How do you boil water?

[maxamuus]

Maybe a simplistic question but got wondering today while i was brewing.

When i started brewing earlier this year i was brewing on a OLD electric range. I would put the kettle over two burners and with a hope and a prayer i could get a so so boil going.

Upgraded to a turkey fryer and brewing outside now. This thing can boil some wort! When i first got the fryer i was showing that wort who was boss and had the gas going full tilt. Now i get a good boil going and back off to a calmer easier boil.

So my question is is it better to do a gentle boil or boil that wort to within a inch of its life? Or does it even matter ?(Just doing extract/mini-mashes so far)

Cheers

 

[boostsr20]

I do gentle but still rolling on my fryer. No need to waste gas and caramelize your sugars.

 

[Mirilis]

There is an episode of Brew Strong that you need to listen to. They have all the info on a boil that you would want to listen to. Brew Strong: Boil

 

[CaptainCoconut]

I can get about 4 gallons (I've only got a 5-gallon kettle) to a hard rolling boil on my electric stovetop (enough that I have to turn down the heat a bit), as long as I line the drip pan with foil and insulate my kettle with a couple layers of foil. Without the foil, I can't really get much of a boil at all with the lid off.

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

Propane burner; I crack that sucker like its taking off for outer space then cut back once its rolling. Like it was mentioned above, no need to waste gas.

 

[zman]

Propane burner; I crack that sucker like its taking off for outer space then cut back once its rolling. Like it was mentioned above, no need to waste gas.

Same here

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Propane burner; I crack that sucker like its taking off for outer space then cut back once its rolling. Like it was mentioned above, no need to waste gas.

Same deal. If I'm in a bit of a hurry, I'll open it up more to crank it up, but that is a rarity.

 

[ShermanTank]

I have a Bayou Classic 130K BTU propane burner that sounds like you could launch a hot air balloon. I start with 6.5 gallons of water in a 7.5 gallon pot. I'm pretty new, so I'm still in the "Cake Mix" phase (kits), but I usually steep specialty grains at 155 degrees and then crank it to get boiling in just a few minutes. I try and getting a high-rolling boil and hold it for the whole 60 minutes. I have 5.5 gallons at primary and lose another .5 gallons between racking to secondary, evap and bottling.

 

[MBasile]

I'm still on the electric range in the kitchen, although I've upgraded from partial boils in a 5 gallon kettle to full boils in an 8 gallon. It takes some time, but I can get it up to a decent boil. I'm waiting to upgrade to a blichmann burner.

 

[baystatebrew]

i think a rolling boil is fine, regardless of whether you use a fryer or a stove. heat is heat, though i wouldn't mind getting a fryer just so i don't have to spend half my life waiting for my electric stovetop to heat up. i'll probly drop on one of those when i figure out how to convince my wife that it is a good use of money.

as long as it's boiling at 212 F or higher i think you should be fine. i just took a brewery tour today of a local craft brewery, and they boil their wort at 218 F, which is about what i do really.

 

[rico567]

Any turkey fryer-type burner is going to be an enormous step up from just about any kitchen appliance you can name. Our propane kitchen cooktop has one side where the burners max out at about 8500 BTU. I now use the Bayou Classic SP-10 out in the garage, which (I think) is rated about 55,000 BTU. Not hard to do the math.

However, there ARE tricks, as was mentioned with the foil. I went for a more permanent approach to getting the boil pot to heat up before I went AG and moved operations to the garage. I ordered a roll of automotive firewall insulation from JC Whitney, along with foil tape and heat-resistant adhesive, and put a layer on the outside of my 30 qt. SS pot. It makes a significant difference in how much time it takes to heat up.