Induction Burner Help

[dammBrewer]

Just wondering if anyone can assist with my new Induction Burner.

I recently bought this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._re=rosewill_induction-_-96-268-058-_-Product.

It arrived yesterday.

Setting up my initial testing, I went ahead and used my 4.5 gallon Stainless Steel pot with 2 gallons of water and started the timer. In advance I must note that i never really checked the water temp. But, i don't know that it much matters....keep reading .

My testing went alright considering. I was able to get the water to a nice rolling boil in about 40 minutes. But only with the lid on.

My question and concern here is that once I removed the cover from my pot, the boil went to a very minimal bubbling, no longer rolling boil. I was using the 1800 Watt setting (max) and even tried going from Watts to Temp (it does both) and set it at 450 degrees. I let this run for a good 15 minutes without the lid. Never got my rolling boil back.

I am trying to come up with a way to brew at least a 3 to 3.5 gallon batch of something with this and am fearful that I cannot get enough boil to ward off DMS and other undesired attributes.

Does anyone have any past or present experiences with this burner? Also, I realize I cannot leave the lid on during boil (I can during all other process' and that will help) but is there another avenue I need/should present here? I need to stay at 120V and it needs to be compact and portable (due to home logistics -SWMBO). Sure I could add a heat stick to the mix, but, my concern with that is once I get to the point of boil, is it safe or sanitary to use during that point? My knowledge of that is that it is only used for heating strike water, not wort.

Thanks in advance everyone.

 

[chewse]

Try wrapping your pot in Reflectix. It helped me when I was using an 1800 watt induction burner. You'll probably not get a really strong rolling boil but it will be acceptable.

 

[dammBrewer]

Try wrapping your pot in Reflectix. It helped me when I was using an 1800 watt induction burner. You'll probably not get a really strong rolling boil but it will be acceptable.

Any concerns with "heat" or "flame" with this material? I know there is no direct flame involved but.....

 

[jason1973]

here is how i keep my boil

just lift lid every 2 minutes or so.
also remember with how induction works you wont always see a soft boil, keep a sterile floating thermometer in pot and ensure temp is at least 100c

 

[chewse]

Any concerns with "heat" or "flame" with this material? I know there is no direct flame involved but.....

Absolutely no concern when with induction heat on the Reflectix material.

 

[dammBrewer]

I bought a roll of Reflectix today. I will fit it and re-test tomorrow. Thanks for the advice.

 

[jason1973]

by reflectix you mean flexible ducttape? as in the silver tape we use to seal the foam on our kegerators?

 

[aceuass]

Reflectix, wrap the kettle use the silver duct tape to seal
Most hardware stores carry it
Cheers

 

[IslandLizard]

by reflectix you mean flexible ducttape? as in the silver tape we use to seal the foam on our kegerators?

Reflectix is silver coated bubble wrap. Wrap 2 or 3 times around your kettle to create an insulation jacket. You can cover your lid with some too, to keep more heat in.

With that, you should be able to get a rolling boil with the lid half or 3/4 way on, setting the power level to max. Many use heat sticks for some extra oomph, and use it in the wort. As long as it doesn't scorch it, it's fine.

I'm assuming you're brewing with malt extract and steeping grains, not all-grain or partial-mash. In that case you do not have to worry about DMS; it was already boiled off when the maltster made the extract base.

But you still want to have a decent rolling boil for best hop extraction and alpha-acid conversion.

 

[jason1973]

Reflectix is silver coated bubble wrap. Wrap 2 or 3 times around your kettle to create an insulation jacket. You can cover your lid with some too, to keep more heat in.

With that, you should be able to get a rolling boil with the lid half or 3/4 way on, setting the power level to max. Many use heat sticks for some extra oomph, and use it in the wort. As long as it doesn't scorch it, it's fine.

I'm assuming you're brewing with malt extract and steeping grains, not all-grain or partial-mash. In that case you do not have to worry about DMS; it was already boiled off when the maltster made the extract base.

But you still want to have a decent rolling boil for best hop extraction and alpha-acid conversion.

r4ight after i asked i relized what it was.

 

[jason1973]

I'm assuming you're brewing with malt extract and steeping grains, not all-grain or partial-mash. In that case you do not have to worry about DMS; it was already boiled off when the maltster made the extract base.

But you still want to have a decent rolling boil for best hop extraction and alpha-acid conversion.

yes doing extracts, and partials, only all grain biab on 1 and 2 gallon batches.
got limited space in a condo. wish pico zymatic did bigger batches at lower price, well maybe when the grain farther comes to north america i'll get one.
edit: actualy brewing space is fine, storage of equipment is limited space.

 

[IslandLizard]

yes doing extracts, and partials, only all grain biab on 1 and 2 gallon batches.
got limited space in a condo. wish pico zymatic did bigger batches at lower price, well maybe when the grain farther comes to north america i'll get one.
edit: actualy brewing space is fine, storage of equipment is limited space.

Let me clarify, in the case of extracts with steeping grains there are no DMS concerns. But for any brews containing mashed base grains, there should be sizable boil off to remove DMS and its precursors, which means the lid needs to vent quite a bit.

When I need to keep a lid on partially to retain a good boil on larger batches (10 gallon), putting it on half way works fine. Boil off is still a gallon an hour that way and never noticed DMS in the final beer.

Those all-in-one brew machines are just $$$ gadgets. They don't make better beer than the simplest kettle on a decent heating source using a stirring spoon or paddle.

When storage of equipment is a concern, BIAB has probably the smallest footprint, although a converted cooler is all you need for conventional mash tun processes. That cooler can still be used for its original intend, just be extra aware of the bulkhead/valve sticking out. Don't want to damage or stress that area too much. Don't know how many times I've kicked or stepped on it though.

I use several of those triple truss open metal storage racks. They are sturdy and hold 600# per shelf.