You will need something to heat your kettle with.
It will be difficult for your kitchen stovetop to bring 8 plus gallons of wort to a full rolling boil. A purpose built propane burner or electric heating element will allow you to achieve a sufficient boil quickly.
Propane burners are usually much less expensive than electric heating systems, but must be used outdoors only.
Considerations For Propane
BTUs |
BTUs are how much heat the burner puts off. 50,000 BTU’s is sufficient to achieve a good boil, but 200,000 BTU’s will get you there much quicker. |
Leg Height |
A burner set 24 to 30 inches off the ground makes draining easier. |
Weight Capacity |
A 15 gallon stainless steel kettle filled with 8 gallons of water and 15 lbs of grist can easily weigh over 100 lbs. Make sure your burner’s frame can handle the weight. |
Considerations For Electric Heating
Power |
Power is how much heat the element will put off. If you are doing 5 gallon batch sizes you will need about 5000W of power to heat the water fast enough to achieve a good boil. There is a formula that tells you how many degrees F per minute you can raise the temp of water. Take the number of Watts of power, multiplied by the constant 0.0068. Divide that by the number of gallons of water to be heated. Example: (5000W x 0.0068) / 8 gallons = 4.25 degrees F per minute. If you wanted to heat water for mashing from room temp to 160 degrees F, it would take 20 minutes with a 5000W electric element. |
Electrical |
A 30a 240v circuit is required for a 5000W element. |
Control Panel |
Some electronic elements can be plugged directly into a 240v wall socket. THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED! You should employ some type of electrical control panel. These can be simple On/Off switches, to fully automated controllers with automatic temperature and pump controls. |
Considerations For Propane
BTUs
BTUs are how much heat the burner puts off. 50,000 BTU’s is sufficient to achieve a good boil, but 200,000 BTU’s will get you there much quicker.
Leg Height
A burner set 24 to 30 inches off the ground makes draining easier.
Weight Capacity
A 15 gallon stainless steel kettle filled with 8 gallons of water and 15 lbs of grist can easily weigh over 100 lbs. Make sure your burner’s frame can handle the weight.
Considerations For Electric Heating
Power
Power is how much heat the element will put off. If you are doing 5 gallon batch sizes you will need about 5000W of power to heat the water fast enough to achieve a good boil. There is a formula that tells you how many degrees F per minute you can raise the temp of water. Take the number of Watts of power, multiplied by the constant 0.0068. Divide that by the number of gallons of water to be heated. Example: (5000W x 0.0068) / 8 gallons = 4.25 degrees F per minute. If you wanted to heat water for mashing from room temp to 160 degrees F, it would take 20 minutes with a 5000W electric element.
Electrical
A 30a 240v circuit is required for a 5000W element.
Control Panel
Some electronic elements can be plugged directly into a 240v wall socket. THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED! You should employ some type of electrical control panel. These can be simple On/Off switches, to fully automated controllers with automatic temperature and pump controls.
Our Recommendations
Our Recommendations
A bit more cash gets you the same 55,000BTU burner with taller legs making transferring wort much easier.
Want more umph from your burner? 210,000BTUs of power will get you to a boil in no time flat.
Other Options
Kettle | Burner | Mash Tun | Grain Filter | Fermentor | Wort Chiller