Stove scorched my kettle

[Thehopguy]

Got my new kettle yesterday.. big 9 gallon and I filled it up with 3 gallons of water and tried it out on my stove...electric stove...

I wanted to do a test run to see how long it would take to boil etc.. ill be doing my first batch in about a week.

i read somewhere else about an electric stove possibly leaving marks on a kettle but I was just hoping it wouldnt happen.

I did have it on the highest setting.... i dunno if this was the cause

if anyone else has experience with something like this id appreciate any advice.. is my kettle ruined?? should i not have it as high...

 

[Daybis]

I haven't heard about the electric stoves scorching kettles. Where and how bad is your kettle scorched?

 

[seabass07]

What material is the kettle? My stove left an outline of the burner on my enameled steel kettle, but it still works.

 

[Thehopguy]

Ya thats exactly what happened actually. an outline of the burner.

Its a stainless steel kettle. doesnt look too bad. theres hot water in it cooling now i wont be able to really assess the damage until its cool

Im also testing for boil off amount so I put 3 gallons in and when its cool ill put it back in my bucket with measure lines and see how much water i lost during the boil.

 

[seabass07]

It should be fine. That's what happens when you have a relatively small burner going on high heat for a long time with metal to metal contact.

I'd make sure your bucket is accurate before you use it for measurements. My bucket was off by almost half a gallon.

 

[Dome555]

Same thing happened to mine. It eventually came off with enough soaking in oxiclean and nylon scrubpadding. It's been less of a problem since getting a heat distributor for the burner instead of just putting the kettle directly on the coil.

 

[seabass07]

The diffuser is a good idea. I think a cast iron one would be a good idea. I've heard of the steel ones warping.

 

[Xaphoeous]

did you wash the pot first? Those pots can have plenty of oils and other products from manufacturing still on them and they could intensify your burn mark.

What are these heat diffusers? I'd be interested in buying one if they are kickass...

 

[UnfixedShihTzu]

Do the diffusers take away from the heat any? My stove gets me to about 214 degrees and then stops, I'd be afraid to not reach a boil with a diffuser, unless it's my thermometer that sucks.

 

[NWMOBrewer]

A diffuser would just slow down the time to get to a boil. Scorched pots are relatively common on my old electric stove. Its no big, wash it when you can, but your pot will still brew just fine. Also, upgrading to a turkey fryer would help. lol

 

[Thehopguy]

@NWMOBrewer

I'd love to upgrade and brew outside but for the meantime because of my location i can't do that. Thanks for reply though i figured the scorching wasn't that big of a deal just a sign of use. Turns out you can see it from the inside but not on the bottom where it actually was metal-to-metal, weird. Anyways ill be using it again for my first brew day and probably get more scorch marks but I've got no other choice for now...atleast I got a pretty good deal on the kettle.

 

[seabass07]

There's also the heat stick option. That's the route I went. I use the stove on high and the heat stick to bring me to a boil, then the heat stick alone will boil the wort slightly violently. It works great for raising the mash temp if you miss it or if you want multiple rests. You just stir the mash with it until you get to the right temp. I can't use propane outside either, so it allows me to do full boils very easily.

 

[Thehopguy]

@seabass

I'm very new to this ( 0 batches under my belt ! ) lol, im gonna do my first one next week so excuse my ignorance. But whats a heat stick?? And also.. ill be doing extract with specialty grains. Is a heat stick an option in this case as well?

 

[seabass07]

If you can boil with no trouble on the stove, then it might not be necessary. I do AG with a full boil, so boiling 7.5 gallons is more than my stove can do.

A heat stick is a water heater element attached to a chrome plated drain pipe with a pvc handle. If you have 20 amp gfci outlets in the kitchen, then you can use a 2000 watt element.

These are the instructions I used. Works perfect.
http://www.3d0g.net/brewing/heatstick

 

[unionrdr]

I got a deal a few months ago on 4 nested,polished SS stock pots/lids & steamer trays for $25 or so. I took the 5G one as my brew kettle,momma got the rest. So no equipment purchase problems when she gets something too.
Anyway,When I boil 2.5G (9.5L) of water,then dump in 1.5lbs of DME for my additions,I wind up with a caramel colored coil mark on the bottom of mine too. When I'm done brewing,pitching,etc,I make a gallon of warm PBW & dump it in the pot for an overnight soak.
Then break out my dobie (the same one I lightly scrub the outside of my bottles with),& scrub it clean inside & out. Then rinse & allow to dry upside down in the dish rack. All shiny & clean again.