Insulating my kettle what material?

[Tilt]

You've spent hard-earned cash burning LPG gas to create the heat that you are now trying to keep away from your kettle with insulation.

Anybody with basic sheet metal skills should be able to knock up something similar using old metal drums as cheap/free raw material.[/quote]


The stainless "outer skin" from old kitchen bins work a treat for this. 10 mins work with the tin snips and a couple of bulldog clips halved my rise to boil time and meant I could get a rolling boil from a 3 ring burner on a normal low pressure reg

 

[mr_wibble]

Wish I saw this thread earlier (or thought to search for it). Went to clarke rubber on saturday before brewing and got some of the "fire-resistant" blue foam as advised by the sales guy when I described my intended use (they were out of the silver backed rubber). Bloody stuff ain't very flame proof, still melted and charred the edges around bottom of keggle even though I made sure it was at or above where the vertical internal wall of the keggle starts! Might just take it back to clarke rubber and tell them where they can put it...

Under the trade practices act, if the sales-drone suggests something that is not fit for the described purpose you are entitled to a refund.
See: http://www.consumerlaw.gov.au/content/the_acl/downloads/consumer_guarantees_guide.pdf Section 04, page 14.

 

[Camo6]

Wish I saw this thread earlier (or thought to search for it). Went to clarke rubber on saturday before brewing and got some of the "fire-resistant" blue foam as advised by the sales guy when I described my intended use (they were out of the silver backed rubber). Bloody stuff ain't very flame proof, still melted and charred the edges around bottom of keggle even though I made sure it was at or above where the vertical internal wall of the keggle starts! Might just take it back to clarke rubber and tell them where they can put it...

I found with BIAB it was easier just to wrap the insulation around the keggle once mashed in. This way it stayed cleaner and didn't affect my immersion chillers efficiency. I just had to remember to remove it before firing up the burner. :unsure:
I had a peek under the insulation on my HLT the other day and found a couple of rusty stains where water had been trapped on some scored steel. Starting to think I should of made it easily removable to prevent this.

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

I didn't think of the ill-effect of having the insulation on while heating the vessel with gas! Will head back to Clarke Rubber and get a refund on the "fire-resistant" insulation.

I like your idea Camo, just wrap it temporarily for the mash, will make something up. Now to work out how to scrub the charred/melted foam off the sides of the keggle :unsure:

 

[andrewl]

I wrapped/siliconed a camping mat from kmart around my MT and then throw a sleeping bag over the top. A ghetto way of doing it but it holds temps perfect for the hr

 

[Ninegrain]

Anyone considered exhaust wrapping?

Reasonably cheap if a single wrap of the kettle is enough. Heat resistant to 900'c too...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/EXHAUST-HEAT-WRAP-BLACK-20M-2-x-10M-X-50MM-ROLLS-12-STAINLESS-TIES-/251195386123?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a7c69690b&_uhb=1