Dedicated Steam Boiler

Steam powered cooking and distillation devices.

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Antler24
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Dedicated Steam Boiler

Post by Antler24 »

I've got a 7.75g tall keg that I'm currently using as a thumper, been thinking about using this as a dedicated boiler for steam cooking corn. Of course I'll be putting a pressure release and a breaker valve in there. Just a couple questions, Will this keg be big enough to heat and cook 25 gal mash size without losing too much water? It will be electric, do I need to regulate the power or will an on/off switch be sufficient? Will the element size play a big role in this?
Swedish Pride wrote:
get a brix reading on said ball bearings and then you can find out how much fermentables are in there
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Skipper1953
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Re: Dedicated Steam Boiler

Post by Skipper1953 »

I cooked up a batch of corn last night for a Booner's mash. I had 50 lbs of fine ground corn and 20 gallons of water in my mash barrel. Using my electric boiler at about 4400 watts, I boiled off 3.5 gallons of water while stweam heating the mash to 190° and holding for an hour. I started with 120° water. You may or may not want to consider a larger boiler.
Antler24
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Re: Dedicated Steam Boiler

Post by Antler24 »

Thanks skipper, that ain't too bad. I guess if I needed to once the mash got to 200* and I shut down the steam I could add a little water to the boiler if I feel the need.

On the element size question. Do you think a higher wattage element is needed? I may be wrong but after initial heatup of the boiler, the steam will only heat the mash so fast am I right?
Swedish Pride wrote:
get a brix reading on said ball bearings and then you can find out how much fermentables are in there
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Skipper1953
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Re: Dedicated Steam Boiler

Post by Skipper1953 »

I use a 5500 watt ULWD element in my boiler. My boiler is just an 11 gallon stock pot. I run the element at about 80% or 4400 watts.

If I were to run the element at 100% I would no doubt reach a boil faster. Running the boiler at 100% will definitely bring 20 gallons of mash up to 190° faster than if I ran at 80%. I use the same plumbing between the boiler and the mash barrel as I use for my boiler/thumper setup. I have a 3/4" pipe running from the boiler to the mash barrel. The greater depth in the mash barrel creates a bit more back pressure in the boiler than the thumper. I choose not to push it any harder than 80%.

The steam is just a means of transferring the energy applied to the element into the liquid in the thumper. The greater the energy applied to the element, the more vigorously the water in the boiler will boil. This will result in a greater amount of steam (still only about 212° because of minimal pressure) being sent to the thumper in a given amount of time. Think of the thumper as a big condenser reservoir. The more steam you push into it the faster it will heat up.

I'm rambling. I hope at least some of this has been helpful. Be careful with steam. Do as much research as you can. Avoid overpowering any steam generating system whether it be a still or a dedicated steam heating system.
Antler24
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Re: Dedicated Steam Boiler

Post by Antler24 »

Thanks that helps alot. I'm using a 5500w in a 15.5 keg with a 7.5g thumper right now, gonna be attempting my first all grain soon using this. I'm just thinking ahead to building my new distilling room, want to be able to mash and run the still at the same time.
Swedish Pride wrote:
get a brix reading on said ball bearings and then you can find out how much fermentables are in there
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Yummyrum
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Re: Dedicated Steam Boiler

Post by Yummyrum »

I'd add a sight glass to the side of it so you can keep an eye on the level . Boiled my keg dry twice now using it as a steam supply . Not so bad on gas other than a sudden bad burnt smell . Elements are a little less forgiving when they run dry .
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Skipper1953
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Re: Dedicated Steam Boiler

Post by Skipper1953 »

Yummyrum wrote:I'd add a sight glass to the side of it so you can keep an eye on the level . Boiled my keg dry twice now using it as a steam supply . Not so bad on gas other than a sudden bad burnt smell . Elements are a little less forgiving when they run dry .
I'm glad you mentioned that. I've been thinking of adding a sight glass to mine as well.
Taod
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Re: Dedicated Steam Boiler

Post by Taod »

Just a little math . It takes 1 calorie of energy to heat 1 cc of water 1 deg Celsius .
So it takes 100 calorie to heat 1cc from 0-100 c
Now it takes another 540 calorie to heat to vapour (steam )
It takes 80 cal to either freeze 1 cal from 0 or the opposite freezeto 1 Celsius
So to go from ice to boiling its 180 calorie but still takes another 540 to go to steam. A massive amount of energy .
There are many online calculators to do the math to convert to watts
1000 watt = 3412 btu
Taod
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Re: Dedicated Steam Boiler

Post by Taod »

Just looked it up and 1000w = 3.6 lbs steam
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