Would an induction hotplate be able to heat a recirculation coil?

Question

I want to do step mashing in my kitchen by only using a 15Amp 120V outlet. It seems like the most efficient heat transfer from electricity to wort would be directly heating a tube, either stainless or copper.

Yes this is a lot like a RIMs, but a flat coil directly laid on an induction hot plate is about as easy a build as you can get, and hopefully would also give very even heating (no scalding).

The plan would be to measure the temperature of the wort re-entering the mash tun, and control the induction hot plate output accordingly.

Answer 1

To start, only if your coil is magnetic. Second, most induction plates measure how much area is used through the magnetic field. If the area of your coil, that is the real metal that goes through the magnetic field, is too small, your plate will refuse to work.

Otherwise, I don't see any problems. The only thing would be to get enough power into your coil to heat the wort, also due to the limited area of the coil metal.