Waring Pro SB30 1300-Watt Portable Single Burner

Comment: Similar to another reviewer here, the plastic sides of my burner melted and now I have a functional but ugly product.

I boiled a big pot of potatoes on this burner (which took a while but did its job just fine) and the pot had some overhang beyond the cast iron plate. Well, the heat from the pot melted a circular pattern into the plastic.

Make sure you keep the heat low if you're going to cook with a pot or pan larger than the diameter of the cast iron plate.

Comment: The reviews for this hot plate are great but when I went to order it off my wish list, I was shocked to see the price had virtually tripled, so I guess I won't be buying it after all. Waring must have discontinued it or something.

July 24, 2010 Update: The price is back down to near what it was before. Maybe I'll buy one!

Comment: This item shorted out rather quickly after I bought it. I was able to disassemble it and fix it which lasted another 4 or 5 months but then it quit for good. While it was in service it was great as long as you are not in too big a hurry.. it is cast iron and takes a long time to both heat up and cool, so it is best suited to extended use as opposed to heating up one quick item and turning it off.

Comment: This burner can work for homebrewing beer!
I used it first to steep my grains (~1.5lbs grain in around 2 gallons) at 155F. It took around 30 minutes to get up to temperature on the high setting, but it held a constant temp much better than my regular stove (i turned it down to 'medium' once I got to the desired temp). I sparged, and added 8lbs of malt extract, bringing the volume up to around 2.5-3 gallons. (I use one of those old black canning kettles for brewing) It took around an hour and a half (maybe a little longer) to get it boiling, but my regular stove usually takes about 45 minutes. I just left it on high and it kept a nice boil going.
Honestly, I wasnt sure this was burner was going to work out for homebrewing, due to the other brew-relevant review that I found here on amazon (and other blogs on the internet about cooktops). However, I noticed that the brewer who commented here was using 13lbs of malt exract in ~2.5 gallons, which is much more than I typically use. So...if you are using a really large amount of malt extract, you may not have success with the boil, but if you are using a standard amount of 6-9lbs I think it should work. This was my first batch with this burner, so I will try to comment again if the product quality degrades over time due to multiple uses. (I dont know if it makes a difference, but I got mine shipped from J&R music and computer world)
Happy brewing!

Comment: I'm so glad I paid the extra to get this burner. It heats up fast, stays hot, and doesn't break down. I use it everyday for tea/oatmeal and it has yet to let me down. I would DEFINITELY recommend this product to anyone looking for a quality hotplate.