I have tried putting aluminium foil about 3 inches out from around burner, but that seemed to exacerbate the problem. I think it helped the insulate the area under the foil. It seems like I am ruining the stove. Is there anyway to prevent this from happening? I know I can get a burner for outside, but I would really rather brew inside the house. Especially in the winter.
4 Answers
There is some experimentation going on with immersion of water heater coils for boiling, but I have no experience with that. I hear that it's fast and efficient, but I would be nervous about water + high voltage.
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7I wouldn't call it experimentation. Many brewers have been doing it that way for a long time. Its perfectly safe as long as you take the right precautions. We take precautions with the propane and natural gas set ups most of us use, and I view that more dangerous than the electrical setups.– brewchezDec 13, 2010 at 12:29
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3Ah, experimentation. Space age technology. Turns out, tens of millions of people have been "experimenting" with these since as early as the 1860's to heat the water they bathe in. In any case, it's discussed in more depth in this thread: homebrew.stackexchange.com/questions/2677/…– BrandonDec 13, 2010 at 14:20
I think the answer to this question is that I buy a burner and do the brewing outside. Its not perfect and does require some more $, but its an imperfect world and given that I live in Florida, I can brew outside year round. I will just have to watch the forecast for rain.
I'm a little late to this question, but I thought one solution might be to put down a layer of fiberglass fabric, the kind that is impregnated with epoxy to form fiberglass hulls and such. In its fabric form it is easy easy to lay down underneath and around the burner, non-conductive (if you have electric burners), impervious to heat, and an excellent insulator that should block most of the radiant heat coming off the burner.
I wonder if this foil insulation would help: http://www.lowes.com/pd_13353-56291-ST16025_4294858104_4294937087?productId=1014123&pl=1¤tURL=/pl_Foil%2BInsulation_4294858104_4294937087_ It seems like you could just lay a sheet over the enamel while you boil. Of course, the first time you use it, you should probably babysit it to make sure it doesn't catch fire!