Alright so my landlady recently decided that already ridiculously small gas stove in my apartment should be replaced with an even tinier electric coil stove, while still not being tiny enough to put the pot over two or more burners. I've only done one batch on it but it managed to burn a coil shaped malt imprint into the bottom of my stainless. I was nervous of that happening and even enlisted the help of a friend so that it could be constantly stirred to avoid the burning. Didn't work obviously.

The new plan is to put a layer or two of aluminum foil between coil and pot. Is there a reason that this idea will blow up in my face or maybe a better solution? And trust me I've already thought of the solution which involves holding the landlady's cats hostage until she returns the gas stove.

Thanks.

I use an aluminium brew pot on electric and its fine. I would try some cast iron or copper....good heat transfer...it just might take some googlin


Might work:
Dutch Oven Trivet Meat Rack For use in the bottom of the camp or dutch ovens to prevent burning when baking cakes, pies etc. Or to allow juices to settle to the bottom. It can also be used as a stove top trivet to prevent scorching. 8" dia. 2 lbs.
http://www.wisementrading.com/outdoorcooking/castiron.htm

Thanks, I am going to go with the aluminum pot even though I managed to pull off a batch today with minimal burning. It's just not worth the ridiculous amount of stirring required or the added time it takes to boil thanks to all that stirring. My housemate talked me out of the aluminum foil on the coil idea, although personally I don't see anything wrong with having some aluminum permanently affixed to the coil, seems like it'd be an improvement if ya ask me.

You can get a burner diffuser like this one, which will eliminate the coil imprint. Another option is to get a piece of aluminum and put it directly on the burner, which will spread the heat out to a wider area. You can get a 12"x12" piece of 1/8" thick 1100 alloy at Mcmaster for $14. The foil is probably going to be too thin to spread the heat adequatly, but there will be no harm in trying it out.

If you're really strapped for power, you might consider going electric with a heater element in the pot or building a heat stick. It gets a bit more complicated on the controls side when you use a big 240V element, but could work quite well with a 120V element for a 5 gallon batch, maybe even just using the element to help get to a boil and use the stove to control it.

[quote="NondumCelebrer"]The new plan is to put a layer or two of aluminum foil between coil and pot. Is there a reason that this idea will blow up in my face or maybe a better solution? quote]

An interesting question. My first dozen or so batches were on an electric stove with an aluminum pot, and I never had any scorching problems. Maybe your stove is “stronger” than mine was?
Listen to your roommates…I've had aluminum foil catch on fire before...it's difficult to do, but keep an eye on it.
I think that using a trivet or a diffuser will greatly increase your heating time and may even prevent the kettle from getting to a boil. I agree with Nyakavt in that a heat stick would be your best solution.

Wow, really? Was there food on it? There's nothing really combustable on aluminum (it melts rather than burning) so I'm curious why it caught fire?

Well...it's happened a few times, but now that I think of it, may not be applicable here. Once was on a gas stove and another time was when I was using a torch to sanitize it.

It doesn’t burn like paper. It’s more of a quick burst of flame and it goes out. It will happen...trust me...

I may just buy really cheap foil, but why risk it?

Nyakavt, thanks for the link, I didn't know they made those. Just ordered one. I'll try boiling a few gallons of plain water with it to see how it affects the boiling time and then look into a heat stick if necessary. Thanks all.