Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsAffordable intro to induction homebrewing
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2020
I made the leap from brewing beer in the kitchen to the garage using this induction cooktop priced at $32. I am only using this for extract brewing with 2.5 gallons of wort in a 5-gallon SS kettle.
This unit brought 2.5 gallons of room temperature water to a 165 steeping temperature in 10 minutes at maximum power setting (8). Set to 160°F it held steady there for the grain steep, creeping up to 170 after 20 minutes (I used a digital probe thermometer to verify). It then took 10 minutes from there to bring the water a boil. After adding the 7.6 pounds of fermentables, it took another 15 minutes to bring the wort back to a boil at maximum power setting (8). Finally, it held a nice gentle rolling boil when set to 240°F and has handy timer that tells you how long it’s been at that setting which you can use to time your boil. This was much faster than my standard electric range stove.
The kettle I used was slightly larger than the cooktop but I was careful to overhang the rear of it and not the front where the delicate control circuitry is. After pouring out the wort, I could see a small circle at the middle of the pot indicating where the heating element was concentrated, but with some good stirring there were no burnt-on sugars and the circle wiped off when cleaning.
Overall I am very happy with the purchase and intend to use until I am brewing bigger batches or it conks out in which case I will upgrade to a professional model.
