breaker.

However, after looking at what else I run on that circuit (Air conditioner, 1560 watts) without any issue I'm not terribly concerned but may stick to 1500 out of an abundance of caution because there is a refrigerator on that circuit.

I run that a/c in the summer months when I brew outdoors on a propane burner, and realize the circuit wouldn't support running both......

 

[beernutz]

I have used a hot rod heat stick for almost 2 years to supplement a natural gas burner and have yet to trip a breaker or its built in GCFI plug.