Blackening Kettle Bottoms

[ChemE]

I like saving time on brew day too. I'm not black belt enough to get it all done in 4.5 hours like some folks here are. I tend to average more like 8, so if something can shave 10 minutes off my process I'm happy. But that isn't the main reason for me. I love efficiency and especially energy efficiency!

 

[Catt22]

Fail !! The results are in. I ran Part II with the kettle bottom blackened. The time from 80F to a full boil was 42 minutes. That's actually one minute longer than it took with the non-blackened bottom, but more than likely that can be attributed to random error. IOW, if I ran the test again it might well be one minute faster to a boil. So, IMO based on actual testing there is nothing to gain buy blackening the bottom of an SS kettle. The results could well be different for an aluminum kettle, but I suspect not significantly. My gut feeling is that anything gained through improving the emissivity characteristics of the kettle are negligible relative to the amount of heat transferred through the kettle bottom by conduction.

So, that's an epic fail for both the keg skirt venting and blackening the kettle bottom according to my data. Anyone else want to give it a try?

 

[passedpawn]

Anyone else want to give it a try?

No, you guys are great. Thanks for running the test. It's easy for folks to go on about ideas, but kudos to those like you that promote them to action. Not a fail at all but a test that produced a result - excellent.

And thus is the difference between hypothesis and reality

 

[Catt22]

On a positive note, the High Temp paint survived the direct flame of the propane burner without any visible sign of distress, though the information on the can advises against doing so.