Can my ceramic stove do a 3.5 gallon partial boil?

[Canadian_Brewer]

Hello,

I am wondering if my glass stove will be able to boil 3.5 gallons (CAN) of water with DME in it?

I have a 20 L canning pot (big black speckle thing) I bought for $25.

I am going to be covering the pot with two layers of aluminum reflective foil. The stuff they use for covering sheet metal for heat systems and what not.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Waynep005]

I should be able to. If you hae concerns do a test run with just water. It costs nothing and will let you know for sure.

 

[meltroha]

Yes

 

[Canadian_Brewer]

Would that be a fair test though with just water? From what I understand adding an extract to water may prevent it from boiling. I could be wrong there though.

 

[IslandLizard]

Yeah you should try it out first. If you can sustain a good rolling boil with the lid off, you should be OK.

You should add only 1/3 of your extract (DME) at the beginning of your (brew) boil anyway. Then at "flame out" add the remainder (2/3). No need to boil that last addition. There is enough heat to pasteurize it and your beer will taste fresher.

One note on aluminum foil:
DO NOT cover your stove top with it, or let any aluminum foil touch the hot surface, at any time. It will permanently attach itself and ruin your stove. So be careful with that "Reflectix" stuff too.

And watch like a hawk for boil overs. Keep a spray bottle with cold water handy to spray the boiling wort surface down if it looks like it gets out of hand.
If a boil over occurs, turn off the burners, and clean the wort off immediately. Sugar will burn into the glass too and create deep pits.

Make sure there is absolutely no grit, sand or dirt between the pot and the glass stove top. It will scratch it under all that weight and motion.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

Yeah you should try it out first. If you can sustain a good rolling boil with the lid off, you should be OK.

You should add only 1/3 of your extract (DME) at the beginning of your (brew) boil anyway. Then at "flame out" add the remainder (2/3). No need to boil that last addition. There is enough heat to pasteurize it and your beer will taste fresher.

One note on aluminum foil:
DO NOT cover your stove top with it, or let any aluminum foil touch the hot surface, at any time. It will permanently attach itself and ruin your stove. So be careful with that "Reflectix" stuff too.

And watch like a hawk for boil overs. Keep a spray bottle with cold water handy to spray the boiling wort surface down if it looks like it gets out of hand.
If a boil over occurs, turn off the burners, and clean the wort off immediately. Sugar will burn into the glass too and create deep pits.

Make sure there is absolutely no grit, sand or dirt between the pot and the glass stove top. It will scratch it under all that weight and motion.

Listen to this guy!
Last house i was at had glass ceramic and it was a NIGHTMARE after a spot cracked on one of the burners after "we chipped it" the guy said, since it didn't start from the side...gotta love out of date warrantees.
Biggest POS i ever owned. Spotting and browning after every cook.

Now to answer your question!
I was able to boil to up ~3.5 gallons on the stove but took me around 45-60min depending on season to get up from filtered tap @60.
You can do it but for 50bucks (or less if your lucky) you can grab a turkey burner. You have a bbq with a propane tank? plus when you go AG its already checked off!

#rantover
Cheers!

 

[Canadian_Brewer]

I really appreciate you're help. I have some LME that I plan on dropping at knockout. The DME that I a plan on boiling with is 2.5 lbs.

 

[Canadian_Brewer]

May I ask how much water you were boiling when your stove chipped?

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

May I ask how much water you were boiling when your stove chipped?

Had moms red sauce on the stove for ~4-5hours. I dont think that was the problem
Im convinced the glass was defective, litterally took the pot off and about a minute after we heard a slight "ice crack" not sure how else to describe the noise, like when ice hits water. Nothing was visible till the next cook, it got hot and finally cracked.

 

[fair78]

I have a glass top stove and can do full 6 gallon boils. Takes about an hour to get there, but it works.

 

[IslandLizard]

...a spot cracked on one of the burners after "we chipped it" the guy said, since it didn't start from the side...

Warrantees are only as good as the products. And only last up to the moment the sale is completed.

Sorry to hear you had no success in filing that claim. And how far up does one want to climb that tree?

I still do stovetop brewing (6.5 gals full boils, ouch, yeah!) but am looking into drilling a hole into that nice pot and filling it with an element.

Then I also make chicken or turkey soup in those same volumes. A modern ceramic stove top should be able to handle that, duncha think? It has a 13.5" triple burner that always asks to be used.

Keeping those fingers crossed, meanwhile!

 

[IslandLizard]

Had moms red sauce on the stove...

You mean that really blazing hot, red sauce? The one that can burn through anything? There's your answer to all those chips, holes, and cracks over the years!