Induction Cookers for brewing

[deadeye1]

I've noticed some of you are using these Induction cookers.
A couple of questions:
How do you like it?
How long does it take to bring 5 gallons of water to a boil?
What brand do you like?
Any pros or cons?

[Ozwald]

I've noticed some of you are using these Induction cookers.
A couple of questions:
How do you like it?
How long does it take to bring 5 gallons of water to a boil?
What brand do you like?
Any pros or cons?

Personally, I don't know of anyone who uses an induction burner to brew on. Perhaps for starters if you've been completely kicked out of the kitchen, but even then I can't think of anyone I know of who's using one. I've used some pretty heavy duty ones while working in commercial kitchens, but even the higher priced ones designed to take a beating wouldn't take the weight of 5 gallons of wort & the kettle for very long. I broke one with an 18 qt kettle making soup once (~3.5 gallons of soup). Provided it was almost a year old & had between 2-3 batches of soup made on it 7 days a week, amongst other random lightweight cooking.

Perhaps there's other induction burners out there that I'm not aware of, but that's my experience.

Edit: Some stirplates look a lot like induction burners. Perhaps you're seeing those in some posted pics?

[deadeye1]

A couple of large induction cokkers were offered to me on the cheap. I was told that they would handle the heat and volume. I was sceptical. I remember seeing a couple of sculptures on one of these sites. Looks like a bad idea.
Oh well thanks for the responce. Cheers!

[Brettco]

I've noticed some of you are using these Induction cookers.
A couple of questions:
How do you like it?
How long does it take to bring 5 gallons of water to a boil?
What brand do you like?
Any pros or cons?

I used an induction cooker for around three years while living and brewing in Japan, where built IH cooktops, as they are called there, are pretty common in new homes. I loved it - great for direct fire stovetop recirculated mashing, as it had a gentle 'maintain current temperature' function that kept the mash temp constant and never overshot. Plenty powerful enough for a boil, where I typically started with 7 gallons and the stove set on 7 or 8 (out of 10) to maintain a vigorous boil. Took 30 to 40 minutes to reach the boil from mash temps. Also great for cleaning up spills and the occasional boil over.

However this was only possible because the induction cooktop had plates rated at 3.6Kw (on a 200v supply, as opposed to the usual 100v in Japan) . Anything less probably wouldn't cut it for 5-gallon batches. Newer IH systems there are even better, typically 4.5Kw and wider spacing of the hot plates that would easily enable a full size mash and HLT side by side on separate elements. I've since looked around for portable induction cookers since moving back to Australia, but have found nothing that has the power or ability to support the weight. Weight was absolutely no problem on a built in cooktop, which supported a full mash tun and a smaller HLT in heavy stainless side by side for years, no cracking, but unfortunately I've never found a portable version rated for anything more than about 5kg.

I've since moved out of the kitchen to an electric brew stand and taken the heat and stress off the cooktop and my marriage

[cornhole]

The one I've seen used is for a 2.5 gallon, pilot system. Works good for that. I suppose you would want to pay real close attention to sizing, so you aren't disappointed.

[Ozwald]

I suppose you would want to pay real close attention to sizing, so you aren't disappointed.

That's what she said.

[deadeye1]

Thanks for all the input guys!
Looks like I will have to build an electric kettle and tun to acheive this.