Outdoor boiling

[whiskeyfoot]

Hi all!
hope everyone had a great holiday! It came and went
too damn fast!

Was wondering if anyone knew of a decent ELECTRIC burner. The
reason is, I live in a studio apartment, and while i don't really mind
my place smelling like wort and hops, the humidity level does bother
me. I have no walls so my entire place gets HOT and humid...
Most people use the propane burner, and that definately seems like
the best solution, but unfortunately at my apartment complex i can't
use propane near the building (for obvious safety reasons). Plus i think
it would be kindof a pain in the ass to do it all the way downstairs
and have to lug a 5 gallon fermenter upstairs!

So i figured someone must make a decent portable electric burner i can
use on my balcony. Anyone know of one? I've had some cheapo's in the
past, and some of em hardly boiled water they were so weak.
Any input is definitely apreciated!

By the way, i bottled my beer this past saturday and it seemed fine so far.
I was having issues keeping the temp down below 78 degrees here in Orlando,
so we'll see i guess!

[HogieWan]

most electric burners that can produce that much heat are going to be immersion boilers.

[Beer Martin]

I believe this is a fairly frequently asked question, and unfortunately I don't believe there is a simple solution.

Immersion heaters are probably the direction to steer as hotplates and electric burners often struggle to bring 5 gallons to a boil. An electric burner could easily take an hour for that and 10 gallons is probably out of the question all together.

I know there was a guy that had some immersion heater sticks he made posting here a while back. A bit technical, but something people could manage to do. I think the downside was that they were kind of pricey.

Propane is definitely the cheapest and easiest solution, but it doesn't solve your problem.

I'll see if I can't find the immersion stick thread.
________
Sl90 (http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Honda_SL90)

[Beer Martin]

Here's the heat stick website (http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/heatstick.htm)

and

here is the previous forum thread the link came from (http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=19476)
________
Avandia lawsuit (http://classactionsettlements.org/)

[whiskeyfoot]

Shit!
those immersion sticks sound mighty dangerous...but probably
not anymore dangerous than a propane setup i suppose.
I just had a brain fart, i DO actually have a mini-grill that
i use on my balcony, and i run a small (one pound i think) propane
tank on it.

I wonder what kind of BTU's it takes to get extract/partial
mash amounts of water boiling?

I've grilled probably 10-15 times using two different mini-tanks. Usually
on the low setting for most food.

I know it sounds silly, but no one really bugs me about the mini-tanks, and
i bet i could get away with using that setup without any trouble. I just
know the moment i try to lug a big tank up there, hell even downstairs
i'm going to have some complaints.

If anyone has any input on these small burners for smaller amounts of boiling let me know!!

Anyways, this really isn't that big of a deal, cuz I don't plan on living there
forever, my lease is up around January, so dealing with indoor boiling will
suffice for now, and i already have a propane turkey setup, so i obviously don't want to spend a bunch of money on something i'll only utilize for another 6-7 months. BUT, i have seen single burners for under $50 and if they'll boil water in a reasonable amount of time, it might be worth a shot.

[whiskeyfoot]

i could even start my grains inside to get the water as hot as i need, and then transfer the kettle outside to do the boil, which would save SOME of the mini-propane tank! hahaa

[Beer Martin]

Well, heck if you're willing to break the rules I had a full size propane tank hidden in an apartment I lived in for 2 years to brew with. Just keep the tank in a closet inside when your not using it, and cover it with something when you do bring it outside.

I didn't want to advocate that if you weren't leaning that way, but it got me through for a few years there.
________
Mitsubishi galant lambda (http://www.dodge-wiki.com/wiki/Mitsubishi_Galant_Lambda)

[markaberrant]

I don't know where you live, but everyone around here has a propane BBQ on their apartment patio... which is also where I boil all of my beer with a 65k btu burner and normal sized propane tank. I also put down a towel near the edge of the patio, in case of boilovers (don't want hot wort dripping onto the old lady underneath me).