In the processes of distillation and rectification, heating the distillation cube is important. It should be uniform so that the tail fraction does not begin to boil in one part of the cube, and the first fraction just begins to boil in the second half. Evenness and uniformity of heating gives an average result for the entire cube and the process proceeds correctly.

The most ideal is steam-water heating. The distillation cube has double walls, a heating element is placed inside the walls and water is poured. The heating element heats the water, the water turns into steam and the steam evenly envelops the walls of the distillation cube. With this heating method, everything is perfect, super-even heat distribution and there is absolutely no risk of burning any raw materials. Even if a neighbor accidentally pours a bottle of moonshine into a salad, all the alcohol can be pulled back out of this salad if steam-water heating is used. Ideal things usually have a downside - they are young, stupid, talk a lot, and are expensive. Stop, that’s not what we’re talking about now. All ideal things are expensive, this is not a minus of these things, it is a given.

If we step back a little from the ideal, then the silhouette of an induction cooker will be visible on the horizon. It itself does not heat anything, it creates a magnetic field, and when magnetic materials interact with a given magnetic field, they begin to heat up. And this heating turns out to be very uniform, although only across the width of the bottom. And this is not the only advantage of induction; there is a more important point. A closed system is formed inside the distillation cube, inside the columns and tubes. Inside this system, lighter, and therefore clean (with the exception of pervak) vapors will always strive to be higher, they will push back heavier contaminated vapors. To maintain the equilibrium of the system, a constant application of power is needed, without fluctuations or pauses, and this is what induction gives us. It heats evenly, in a straight line. I turned on 1000 W, this thousand will heat without pause. Looking ahead, we note that different models of induction cookers have a lower power range, at which power is supplied pulsed. Switching on and off constantly. This spoils the picture a little, but not as much as other heating sources described below. You just need to look for models in which this pulsed heating is turned on at the lowest power and then you won’t even need it. There is also an important advantage of induction - power. With the help of induction, you can apply such power that ordinary tiles could not even dream of. 2.0, 3.5 and 5.0 kW. no problem. Power will give us the heating rate until the alcohol vapor boils and a significant increase in the speed of the first distillation.

Next comes the heating element heating. We are not talking about the heating element built inside the container, which directly heats the mash; this is a collapse of the system described above, in principle. We are talking about an external heating element - a kitchen stove, an ordinary portable tile. These tiles provide heat, so the uniformity of heating is average, but this is not their main disadvantage. All heating elements have a built-in thermostat. When the critical temperature is reached, the heating element turns off so as not to burn out, cools down, then turns on again, and so on in a circle. What's happening to our system? It collapses and is restored. There is no stability, this negatively affects the quality of alcohol. Minus 20% is okay. Customers who had become accustomed to their stove and switched to induction sometimes did not recognize their standard product.

Gas. For safety reasons, gas must not be used! A source of open fire, a flammable substance nearby, sooner or later they will find each other. Let it not be found in a year, five, ten years, but in 20 years and it will be too late. Alcohol cannot be extinguished so easily. Your apartment, house, children, relatives may not exist due to neglect of basic safety precautions. If we abstract from our use of gas, then the gas heats more evenly than the heating element and there are less fluctuations in heating than in the heating element. BUT YOU CAN'T!!!

Live steam. Let's not delve too deeply into this technology. While this is not nonsense, it is a working model. The steam generator heats the steam, the mash passes through this steam and the heated alcohol vapors are removed upward with the steam. The increase in alcohol quality promised by supporters of this system has not been recorded; quality losses have been noted. The complexity of the installation and system itself is set in contrast to distillation, proven over thousands of years. Complicating the process this way is not worth it, unless of course you are a manufacturer of such installations.

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Distilling mash over an open fire does not require a flat bottom of the distillation cube. But, if you are using an electric stove, then a bottom with dents and bulges is undesirable. Full contact with the heating surface will provide better temperature control of the mash. For induction « stove" the smoothness of the bottom surface does not matter. It is only important that its design be such as to withstand the weight of the distillation tank. The thickness of the bottom is also important. Usually it is two millimeters in a distillation cube with a wall thickness of one and a half. For eddy electric currents, what kind of bottom (its thickness) does not matter. Only the metal of it, if an induction cooker is used, must be magnetic. Eddy electric currents in it will be stronger. This is because it is exposed to a magnetic field. The energy of the inductor is transmitted in a non-contact manner.

About the advantage

A moonshine still for distilling mash or wort can be of any design. If not
If an open fire is used for this, this guarantees fire safety. Alcohol vapor will not ignite if it breaks through the lid. A tabletop electric stove with an exposed hot spiral is also dangerous. Induction cooktops are safe in this regard . They come in different sizes. It should be taken into account that if the diameter of the bottom is smaller than the diameter of such a tile, then heating will occur more intensely than usual. With equal diameters, the magnetic radiation is somewhat damped.

About alloys and plates

Induction cookers do not heat up aluminum alloys. But cast iron is suitable for it, although it is weakly magnetic. There is a share of iron in it. However, a still is not usually made from cast iron due to the brittleness of the metal. Small household slabs for home brewing are suitable for a small still. A large tank will require a matching stove. The choice of such devices in stores today is wide. An induction hob is similar in appearance to a regular gas hob, but is more expensive. Electronic control type. That is, it is convenient to regulate the heating power. And this is important for the moonshine process. The device with a built-in thermometer is easy to monitor. will not boil.

Many people are interested in what induction is and why it is better than tenons!?

For example, induction has been used in forging for more than 50 years, see video and heating rate:

As you saw in the heating speed, induction wins, which means less electricity is spent on heating since our boiler is on less than the heating element by 30-50% of the time.

The "VIN" boiler is essentially a powerful transformer where the secondary winding is a heating pipe, and as you saw in the video, the heating element of an induction cooker is a saucepan. Even in old TVs and refrigerators that had worked for 30 - 40 years, everything broke, but not the transformer, since the transformer winding is not a heating element.

Comparative calculation of the value of an induction heater VIN and a heating element boiler

A comparison was made of the VIN-5 induction heater with a power of 5 kW and an average electric heater on heating elements with a power of 6 kW

For ease of calculation, the following assumptions are made:

EN on heating elements is made up of 3 heating elements of 2 kW each

Heating elements fail at random times

The average salary of a 4th category electrician is 12,000 rubles/month.

The time to replace the 1st heating element will be 0.75 hours (in reality - much more)

Initial data:

1. The average cost of a new, good heating element boiler is from 20,000 rubles
2. The declared service life of one heating element is 1500 hours (manufacturer’s data).
3. The average cost of one heating element with a power of 2 kW is 110 rubles (data from the manufacturer).

4. The cost of an induction electric heater 5 kW is 30,000 rubles. (manufacturer's data)

5. The declared service life of an induction electric heater 5 kW is 100,000 hours (manufacturer’s data)

Calculation:
In 100,000 hours, 66 replacements of each heating element will occur, i.e., a total of 66x3 = 198 replacements.

Cost of replacement work: An electrician works 22 days a month for 8 hours, which is 176 hours. With a salary of 12,000 rubles/month, the cost of an hour will be 68 rubles/hour. Then the cost of replacing one heating element will be 51 rubles (but we understand that calling an electrician costs much more). If the heating element costs 110 rubles, the total cost of replacing one heating element will be 161 rubles.

The total cost of troubleshooting will be 198x161=31878 rubles per 100,000 hours of operation. The total cost will be 31878+7300=51178 rubles

The cost of an induction heater VIN-5 with a power of 5 kW is 25,000 rubles.

This is the monetary value of the heater after taking into account operating costs.
If we consider a reduction in power by 50% as an accident, then with heating element boilers an accident will occur on average every 750 hours
It is also necessary to consider the costs of boiler maintenance (maintenance, preparation of coolant, etc.), and when purchasing spare heating elements, the costs of their transportation.
You can also take into account that an electrician spends about 7 calendar months on servicing the boiler for 100,000 hours of operation of the heater, during which he could perform other useful work.
In this case, it is not possible to estimate losses from accidents and boiler shutdowns (defrosting of premises, shutdown of production, etc.).

There are also GALAN type electrode boilers on the market

What is a GALAN heater and which is better? Read and decide for YOURSELF.

Advantages of electrode boilers:

The electrodes cannot simply “burn out”, so there is nothing special to break or burn out in the boiler.
The absence of water in the boiler when it is turned on (dry running) does not lead to any consequences and its failure due to the lack of heating - there is nothing to heat up.
Scale deposits on the boiler electrodes only reduce its power and do not lead to destruction of the electrodes.
The price of such a boiler, due to the simplicity of the design (casing with electrodes), is lower than the cost of a heating element, this is especially noticeable at high powers - from 100 kW and above.
Electrode boilers are usually more compact than heating element boilers.

Disadvantages of electrode boilers:

Electric current is passed directly through the coolant, which significantly increases the risk of electric shock, and due to the huge leakage currents, it makes it impossible to use an RCD (residual current device) in conjunction with such a boiler.

For the same reason, electrolysis of the coolant occurs, leading over time to a significant change in its chemical composition, and, accordingly, to a change in electrical conductivity. Electrolysis also leads to the release of electrolysis gases, leading to airing of the system.
The released electrolysis gases, depending on the composition of the coolant, can be quite toxic.
Careful water treatment of the coolant based on electrical conductivity is required.
The power of an electric boiler is not constant and strongly depends on the temperature of the coolant in the system, and with an increase in the temperature of the coolant, its electrical conductivity and power consumption increase, so during the initial start-up of the system in the cold season, the boiler power for warming up may not be enough. An increase in the electrical conductivity of the coolant to the required level at low temperatures can lead to the fact that after warming up the system, it can increase so much that it will lead to a significant overload and accident in the power supply network, as well as failure of the power equipment controlling the boiler.
The same effect (an increase in the electrical conductivity of the coolant with increasing temperature) sometimes leads to an electric arc breakdown of the interelectrode distance (actually a short circuit) with a huge surge of current in the supply network and, as a consequence, multiple failures of various equipment included in this network. Unsuitable for using conventional antifreezes, antifreeze and distilled water as a coolant.
It cannot be used for hot water supply in a single-circuit scheme.
Without significantly complicating the design, it is impossible to carry out stepwise or smooth power control, which leads to large voltage surges in the supply network when the boiler is turned on and off. This is especially noticeable on high-power boilers.
They require qualified maintenance, specific knowledge of the electrical conductivity of water, and constant monitoring of current consumption is required.
Non-freezing coolant for electrode boilers is expensive and not always available.

The moonshine industry is developing with the times, new technologies are being developed, conditions are improving, and updated equipment is being used. A gas or electric hob is mainly used to heat the cube. But few people know that an induction hob for moonshine brewing is 50% more efficient than common kitchen devices. Almost all the heat energy that the device reproduces is aimed specifically at heating the container.

Operating principle

An induction cooker differs from other types of kitchen heating devices in its operating method. Instead of a traditional heating element, an induction coil is installed in it. When exposed to electricity, the part generates an electromagnetic field. During contact between the burner and metal kitchen utensils, high-frequency vortex waves are created, first heating the bottom of the container and then its contents.

Due to the fact that the heating part of an induction stove for moonshine is in close contact with the object of heating, thermal vortices bypass the stage of passing the air gap between the pan and the surface of the stove. It also eliminates heating of the spiral circuit and the burner itself. Due to this principle of operation, the tabletop stove makes it possible to use the energy generated by the device with maximum efficiency.

Electrical appliances from certified manufacturers have an efficiency of ≈90%. This means that these devices directly convert electrical energy into thermal energy.

Advantages

Before choosing an induction hob for home brewing, in order to be sure of the usefulness of the device, it is enough to study the main advantages.

1. Ability to set precise temperature conditions. On an induction stove, you can choose the temperature that is required for distilling moonshine. The device will control the heating of the pan and its contents within the selected mode, which allows you to divide large volumes into smaller ones.
2. Safety. Thanks to the operating principle of the device, any fire is excluded, even if alcohol-containing liquid gets on it.
3. Product manufacturing speed. For a stove to heat 2 liters of water to a temperature of 100°C, it will take only 5 minutes, while an electric stove or gas hob requires 10-14 minutes to achieve the same results.

1. Saving. When comparing induction and standard electric surfaces, the first option should highlight more economical energy consumption due to increased efficiency.
2. Functionality. Most modifications are equipped with 10-15 options, a timer, and a controller for residual heat energy in the burner.

These are not all the advantages of an induction stove for home brewing, but even these arguments are enough to understand the benefits of using the device.

As for the disadvantages, they lie in two aspects - compliance with the level of mechanical load and the use of special dishes with a thick ferromagnetic bottom.

Design mechanical loads

Before choosing a device for home brewing, you should immediately decide what volumes of the strong drink are planned for production. The fact is that all series involve different mechanical loads and if the standards set by the manufacturer are not observed, the device will quickly become unusable.

Each unit is designed for a certain maximum weight - this operating condition cannot be violated, otherwise the stove will fail very quickly

A cube of a moonshine still filled with mash can weigh more than 50 kg; this weight will be a lot for an induction cooker with an indicator of up to 2 kW. There are three options for solving the problem:

1. Purchasing more durable equipment, with the ability to withstand more than 50 kg.
2. Dividing the total volume of mash into several portions.
3. The use of a special stand that will take the entire load onto itself.

Induction cookers for moonshine brewing do not necessarily require contact with the bottom of the heated container. But in order to avoid reducing the efficiency of heat transfer, the distance between the surfaces should not exceed 4 mm.

VIDEO: A moonshiner's dream - professional induction cooker Gastrorag TZ-JDL-C30A

Power indicator

The power indicator in plates for a moonshine still can vary between 1800-8000 W. The higher this value, the more resistant the surface is to mechanical loads. Naturally, it is better to give preference to variations with maximum power; they are ideal for producing large volumes of moonshine.

Also, powerful devices are able to heat the container faster, which reduces the cooking time of the contents. For example, a device with a rating of 3.5 kW can heat up liquid 2 times faster than modifications with a 2 kW rating. But the cost of such devices has significant differences.

Functionality

Tabletop induction cookers for home brewing have several convenient functions that significantly simplify the process of preparing moonshine:

• off or on timer;
• pulse-periodic option - when, for example, in a 500 W mode, a one-second warm-up at 1000 W occurs with a certain frequency;
• stepwise power adjustment method;
• keypad or touch control panel.

Regardless of the number of functions, an important criterion for choosing a tabletop induction cooker still remains its thickness. Thin devices not only have a low load threshold, but also cope poorly with cooling.

What do moonshine drummers say?

During distillation, the gas stove significantly increases the temperature in the room. Induction has nothing to do with the temperature in the room

Based on user reviews that were studied on thematic forums, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. If you plan to use small volumes of mash up to 35 liters when distilling moonshine, and the preparation speed is not the main criterion, you can opt for a model with a power of 2 kW.
2. If a cube with a volume of more than 35 liters is used or the user wants to speed up the process of moonshine brewing, you should choose a stove of 3.5 kW or more.

Rating of the best models of induction cookers for home brewing

The main distinguishing features that you should pay attention to when choosing a tabletop induction cooker are dimensions, power rating and maximum level of mechanical load.

Series	Power, W	Peculiarities	price, rub.
			Glass-ceramic surface, information screen, width - 32 cm, timer, overheat protection
	Total - 3100; Left - 1800; Right - 1300.		Touch control panel, 2 burners, glass-ceramic surface, dimensions - 8x60x36 cm, no automatic shut-off timer
			Mechanical control panel, stainless steel case, dimensions - 34x44.5x11.5 cm, 10 modes, timer 0-180 min., overheat protection, display
			Industrial stove. 6 power modes, pan presence sensor, overheating protection function, quick processing option, dimensions - 59x47x39 cm

Regardless of the modification chosen, nothing will extend the service life of the device more than proper care. After each use of the device, it is necessary to wipe the hob with a damp cloth, and also to avoid the possibility of scratches or chips, which significantly reduces the efficiency of the burner and overall efficiency.

VIDEO: Induction cooker or how to heat without costs

What is better to heat the distillation cube on - gas, electric stove or induction stove? What are the pros and cons of tanks with built-in heating elements?

An even temperature in the cube, slow and continuous boiling is the main thing that is needed for distilling mash or distillate.

Methods for heating a distillation cube:

• on an open fire (gas stove, wood stove, gas burner from a cylinder);
• using heating elements built into the distillation cube;
• on an electric stove with an open spiral;
• on an induction electric stove.

These heating methods have advantages and disadvantages. Before purchasing equipment for distillation, the prospects for using each method are assessed.

Open fire - pros and cons

The advantages of using open fire are the low cost and availability of energy. With precautions, you can work with thick mash without worrying about it burning.

Flaws:

• The distillation process is difficult to control and has high inertia;
• Distillation cannot be automated; the process must be continuously monitored;
• The heat loss of the distillation cube is high because it cannot be insulated;
• If handled carelessly, the liquid will ignite.

Contact with open flames will shorten the life of the still. It quickly burns out or takes on a sloppy appearance.

Heating with tubular electric heaters (built-in heating elements)

The use of heating elements simplifies the process of operating the distillation cube. They are easy to buy, choose heaters of various shapes and power.

Advantages of heating with heating elements:

• The process is manageable and easy to automate;
• The distillation cube is easy to insulate and reduce heat loss;
• Distillation is carried out in any place where there is a connection to an outlet;
• The distillation process has a low inertia, slow evaporation qualitatively cleans the raw material.
• Disadvantages of using heating elements:
• Thick fruit and grain mash easily burns to the hot surface of the heater;
• Due to the high cost of energy, the cost of the final product increases;
• At the end of the process, it is not easy to wash the distillation cube with heating elements inside.

Properties of electric tiles

Not every tile can withstand the weight of a distillation structure. For heating, induction electric stoves and designs with an open spiral are used. Open electric stoves are unsafe, as alcohol-containing liquid accidentally spilled onto it is highly flammable. Professionals who have personally experienced more than one method of heating a cube recommend induction cookers.

This type of electric stove heats metal containers using a high-frequency magnetic field. The field creates induced eddy currents. Aluminum cookware is not suitable for heating. It is important to use cookware with a ferrimagnetic bottom. Only under this condition is the power of eddy currents sufficient for heating. This is steel, iron, cast iron is also suitable, since iron is also present in its composition.

Advantages of induction cookers for distilling mash and distillate:

• The cube is heated very quickly, with a given power.
• The bottom of the cube heats up evenly and gently, the wort does not burn.
• The efficiency of induction cookers is 90% (in comparison, for conventional electric stoves it ranges from 60 to 70%, for a gas stove it ranges from 30 to 60%). A prerequisite for increasing efficiency is that the diameter of the cube bottom is not less than the diameter of the induction cooker. The difference in diameters dampens the induction.
• The stove turns on when there is a pan with a ferrimagnetic bottom on the surface. The thickness of the bottom and the uniformity of its surface are not important.
• The stove turns off when the cube is removed, this provides additional protection.
• The multi-stage regulator allows you to set the required power in the range from 400 to 1800 W. For moonshine brewing, this is enough; if you can accurately adjust the power, the mash will not boil.
• Cubes from 8 to 40 liters are heated on an induction hob.

When heating the distillation cube, it is better not to touch the metal surface. A sensitive person will definitely feel the effect of the induction current.

Expensiveness is the only drawback of induction cookers compared to traditionally designed electric cookers. Manufacturers produce stoves of different diameters and power. Models without a timer have been specially created for moonshine brewing, which turns off the energy supply after a specified time.