How Powerful a Burner

A quick question as someone looking to do full boils with an eye toward all grain in the future...

How many BTUs will it take to get an adequate boil for 5 gal batches? Many of the "turkey fryer" setups seem to be between 50,000 - 60,000 BTUs. Is this enough? I know I've seen some more powerful models out there on some of the brewing web sites.

Thanks for your thoughts.

weetodd said:

A quick question as someone looking to do full boils with an eye toward all grain in the future...

How many BTUs will it take to get an adequate boil for 5 gal batches? Many of the "turkey fryer" setups seem to be between 50,000 - 60,000 BTUs. Is this enough? I know I've seen some more powerful models out there on some of the brewing web sites.

Thanks for your thoughts.

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My fryer burner got a good boil going pretty quickly. I wouldn't mind upgrading to 150,000, but that's just because I like buying gadgets.

If you've got a little extra change in your pocket, the $65 Bayou Classic Banjo Cooker (free shipping through homedepot.com and Amazon) kicks out 210k BTUs. Kicks some major ass. Maybe overkill, but it's a good burner, and no hour-long waits to get your wort boiling.

the_bird said:

If you've got a little extra change in your pocket, the $65 Bayou Classic Banjo Cooker (free shipping through homedepot.com and Amazon) kicks out 210k BTUs. Kicks some major ass. Maybe overkill, but it's a good burner, and no hour-long waits to get your wort boiling.

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Over 200k and you risk scorched-wort.

Cheesefood said:

Over 200k and you risk scorched-wort.

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Once you get up to boil, you can throttle it back - you don't need to have it going full-on hardcore for the full boil. No issues that I've experienced or heard of others having.

You're just jealous that mine's bigger than yours... Lorena even says so!

I've used a 55,000 BTU turkey burner for years. Unless it is both cold and windy, it works well enough. If it is cold & windy, I just crack the garage door open and brew in there.

The burner I use for decoctions is only 10,000 BTU, but that wouldn't cut it for a full boil.

the_bird said:

You're just jealous that mine's bigger than yours... Lorena even says so!

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Yes, but I get to use my entire thing. I don't have to "pull back".

the_bird said:

Once you get up to boil, you can throttle it back - you don't need to have it going full-on hardcore for the full boil. No issues that I've experienced or heard of others having.

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What I especially like about my Banjo is the size of the burner itself. All of those BTU's are extremely well distibuted across the entire bottom of my brew kettle. I've never had a problem with scorching either.

Go with the Bird, he says his is bigger and Lorena backs him up? I don't know? Yes, I must say Birds is be best burner on the market!!!!

i just bought a turkey cooker i think its around 50-60k btu's . well i had to compare it to my glasstop stove and i must say its more than adequete for boiling wort. stovetop=40+ mins just to get the 2 gallons to boil.....turkey cooker=20+ mins to bring around 20 qts to boil

:rockin:

If you have natural gas, check out the "Mega Burner" thread in my signature. Up to 300,000 BTUs with that type of burner. It works great for 15-20 gallon boils. They make smaller versions. I wouldn't be afraid to "go big." You can always turn the heat down with a control valve/regulator.

I got this one for birthday. Full boil with 6-7 gallons in 10-15 min with wind blowing, 20 temp., in thin stainless pot.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009JXYQY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Yowsa! thats fast compared to my regular turkey fryer. Takes at least 30 min to get it up, iirc.

I've done 4, 5 gal batches with the KAB4. No scorching so far, no black floaties. Temperature control is difficult and must be vigilant to prevent boil overs.

uuurang said:

I got this one for birthday. Full boil with 6-7 gallons in 10-15 min with wind blowing, 20 temp., in thin stainless pot.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009JXYQY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Yowsa! thats fast compared to my regular turkey fryer. Takes at least 30 min to get it up, iirc.

I've done 4, 5 gal batches with the KAB4. No scorching so far, no black floaties. Temperature control is difficult and must be vigilant to prevent boil overs.

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That's big! I have the tiny Bayou-Classic burner, the one that came with the fryer/brewkettle and all the other goodies. I think it's 150K BTU's- I believe that's what you're referring to as your "regular turkey fryer", correct?

My experience more or less comports with yours. The smaller Bayou Classic will do a full wort boil in -10F temperatures with a light to moderate wind blowing, but it takes a darn hour to get it boiling and you're going full blast, kicking a lot of BTU's out around the sides of the burner in the process. But my propane tank has lasted now for a full 5 batches, including 2 AG, and I think I may be able to squeeze another batch out of it. And, note, with the exception of my last All Grain double-batch which was done with temps in the 40's, every other batch was brewed below 20 degrees.

So you definitely have to give it to the "regular" turkey fryer from Bayou-Classic for both efficiency and cost effectiveness. But yeah, it'd be nice to be able to kick out 210K BTU's to get boiling faster...

I use a 30,000 BTU burner and it works fine. I wouldn't say no to a more powerful on but it's difficult to source them in the uk and the cost $$$$$$$$

Don't forget the rating is just the amount of gas the thing can use not an heat output rating.

orfy said:

Don't forget the rating is just the amount of gas the thing can use not an heat output rating.

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True! I've been tempted to build a little brick ring, maybe a foot or two high, to slip my burner in during colder brew sessions to sort of direct the heat a little better and retain more of the temps.

I used my bayou classic for the first time over the weekend. Wow talk about touchy.....I kept it barely open and had a really good boil. If I just barely touched it....my wort went nuts.

Im pretty sure its rated at 210k, but I hardly used any of its full potential

Okay,

So here's a question.
Are the highest rated burners really controllable. If you can only brew on the lowest setting then is a lower rated and "more controllable" burner more desirable?

I know that a 210,000 btu burners may well give you the option to go to 10/20 gallon boils but I'm talking about a 5 gallon boil.

It seems to me a 50K burner is a good option.

What I like about the Bayou Classic is that I can really let it rip when bringing the wort to boil, but then scale it way back just to maintain the boil. So, it saves me some time, I don't have to wait as long for the boil to start.

I iitially found my Bayou Classic Banjo Kick A burner difficult to control, if I wasn't going for a full bore boil.

Over time you can get the hang of it.

Biggest thing for temp control is keeping the wind from messing with ya.

I imagine that's a problem accross the board.

With mine, I just set it on the max without letting it lick the rim of the keg.

Is that one for the brewing terms that sound dirty thread?

I can do that on the burner or the reg.

I've got both a turkey fryer and banjo burner. I use the turkey fryer to heat the mash water and the banjo burner for the boil.

I like the way the heat is distributed on the banjo burner so hot spots aren't as much of a problem. And I like the power like bird was saying you can kick the heat up and come to a boil fast. I also kick it up just before I drop the chiller in.

The banjo burner does take a little getting use to as it is touchy to adjust. Because I may adjust the flame down but when I let go of the valve it will go back up or back down if I'm attempting to raise it.

Can't really say which seems more energy efficent because I'm not doing the same thing with both burners. And I've only done 4 AG but I've still got gas in both tanks.

This last weekend I did a 10 Gal AG and that's when I really was really glad I had the banjo burner.

What is the average size stock pot for a five gallon AG batch? Im thinking about getting into AG and im pricing equipment now.

7 to 11 gallons.

Someone on this forum uses his gas grill as a burner (Can't remember who). From what I saw it worked pretty well, and is another option if you aren't ready to purchase a seperate burner yet.

McKBrew said:

Someone on this forum uses his gas grill as a burner (Can't remember who). From what I saw it worked pretty well, and is another option if you aren't ready to purchase a seperate burner yet.

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As in, a regular BBQ grill?

200,000 BTU's. Complete Overkill. Completely Sweet.

:rockin:

Biermann said:

200,000 BTU's. Complete Overkill. Completely Sweet.

:rockin:

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Nitro Burnin' Funny Cars!

Chillbrook said:

As in, a regular BBQ grill?

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Yep. It's Bobby_M. He has videos of it on Youtube. Just throws the kettle on the grate and it seems to work just fine. Check out the links in his signature.

Will most Bayou burners support a Keggle, or are people having to modify the stand, and if so how? Im a little worried about putting a keggle on this one.

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B0000BXHL1

I think im going to put a grill grate over it and set the keggle on that.

Any other suggestions?

cpbergie said:

Will most Bayou burners support a Keggle, or are people having to modify the stand, and if so how? Im a little worried about putting a keggle on this one.

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B0000BXHL1

I think im going to put a grill grate over it and set the keggle on that.

Any other suggestions?

Click to expand...

EDIT:

This one is completely different from mine

The Keggle just barely fits on my banjo burner

I would be hasitant to just sit something on top of the burner and then a keggle on top of that.