Scorching question

[c8h10n4o2]

I just got an outdoor burner so I can not get in trouble for destroying the kitchen every time.

Question: Have any of you ever had problems scorching when you turn the burner up high to get the heat up?

Just a thought as I'm thinking of getting a diffuser to go between the flame & the pot so the flame is not hitting the bottom of the pan.

[mookow]

Originally posted by c8h10n4o2
I just got an outdoor burner so I can not get in trouble for destroying the kitchen every time.

Question: Have any of you ever had problems scorching when you turn the burner up high to get the heat up?

Just a thought as I'm thinking of getting a diffuser to go between the flame & the pot so the flame is not hitting the bottom of the pan.

The only time I had a problem with scorching was when I was brewing without a helper and didnt know that I should turn off the flame when adding LME. I dumped in about 8lbs of LME, it all sank to the bottom, and I didnt quite get all of it stirred before I scorched my brewpot. Maybe 6 square inches were scorched, so it really wasnt all that bad.

Just turn the burner off prior to adding LME, mix it well and then turn the heat back on, and you should be fine in my (limited) experience.

[HogieWan]

It won't scorch unless you have undesolved extract on the bottom. Make sure the wort is thoroughly mixed before apply the flame.

[stronk]

^ or unless you have grain or grain sack touching the bottom. I always try to make heat changes gradual. You shouldn't stir too much when there's grain in the pot (especially dark grain, I think), so don't try to change the temperature too abrubptly.
If you need a stepped change, turn the burner on lower earlier so you can make your change in time.

[danno]

i've scorched a mash trying to direct fire a step mash, but never a boil...

[Chubber]

An old trick, from cooking over a camp gasolene stove, is to put a piece of steel window screen above your burner and below your pot. It allows you to cook something without burning it on the bottom of the thin cookware that we used. It's the only way to simmer or fry on top of one of those jet engines.

As others said, make sure your extract is dissolved too. I used a "french spatula" which is the bendy rubber kind, to do the first stirring because the metal spoon never contacts much of the bottom and the syrup sticks there. Using the french spatula allows you to "wipe" the bottom and lift that stuff up. After 15 minutes of boil I switch over to the stainless spoon.

[c8h10n4o2]

Originally posted by Chubber
An old trick, from cooking over a camp gasolene stove, is to put a piece of steel window screen above your burner and below your pot. It allows you to cook something without burning it on the bottom of the thin cookware that we used. It's the only way to simmer or fry on top of one of those jet engines.

As others said, make sure your extract is dissolved too. I used a "french spatula" which is the bendy rubber kind, to do the first stirring because the metal spoon never contacts much of the bottom and the syrup sticks there. Using the french spatula allows you to "wipe" the bottom and lift that stuff up. After 15 minutes of boil I switch over to the stainless spoon.

This is the exact same concept as the diffuser I mentioned earlier. It's a round piece of metal that sits between the burner and the pan to diffuse the heat. When I was growing up and we fried catfish, we used one of these to go between the flame & the pan with the grease in it.

As for the spatula, I finally broke down & spent a whoppin' $3 at the brew store for one of the long stirrers with a large flat tip on the end. Probably one of the best purchases I have made. I brewed this weekend on my propane for the first time and that thing stirred great.

I didn't use the diffuser this weekend, but I think I'm going to try it next time.

Thanks.

[stronk]

I mentioned this a long time ago (after my first brew), but I have found the best way to mix in extract is to dissolve it in a relatively shallow amount of brewing liquor by whisking it with a hand-whisk. Once it has dissolved, it'll mix much more easily as you add the rest of the liquor.