Induction Recommendations

I’ll be moving into an apartment and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on induction cooktop plates for 5 gallon batches.  Thanks in advance for any advice!

Much of your choices depend on the diameter of your boil kettle AND, more importantly, the power source that’s available.  I use a commercial grade Waring 1800watt induction burner for my HLC and I absolutely love it.  However, my HLC is only an 8 gallon kettle that’s about 14” in diameter.  So, the heat plate/coil almost fully consumes the entire bottom of the kettle.  Also, this unit runs on 120v.

Perhaps you could offer a little more information on your requirements?

I do 2 1/2 gallon batches with induction so I’m starting with just a little less than 4 gallons.  I had a 220 line put into the garage and use a 3500W induction cooktop.  Doesn’t take very long at all to heat the strike water and then bring the wort to a full boil.  In less than 1 1/2 years I’ve done 36 batches on this thing.  However, when I got the induction cooktop, I also bought a high quality 5 gallon kettle with a small diameter to try and match the cooktop’s heating area.  Supposedly, if the kettle is too large it can cause problems for the cooktop.  The bottom of my kettle is only 1/2" larger that the element’s diameter and I haven’t had any problems.

There’s some more info here;

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=31725.msg410744#msg410744

Just remembered!  There are also a couple of articles by Josh Weikert on using an induction cooktop that have been in Brew Your Own mag.

I use a commercial induction cooktop made in China. So far it has performed as advertised. I am very pleased with it.

I use a 350W 220V used commerical-grade  induction cooktop with a older model 8 gallon Megapot.  Works very well and can get 3-4 gallons to strike temp in 20-30 min or less with it.  Gets 7 gallons to a rolling boil without issue.  I paired mine with a condenser mounted on the lid to handle steam.

Could you please provide more information on the condenser? I’m interested in some kind of electric system to brew on in my cellar, but I’m worried about the steam. Thanks.

There are a few, including a BYO Magazine article recently on a DIY project (pretty cool).

Here is an example that is commercially available for homebrew applications:

https://www.brew-boss.com/Condenser-Boss-Boil-Kettle-Condenser-p/cb-bb-apmount.htm

I have heard from pro brewers that use condensers in pilot systems that the vacuum created can actually snuff out a boil…but I have no actual experience on this.

Wow! That’s cool. Thank you.

I built this:

You can also buy:

It was an excellent solution for me.
Brew on!