Stovetop Heat Retention

[TonyR]

I have a couple of 8-Gallon Aluminum pots that I picked up from Amazon several weeks ago. I've made a couple of extract recipes, and was able to do nearly full boils.

I recently tried to do a stove-top AG following Deathbrewer's instruction thread. Even with the lid on, I was losing 5 degrees every 10 minutes, which made keeping temp @ 154F practically impossible.

What can I do to insulate my pots to help with heat retention? I've tried to search, but haven't come up with much. I've looked at some of the 'Dynamat' type car insulation, but they seem to be designed for noise more than heat, and would probably stink pretty bad when getting hot.

I have 2 8-Gallon Aluminum pots, and 1 5-Gallon SS pot:

 

[AnOldUR]

I've looked at some of the 'Dynamat' type car insulation, but they seem to be designed for noise more than heat, and would probably stink pretty bad when getting hot.

I'll let you know. Mine should be here on Monday. It's made to shield against heat, so it should reflect the heat back into the pot. The fiber padding will provide some insulation. At least that what I'm hoping.

Product Features

• Helps To Eliminate Heat; Cold; Moisture And Noise
• Hi Grade Aluminum Laminated To Fiber Tech Padding
• Great For Floorboards/Engine Compartments etc.
• Size: 4 ft x 6 ft
• Alumfoil Coated With High Tack High Temp Adhesive

• Heat Shield Insulation
• 4 ft. X 6 ft.

 

[TonyR]

The stuff I was looking at was http://www.jegs.com/p/Dynamat/Dynamat-Xtreme-Insulation/763880/10002/-1

"Dynamat Xtreme is best for temperatures between 14° F and 140° F (-10° C to 60° C) yet withstands -65° F to 300° F (-54° C to 149° C)"

 

[AnOldUR]

It looks like that stuff is made mostly for sound, where the CSI is a heat shield. Direct flame would probably be bad, but I'm hoping it will hold up to the heat.

 

[Brewham]

Its the problem with stove tops. Those dinky burners don't produce enough heat. Mine will barely boil a pot of pasta. I looked into getting higher output burners but couldn't find any without replacing the whole stove with something more "commercial." When I asked about it in the appliance store they looked at me like I was crazy. "No one has ever complained about that before." BS you moron, obviously your wife does the cooking.

You can't fool the laws of physics and there simply aren't enough BTUs to do the job. Insulating the pot will help. Balancing over two burners will help. Let us know what you find.

 

[jfr1111]

1. Take pot at 154F.
2. Put in 154F or higher water bath (if you have a huge sink, it works, I've done it)
3. Monitor temp of outside bath so it stays at 154F.

Success. I've done it with a cheap, crappy turkey fryer made out of paper thin aluminium. I also try to minimize dead space, so i use a higher qt/lb ratio and sparge less if I'm making a lower gravity beer.

Also, are you sure you are losing so much heat ? Your thermometer needs to be pretty much in the middle on the mash (and not floating on top) to accurately gauge temperatures. I had this problem the first time: thermometer wasn't totally submerged and read 148F a couple minutes after dough-in (I was shooting for 155F). I freaked out and added a bit of boiling water and stirred well. I pushed the thermometer down a bit more. Read the temperature 5 minutes later: almost 165F. Ooopsies.

 

[TonyR]

The large pots won't fit in my sink. I can't carry a pot of liquid + grain around, so I really need to keep it on the stove-top. I'm confident i'm getting an accurate temperature measurement, I am able to use some thin wire to tie the thermometer in such a way that the tip is very close to center of pot, not touching sides.

 

[Yooper]

What about in the oven? Will the pot fit in the oven, on the lowest rack? Even if you have the oven turned off, it should maintain heat pretty well.

 

[AnOldUR]

You can't fool the laws of physics . . .

Star Trekkin Lyrics:
Ye cannae change the laws of physics, laws of physics, laws of physics;
ye cannae change the laws of physics, laws of physics, Jim.

Well, here's nine gallons boiling in a 10 gallon pot on a kitchen stovetop!

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I don't mean top be a pain, but rather than go to all of the trouble trying to wrap the pot and do everything, why not just mke a quick cooler mash tun with a braid? Look around and you can probably get the cooler cheap or free and the rest of the stuff is just a few bucks unless you insist on a ball valve.

 

[AnOldUR]

. . . why not just make a quick cooler mash tun with a braid?

Only one reason. Step mashing without infusions.










But I don't think this is the OP's reason for posting.

 

[FermentedNovice]

What about in the oven? Will the pot fit in the oven, on the lowest rack? Even if you have the oven turned off, it should maintain heat pretty well.

+1 to this suggestion. This is what I do on the rare occasions I do a partial mash, and it works great (as long as your pot fits in your oven, that is).

 

[TonyR]

Just checked this out. If I remove all the racks and set the big pot on the very bottom, it just sneaks in there, while the 5G would fit on the lower rack.

 

[peanasky]

When I do 2.5 gal batches on my stove, I pre-heat the oven to the lowest temp possible (around 170) while I'm heating my mash water. Once it's pre-heated I shut it off until the mash is ready, then in the pot goes and a timer gets set! (Of course, the oven is still off, but the heat inside will help maintain temps.)