Going to take the next step and try all grain. I live in the northeast and will continue to do partial mashes during the winter. I Would like a kettle that would work for both methods. My question is, can I do 5 gallon full boils in a 10 gallon kettle on a stove top (glass, flat top)? Or does the surface area of the kettle inhibit conduction?
Kettle question
- Thread starter sjlyons81
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk:
5 gallon full boils on the stove are pretty much not an option unless you supliment with a heat stick. If you have room I would honestly invest in a outdoor burner, it will save so much time and mess. and... I would vote get a 15gal pot over a 10 gal pot.
jekeane
Well-Known Member
Full boils on a stove can be done but it depends on your stove. I would have concerns over a pot that size with 48-50lbs of water in it on a glass stovetop. I would check out the stovetops weight limits with the manufacturer before attempting. If you cant use a burner and move outside you could look into induction burners.
Don't mind the buying the outdoor burner, it's the outside that bothers me. Snowed today. Crazy New York.
I guess I should rephrase my question. Is there a difference between boiling 2.5 gallons in a 4 gallon pot vs a 10 gallon pot?
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
Roadliner
Well-Known Member
I'd also be worried about how much weight you put on the stove top.. but 10 gallon pots can handle a 5 gallon batch just fine.
I looked into this because of the crazy cold weather here in Buffalo. I decided not to do it. I found some stuff online about people cracking their stove tops. I didn't want to take a chance. I've done 3 gallon boils, but I think 5 is pushing it.
You guys get it worse than we do. (Albany area)
I plan on using the kettle for all grain but was just wondering if I could effectively boil 3 gallons in it on a stove top or is there some reason I'm unaware of in which the size of the pot matters? Besides weight.
The only issue I can think of would be the area of the bottom of your kettle. I think stoves are designed to handle a specific range of pot sizes. Bigger pots may work, but they are probably not optimum. If it's a short/wide kettle it might be hard to get enough heat to heat the entire bottom. Either way, you'll be waiting a while for that sucker to boil.
Why not fill it with water and give it a try?
Why not fill it with water and give it a try?
Roadliner
Well-Known Member
pshh.. you guys barely even get any snow in Buffalo
Good call.
What are you? Siberian?
Roadliner
Well-Known Member
lol My wife is from Buffalo, and my family-in-law lives there. I'll never forget the first time I went to visit for Christmas and had to brush a foot and a half of snow off my truck... every morning lol.
Welcome to upstate
Keep in mind with a 5 gallon all grain batch starts with around 7 gallons of liquid and boils down to 5. In my opinion thats too much for a stove. My burner can get 3.5 gallons of wort up to a boil but I would not try much more.
Ole_Smoky
Well-Known Member
I use a 10 gal kettle and do 6.25 - 6.5 gal boils on my glass cooktop for every batch so far. I have a weird element though it can either be a decent sized front/back circles or else it has a burner between the 2 that turns it into a long oval sort of shape, works really well I can get it to a good rolling boil in about 25-30 mins. Now that the weathers getting nicer I think I'll use my propane burner more and do it outside just to speed things up but seeing as we see -40 for a majority of the winter I will most likely be going back to my trusty stove come next November!!
Similar threads
