Turkey fryer flame

Last night I did my first full boil on a brand-new dirt-cheap turkey fryer. It took a good long time! The problem was that I couldn't turn the gas up all that much without the flames "escaping" from the bottom of the pot. I figured that if I let this continue too much and just cranked it, I'd be wasting most of the propane, but it took a long time to get to a boil and I wound up boiling off less than 1 gallon during the 60min boil.

I'm using the likely common Bayou Classic basic model with the included pot. So...

Am I right that I'll be wasting tons of propane by cranking it? If so, is there any solution?

Thanks all.

Did you adjust the fresh air mix? I don't have the Bayou Classic, but most have a sort of dial thing that you use to mix fresh air with the flame. You adjust it until you have the bluest flame you can.

I don't think you're wasting propane if you crank it-heat is getting to the pot, maybe just not as efficiently. IMHO, if you can get a wider/bigger pot, I'd do it.

How big is your pot? I have a 40 quart and don't have the flame around the side issue.

+1 to adjusting your air to gas mix (the little slotted plate).

adjust it so you have little blue flames on the burner. too much yellow means not enough air, and usually a ton of soot build up on the bottom of the pot.

play around with it on a day you're not immediately brewing so you can take time and be patient.

LOL, this is the same burner I got a couple weeks ago...and it took some fiddling to get the fuel/air mixture correct. I found that it was easier to do outside at night because you can see the yellow flame, and adjust the dial until it disappears.

I don't know about you, but I almost burned some hair off my head when I turned this thing all the way up! Pretty amazing for a little burner, it had a foot high flame on high :rockin: .

I'll try that. The problem is, the shutter has a very limited adjustment range. I had it as open as it gets, which must have been enough -- but it seems impossible to close. Not shaped quite like the pictures in the manual. Did you notice this?

I don't have that one, but I have some cheap fryer, and a banjo KAB5 which is the one that I had to fiddle with a lot. its almost too much for my 9gal brewpot, so I have to barely turn on the gas, and open the air wide...otherwise I get 6 inches of black soot up the sides of my kettle.

usually that sleeve has a little spring behind it, and a screw holding it in. you might need to loosen that screw a quarter turn to give the spring enough play.

I have the same fryer, and I boiled some water this weekend to season the pot. I didnt' have any problem with boiling it. Took abotu 10-15 minutes to get boil, and then very easy to adjust the flame up and down as needed.

I just cranked it up and let some of the flame lap the sides.

Crank the flame up. You're not really wasting propane, just adding more fuel to the flame. The excess has to escape somewhere.

You are transfering heat to the pot less efficiently at higher flame levels but it is providing more heat to the water or wort. I crank mine up to get a boil started then turn it down to maintain the boil.

If you want to improve the efficiency of your burner look at some of the shields that people have built. A metal shield around the burner and pot will direct the hot vapors along the sides of the pot improving the heat transfer and reducing cooling of the kettle from external air. This is most effective in cold and windy conditions. Just make sure your burner can get plenty of air and that your propane hose will not get too hot.

Craig

I'm using the 40qt Bayou Classic. The air mix piece doesn't seem very well designed but this economy setup just rips the heat. After years of electric stovetop boils I am very pleased with the propane setup. And it sounds gratifyingly like a jet aircraft talking off at higher heat levels. Woo-hoo!

InkPouchMan said:

Last night I did my first full boil on a brand-new dirt-cheap turkey fryer. It took a good long time! The problem was that I couldn't turn the gas up all that much without the flames "escaping" from the bottom of the pot. I figured that if I let this continue too much and just cranked it, I'd be wasting most of the propane, but it took a long time to get to a boil and I wound up boiling off less than 1 gallon during the 60min boil.

I'm using the likely common Bayou Classic basic model with the included pot. So...

Am I right that I'll be wasting tons of propane by cranking it? If so, is there any solution?

Thanks all.

Click to expand...

Funny, I had this same thing happen to me just the other night. I fired this thing up and the flame seemed quite a bit lower than usual, so I cranked up the gas...no change. The height of the flame didn't change and I didn't get that jet engine sound . So I dialed the gas knob on the turkey fryer line up and down a few times and POOF - I got a big huge jet engine flame!!! It seems that if I adjust the fuel slowly, almost nothing happens....however, if I turn in up fast I get the high output flame. You might try this and see what happens...just remember to stand back a bit .

I've had problems with the safety valve inside the propane tank itself getting stuck and not letting much gas get through. Sometimes when I don't get a good flame, what I'll do is unhook the hose and turn the gas off. Pick the tank up about 4" and bang it on the ground. Hook the hose back up and when I'm dialing up the propane do it slowly. Works every time.

I found that it really helps to light the burner before you put on your kettle. I found that I get a nicer blue flame with this method. I wonder if it is because the kettle blocks the flames from access to O2 at first.