Kettles

[jt]

Ok, may have some extra cash shortly, maybe time to look at mash tun or kettle.

probably kettle first, current one struggles to hold 23 litres at a good boil but the insulated pail tun will cope with 5kg plus a bit

What's the opinion on what's out there ?

The 40 litre urns from trademe - Dan, don't you have one of those - what's the deadspace, how's the 2000w element manage to get a boil going ?

Mr Houghs 55 litre polarware - would you dare drill a hole to fit an element in that ?

Converted keg ?

I'm staying electric, I know we've had a great summer, but I'm going to stay inside the garage where it's gunna be warm in winter

any good tips, tricks, hints or good buys out there ?

cheers, jt

[Chris Banks]

Oooh Mr T beat me to it!

[jt]

Hey I see I started this thread 3 1/2 years ago ... never did upgrade anything ... the only change has been to downgrade 2.3kw element to 2.0kw as I was overpowered

[MrC]

Today I tested my new electric kettle and immersion chiller by boiling 30L of water and then chilling it.  I took some timings as I went and although the chiller performed well, the kettle element was disappointing.  

 

The chiller got the water from 100C down to ale pitching temp (20C) in 25min.

 

The element took 1hour 50min to get 30L to boiling from approx 16C :(

More importantly though, it took 60min to get from 63C to 100C.

 

Here's the element that I bought from Craftbrewer: http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=3853

It's a 2200W stainless element that seemed spot-on for what I was after but I would definitely NOT recommend this product.  At this stage it looks like $50 down the drain.

 

Looks like it's back to the drawing board on the kettle front.  Maybe electric wasn't such a good idea after all...

 

[jt]

Why'd you go for an immersion element Mr C - didnt want to put a hole in the pot, or multi use ?
I use a 2000w that I got from Hauraki, goes from sparge temp to boil in about 20 minutes from memory

[MrC]

It's not a hand held model.  The element is mounted through a 32mm hole in the bottom of the pot.  I followed the instructions on the web site exactly.  I think it's just a crap element.  Did your element require any wiring?

[jt]

Sorry Mr Cherry, didn't look properly. No, the one I got is a standard hoop type for 3 pin plug

[Richard Jack]

I have one of them Mr Cherry, I use it as a handheld after finding (like you) it wasn't grunty enough for what I wanted (heat source for a still boiler). I've been using it as a handheld booster element now in addition to gas, and I'm begrudingly becoming glad that I have it.

[MrC]

Here's a pic of the setup with the crappy element:

 

 

 

[Reuben Rowntree]

Even 3kW is close to being underpowered for 20+ litres I have found in a big pot. It would take close to 20Amps, but I considered putting two of those elements in. House wiring becomes an issue then, but may be an option.

I use a 3kW and a gas ring to boil the daylights out of it :)

Maybe some insulation would speed things up.

[Martin Bridges]

I have a 3kW and a 2.5kW in my converted keggle. Or is it a 3.5kW and a 2kW, I can never remember. Anyway, 5.5kW total. The wiring in my shed was designed with this in mind and it works fine. I generally only use the bigger element for a short burst to get it up to the boil. After that the smaller element maintains a vigorous rolling boil no problem. 

 

The only difficulty it causes me is that my immersion chiller doesn't sit very low, so isn't all that efficient. Been wondering about switching to a plate chiller or counterflow chiller.

[MrC]

What volume do you boil Martin?

[Martin Bridges]

Usually around 30L