Pimp my kettle

Locate a bog standard kettle that still works. Pop off the plastic that covers the far side of the element. In my case it was the handle of the kettle.

Once I had removed the handle I could see that the element was held in place with 3 screws with a star head. I discovered these were called Torx-head screws. My drill set had some but I soon discovered they were Security Torx that require a special screwdriver.

I popped out to Woodies the next day and managed to find a set of security heads.

Skip this step if you borrow them from me at a meet up. Just send me a PM.

With my new screwdriver head I was able to remove all the bits of the kettle.

The kettle had a 1800 watt element. That will bring total watts to 3800. You can see that it even has its own custom washer and everything…

Next step requires a little bit of bravery… I used a bore hole attachment for my drill to cut a hole for the new element.

I matched the bore to the hole left in the kettle. I had to go with one slightly smaller. The kettle element just made it through, thank God. The next bore up would have been to big for the custom washer.

The next step was just too easy. I fitted the washer to the new hole and screwed the element together. It was good and tight.

Filled up with water to above the two elements to test for leaks – There were none.

Next step was to plug the sucker in. Works like a treat. No problems as yet.

Can’t wait for my next brew now, to give it a full boil test.

Still, for no cost other then the screw heads, I have almost doubled the boiling power of my brew kettle.