Now you are cooking with gas........

In going all grain a few years ago, I bought the least expensive yet functional propane system I could find. What I found was an Outdoor Gourmet (available through Academy Sports) Hurricane type burner casting fitted with a typical 10psi adjustable regulator. This was a stand alone burner kit, basic flat iron stand included with breeze baffle, for $19.99 at the time and has served me very well over the years.

However, I have always suspected that what the kit advertised for heat tranfer was not in fact what it was providing. The kit claimed up to 160kbtu/hr which should have been able to heat my typical 12-13 Gallon wortl volume to a boil in record time. Well, in reality I can listen to a record before I get to a boil. Average times range from 30 minutes to 80 minutes dependent on volume, liquid temp, and ambient air. My HLT can take much longer. So, I have been trying to get as much info as I can to step up my game and upgrade my system. Here is what I have;



For those not familiar, this system consists of 3 kegs coverted to use specific tuns. Each is fitted with it's own burner (all 3 identical). The first (and highest) is the liquor tank which gravity feeds to the Mash tun (Middle) which is recirculated and currently fit with a Sabco false bottom. The boil kettle (closest to garage door) is pump fed from the MLT. Each vessle is free standing and is supported with unistrut bolted directly to the vessle. I used the blue, high temp Locktite to ensure that everything stays toghether ovber time. The cross braces at bottom serve to keep the legs spaced evenly and also allow for leveling bolts.

At cooling, I recirculate the hot wort to below 140*F through a Shirron plate chiller and from there allow a single pass through the chiller to te fermenter. By that time, the wort is equal in temp to the available water temp and is usually in the fermenter within 10 to 15 minutes max.

In my endeavors to upgrade I came across this website;

BBQ Pits by Tejas | Barbecue Pit Smoker | Barbecue Grill | Houston Texas tradition

And have found it to be the most eductaional site yet regarding propane systems and options. They aren't the least expensive but....

Here is what I have found. Hopefully, it will help others when deciding what to get, why, and what to expect.

Regarding Burners;

When connecting directly to the propane tank and operating at 10psi or greater these are considered to be High Pressure Burners.

Basically there are these options;

Hurricane casting:



Very common and touted to be the simplest yet most efficient. This is typically what you find on 70% (or more) of the kitted Turkey Fryer setups. Capable of up to 160,000 btu/hr (dependent on gas flow) but typically setup and restricted to about 80,000btu/hr due to the 10psi regulator provided.

To achieve the rated 160,000btu/hr max it is recommended that this burner be driven with at least a 20psi regulator.

Typical head diameter is 4" and the recommended distance to the heating surface is 4" to 5".

Banjo Casting:



Another common style casting. Btu output ranges from 40,000 but/hr from a 6" up to 100,000 btu/hr for a 10" diamater. Both fitted with a 20psi regulator.

Heat output is relative to head diameter and the working recommended distance to heating surface is 4" to 5".

Jet Burner:



Similar to the Banjo style casting, the heat output is realative to the diameter of the casting plus the number of jets.

Starting with a 6" ring having 10 jets at 20psi this is capable of 100,000btu/hr where a 8" ring with 20 jets at 20psi is capable of 200,00btu/hr.

At 30psi things step up to 10" with 32 jets and 320,000btu/hr.

At 60psi we get 14"/44 jets/ 440,000 btu/hr and 19"/88 jets/ 880,000btu/hr.

Hmmmm. See any more patterns here? (1 jet per 10,000btu/hr).

Edit: Thanks to Revvy for providing re-sized images thus making this, somehwat easier to read.

they like there stuff don't they... this place has much better pricing on the jet burners like 1/2 the price

So in summary.

The Hurricane is the least expensive work horse of the bunch but, is usually choked down to 10psi essentially halving it throughput of gas and it's output of heat.

It appears that the simplest of upgrades involves a change to a 20psi regulator to double output. However, it is possible that a replacement orifice will be necessay to achieve this. If the regulator is bought through Tejas (no affiliation) it appears a replacement orifice is not needed.

With both the Banjo and Jet style burners, output is relative to diameter and pressure. Cost follows suite. Except for the 10" to 19" diamater a minimum of 20psi is need to achieve the maximum output.

springer said:

they like there stuff don't they... this place has much better pricing on the jet burners like 1/2 the price

Click to expand...

Just using this site as a reference as it is the most informative I have found covering a range of options.

Regarding regulators:

Available from a typical 10psi (and lower) ranging up to 60psi. These are the simplest of upgrades to a propane system and can essentially double an existing burners output without breaking the bank.

However, it is not a linear logic system. That is, if you triple your throughput you won't actually triple your heat output. Most likely, you'll just blow out your burner because the gas will move too fast to burn off plus it won;t mix with enough air to get proper combustion UNLESS the casting is designed for the throughput.

A 20psi regulator is the maximum recommended for the typical hurricane burner. While some use a 30psi with good result you will find that usually the regulator is not wide open and, when guaged, is usually sitting around the 20psi mark +/- 5psi.

My final caveat regarding these heating systems.

Consider the strength of the stand versus the weight of the vessel you are heating (filled with water). While a 880,000btu/hr burner may satisfy some Tim the Toolman machismo it is more likely that it will heat the typical flat iron burner stand to a point of failure and possibly send any bystanders to the hospital. So, if you find you just HAVE to get the 19" Jet burner for the bling, Please oh Please build or buy a substantial frame to hold it and the 160 possible pounds of 20 gallons of water (8 pounds per Gallon typ.).

The standard Hurricane style casting upgraded with a 20psi regulator should be more than adequate for even the largest of batch boils. In all actuality, at max btu/hr output it is possible, even likely, you will scorch your wort before you reach a boil.

Hope this helps. Additions and or corrections are welcome.

Very informative. Thank you, Gila, great reference. I've been woe-ing over my burners, and I think I'll try the 20psi reg before I go buying any more/new/different burners to fix a problem that might not exist. Cheers!

Thanks for doing this GILA....I vote for stickiness!

And a Prost!


So howzabout doing a post on regulator upgrades for dummies. I'm a noob to all this propane turkey fryer stuff...

Woking on that Revvy.

For now some addtional info.

A BTU is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit

If your burner is rated at 150,000 BTU's/hour, then that means it can burn enough propane to make 150,000 BTU. To find out how much that is, you put on a pot of water, and time how long it takes to raise the temperature a certain amount.

Use some roundish numbers for simplicity, and you should get a pretty good estimate of your output by this method.

For Example

85# (@ 8lb/Ga) of water, raised 100F in 15 minutes.

85*100=8500 BTU (to raise this water by this temp)

To do it in 15 minutes, means that you multiply by 4 (1/4th of an hour)
that gives 34000 BTU. This number is your ACTUAL heat transfer in the system.

Your burner may say 200,000 BTU, but it doesn't matter if you can't put that heat into the water. This method does not separate out losses and is very basic but, can give some indication as to how things are actually working.

Over lunch, I located a Fisher Controls 67CH-743 propane regulator (body only) having a range from 0 to 30 psi from American Propane for $29.00 plus tax. This regulator has the potential to be re-built if necessary.



I also picked up a 0-30psi guage which will mount directly to the regulator body.

Full assemblies (including lines and POL tank mount) can be bought on-line for less than what I paid for this body only but, I hope to brew with this over the weekend and did not want to wait for shipping. Additionally, if I have any issues with this assembly I can return the product the following Monday.

Worst case, I may find that my existing hoses are crimped to the present regulator meaning I will need to buy some hoses from American at which point I will bring my burner casting along to ensure I have everything I need to make the assembly work.

Expected total cost per regulator if I need the additional hoses and fittings will come in at $40 as per the salesman. Which is about the average for what I have seen on-line for a similar set-up. Remember, this reg is a 0-30 psi.

I have seen 20psi assembled kits on-line for around $30 plus shipping and a possible new orifice ($2-$6 plus shipping).

My hopes are that I can remove the fitting from my current el cheapo regulator and fit them to this one. If memory serves me correctly all the lines on my current set-up have threaded fittings so it should be easy to do.

Revvy said:

So howzabout doing a post on regulator upgrades for dummies. I'm a noob to all this propane turkey fryer stuff...

Click to expand...

Thought about photo documenting the switch out and elected not to. No point posting pics of a bald, red faced anglo-saxon, bending a wrench while struggling to break loose the thread lock.

Honestly, this was a very simple upgrade once all the fittings broke loose. I did opt to buy new propane stems rather than fight the thread lock on the old regulators and I had to purchase a bushing/adapter to step up thread size from 1/8" NPT to 1/4"NPT. Outside of that it was p[retty straight forward.

I have some thread lock ready to use to seal teh new connections but, I figure I had better wait until after I have suds checked the connections and fired up the burners at least once with the new regulators. Unfortunately, brewing did not happen. Instead, I was "told" I had planned to bring all the x-mas deco's down from the attic. An ordeal that consumed my entire Sunday. Ah well, there is always Veteran's Day.

GilaMinumBeer said:

So, if you find you just HAVE to get the 19" Jet burner for the bling, Please oh Please build or buy a substantial frame to hold it and the 160 possible pounds of 20 gallons of water (8 pounds per Gallon typ.).

Click to expand...

So are you suggesting I shouldn't be using a pile of old bricks? :cross:

BlindLemonLars said:

So are you suggesting I shouldn't be using a pile of old bricks? :cross:

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Nah. Those are fine. The asbestos alone could withstand surface contact with the sun.