Small-Batch Brewing with an Induction Burner

Starting the boil

Since the IRS was kind enough to refund some overpaid taxes, I spent a bit of it on some new brew gear. I bought the Secura 9100MC 1800W Portable Induction Cooktop and the Cook n Home 8-quart stockpot from Amazon. These would allow me to make small batches outside (or inside if the Mrs allows). This cooktop isn't quite strong enough to handle my larger batches: Its weight limit is 25lb, which isn't enough to support my current kettle and 3-gallon extract boils. Nevertheless, it is excellent for small BIAB batches and heating up mash water.

Initial Impressions

The cooktop is pretty easy to use. There's a simple power setting (1-10) and a temperature setting where you can pick from

The first job was to figure out how much the new pot-and-cooktop combo will boil off in an hour. I put one gallon in the pot and set it on 10 power.

My first check was to see how quickly it could get up to mash temperature (~170°F). The burner got it there in about 12-13 minutes. I say "about" because I was double-checking my Polder thermometer with my ThermaPen instant-read thermometer and they didn't agree. The Polder hit 170F in just over 12 minutes, but the ThermaPen didn't hit that mark until 13 minutes and change. Not too bad for mash water, but I'm starting to question the accuracy of my old Polder.

Thermapen: 211F
Polder: 237F

Onward to boiling.  And it didn't take that long.

The Thermapen recorded 212°F after 21 minutes of heating. The Polder recorded 237°F! Even more worrisome since this was the thermometer I was using to monitor my wort cooldown in previous batches. The probe is replaceable, but this is the second one and it's probably better to replace the whole thing.

Now that we've achieved boil, it's time to set the timer for an hour and let it steam away. After the timer went off, I cut the heat and carefully poured the water into a large glass measuring cup. I had just over 4 cups of water, so roughly half a gallon boiled off. Not too shabby.

Mashing and Boiling

A week later, I prepared a small BIAB recipe to test how well I can mash with this setup. This particular cooktop can be set to a certain temperature, which suggests it could possibly hold at mash temperature. The cooktop's temperature sensor is in the cooktop itself, so it's regulating that temperature, not the temperature of the pot or what's in it. Also, you can only select one of several preset temperatures. The only settings close to mash are 140°F and 170°F, so I tried 170°F to see how well it worked.

Mashing in

Like the previous test, it got the water up to 170°F and did a good job holding it there. I turned the cooktop down to 140°F, but it took a while for the water to cool down. My grain bill was pretty light, so it didn't bring the temperature down very much. It eventually held at 154°F, though I was doing this test outside on a cool and breezy April afternoon. While the temperature setting is convenient, it'll take some tinkering to figure out how to make it work for mashing.

Once I was done mashing, I cranked the temperature setting up to 235°F, which was what my Polder indicated as boiling in previous worts. It got the wort up to a slow boil and held it, but it eventually turned itself off due to overheating. At that point, it had been running for well over an hour between mash and boil. After a short cooldown and reset, the boil was back on. I wasn't that impressed with the boil ferocity based on temperature, but it was getting the job done since I could smell the DMS in the vapors. In the future, I'll just use the power setting to get a rolling boil going.

Last month, I did another mash for a competition beer using this set-up. It was a hot mess. Instead of just letting the mash temperature drop, I tried to use the cooktop to hold temperature. It was way too hot (170°F) and knowing it takes a while to cool, I added a few cups of cold water. Then it was too cool (140ish°), so I tried warming it up. It got to about 150°F, but I wasn't happy with the rollercoaster. Despite this (and a lovely late boilover) the blonde ale tied for first in the competition with 41 points.

Verdict: It works!

I managed to make one pretty good beer with this combo, so it has earned a place in the new brewery. But like a lot of new gizmos, it will take a little while to figure out how to get the most out of it. It works great for strike water and the boil, but I'll need to keep tinkering with it on the mash.