Induction Hobs

[Racehunter]

So, having completed my first full volume (11L into FV) AG BIAB brew on Sunday, using the wok burner on my kitchen range, it seems that I am now banned from doing so again! SWMBO said something about a smell, but I think she was exaggerating .

Anyway, I am now looking at how best to continue in the garage and am currently exploring the likes of Burco type urns, adding kettle elements to my stainless pot and anything else that wont cost too much at this stage. Obviously a nice shine all-in-one, would be lovely, but as I only intend to do 10 to 12L batches, I think it would be a bit wasted.

I have read lots about the Buffalo induction hob but ideally I would like to keep my spend below £100, so taking into account that I will be mashing in around 16L water, then bringing up the remaining 14 odd litres of wort to boil, would a 2Kw induction hob be sufficient? I appreciate the pan has to be compatible and as such, I might have to buy another one, and also my current pan is 31cm diameter, so I have to take account of that when choosing the hob (or buy a narrower but taller pan). I would really appreciate your comments about using these hobs for brewing, or any other suggestion to make brewing in the garage possible.

Steve

 

[Tanglefoot]

I have recently done my first BIAB brew on a secondhand 2 kw induction hob I got for free.
It is fairly basic with preset warm,simmer,boil functions and a variable frying mode which is adjustable
from 80 - 240 c .
I heated the mash water with the variable setting to get it to temperature then switched to warm
function which is fixed at 60 c and by keeping the lid on managed to keep temp at required 65 c
fairly easily.
I had to keep monitoring with a digital thermometer and taking lid off which was a bit of a pain but
with practice I'm sure it'll get easier. Also the hob has a thermal cut out so would sometimes turn itself off
so I couldn't leave it. The boil was straightforward as I could set it at 100c .
Obviously there was quite a lot of steam but as I brew in my shed not a problem, opened the window to
vent ( snowing outside ! ) but in better weather will probably do it outside.
If I were buying from new I'd be looking for one with the most variable temperature range.
I have a 27 L pan which is probably an inch or so wider than the hob all around and worked fine.

Don't know what your wife was complaining about, my shed smelt wonderful after the mash and boil !

 

[Drunkula]

I recently got a Toshiba 2kw unit from Asda for £22 to go with my 3kg catering one and the 2kw one of course takes longer to get to a boil but will keep 26 litre of wort boiling on 1000 watts quite nicely.

Under 1000 watts and the Toshiba starts pulsing and at 800 watts you eventually lose the boil. The big unit pulses under 1500 watts and also loses the boil at 1300 watts.

 

[Racehunter]

Thanks @Tanglefoot & @Drunkula for the information. It seems that both of your brew pots are bigger than mine (20L) so the bit I was worried about, ie the pot overhanging the hob, isn't really a problem.

 

[UKSkydiver]

Ive done few brews (16 litre mash and 12-13 litre boils) on the Ikea one - does the job for pretty cheap

TILLREDA Portable induction hob, 1 zone white - IKEA

 

[RichK]

....
I had to keep monitoring with a digital thermometer and taking lid off which was a bit of a pain but
with practice I'm sure it'll get easier. ...

tangent alert... I drilled a small hole in the top of the lid for a (long) thermometer so I don't have to take the lid off.

 

[JFB]

The buffalo one is great for a full 23l brew.
If you go big now it will save you having to buy again when your hobby gets out of control

 

[Cwrw666]

Probably a daft question but does anyone know if the 3Kw Buffalo would be man enough to handle a 40L brew? Just asking because I'm thinking of upgrading to a 50L pot from brewbuilder and think an induction hob would be more sensible than either gas or immersion heater.
My current boiler has a 2.5Kw element and boils a 23L brew too furiously for my liking.

 

[NPi]

To figure out how long (whether it will work at all) to reach a boil with an induction hob, you could use the below calculator :

https://processheatingservices.com/handy-heating-calculators/water-heating-time-calculator/
Most of the time even a 2kw hob will get there, it will just take longer.

Be aware if brewing outside or in a garage it will be colder, and so may take longer to achieve a boil.

Hanging your pan off the edge is not to much of a problem, as long as it doesn't make your unit unstable. When boiling your pan may rock slightly.

 

[Bill_g]

I currently use a ~7kW propane burner with a 50 litre SS kettle 40cm diameter. I find this is the right size kettle for final 25 litre brew because it gives enough head room to avooid boil overs. However gas is expensive, at a rough calculation at least twice the cost of electricity for a brew and most likely will only get more expensive as time goes on. So I was thinking about a 3kW induction hobb.
My kettle is non magnetic stainless, so I'm fairly certain will not work directly. I would need to use a mild steel interface plate. Has anyone tried this? Any major pitfalls?
Another factor is the diameter of the kettle which would overhang the hobb controls. The solution to this could be to modify the hobb to remote control, but of course then goodbye to any guarantee and the difficulty hard to guess untill it's opened up on the bench.

 

[Cwrw666]

To figure out how long (whether it will work at all) to reach a boil with an induction hob, you could use the below calculator :

Did that - 3Kw would take an hour and a half to get to boiling from cold. That's about 50% longer than my current boiler. Presumably this would be reduced if the pot were adequately insulated.
Sounds do-able to me.

 

[Edison]

Just a thought, has anybody tried wrapping insulation around their pot to help with the boil? I use a Braumeister so with the heating element surrounded by wort the walls of the unit will never get hotter than 100c and an Asda Price foam camping mat wrapped around helps. Theoretically with an induction hob, if no/minimal heat is created by the unit itself, and no excess heat from a gas flame or radiant source, I would assume the walls of the pot would also be no hotter than boiling. Might want to check for hot spots but may help?

 

[JFB]

There a little slower than gas..
I fill my pot with hot water from the tap.
I've got a combi style boiler so it's not hanging around.
I'm mashing in in the time it takes to mill my pre weighed grains

 

[cheeseyfeet]

Definitely insulate the pot, this made a night and day difference to my old electric setup. Camping mats and radiator reflextrix stuff work a treat.

 

[Rento]

Ive done few brews (16 litre mash and 12-13 litre boils) on the Ikea one - does the job for pretty cheap

TILLREDA Portable induction hob, 1 zone white - IKEA

What pot size/volume are you using on that?

 

[stubrewworx]

What pot size/volume are you using on that?

Looking at dimensions, many pots might over hang the controls

 

[stubrewworx]

I use a cheap vonchef portable hob, 2kw, pot does over hang all round but can still access controls. 10 power settings, i just use 10 to heat to strike, turn off for mash, back on 10 for boil and keep it on 10. With lid partly on I get a fairly vig boil

 

[Racehunter]

@stubrewworx what volume do you have in the pan?

 

[stubrewworx]

@stubrewworx what volume do you have in the pan?

It's a 30l pot, but I generally do 15l brews so 18l boil.

If you need a new pot to go induction, or you're thinking of tweeking a burco, have you considered This

 

[Rento]

That looks like fairly good value.....too many choices.

Looks like I’m wanting to do similar, or even smaller batches than you. I was thinking along the lines of 25-30 litre pot and induction hob. The pots all tend to be 32cm diameter which is way over the spec of most induction bobs. That made me think gas, but I‘d really prefer not to go down that route as will brew in my garage.

So a 32cm pot will boil on a cheap 2kw IKEA type induction hob?