Looking for a burner

Brewed my second batch (Red Ale Kit) yesterday afternoon in the kitchen. Well, my wife gets home from work and gives me the “LOOK”. (Most married guys will know the look I’m talking about). I guess I better take this hobby to the garage in cold weather, and outside in nicer weather if I want to stay married.

I’m looking into burners. Ideally, I would like to use natural gas. I already have natural gas on my deck for my BBQ, and a gas line in the garage for my heater, but I cannot find any natural gas ready to go burners, like a hurricane or banjo burner that is available in propane.

So, my question is really 2-part. 1. Does anyone know of a ready to go natural gas burner? 2. If I have to go propane, I found these on the Internet. Which one is better?

http://new.midwestsupplies.com/hurricane-burner.html

https://www.pelicansky.com/productdetail.aspx?id=92&cat=65

Thanks in advance,
Dan

The hurricane burner is compatable with NG. Most vendors that sell the Hurricane Burner have the conversion kit.

Unless you are a DIY kind of guy, go with the Hurricane. If you ARE a DIY master, there are Chinese made NG burners that can be purchased online very affordably. You would have to fabricate your own stand, mount the burner, and buy the hoses/piping necessary to deliver the NG to the burner.

I would go with the Hurricane burner if you have the $100 for it.

I found this also. I don't have a problem fabricating a stand, but I'm unsure how to regulate the flame. Is it as simple as putting a ball valve in line or does it get more complicated than that?

http://www.cpapc.com/store/23-Tip-Round-Nozzle-Jet-Burner-natural-gas-P469C0.aspx

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/natural-gas-brew-stand-23-tip-burner-10-tip-conversion-build-91020/

This thread should give you an idea of what you're getting into.

I believe this build uses a simple ball valve to regulate the flame.

That burner looks pretty powerful. At this point I'm just doing 5 gallon batches in a 30qt aluminum pot. Probably overkill, but I do need something bigger than my kitchen stove. It takes forever to bring 5 gallons of water to a boil, and loses the boil every time you wash the hops stuck to the side of the pot.

I have a jet burner It's cheap and works very well. I do not think it will work on NG.

DBONES said:

That burner looks pretty powerful. At this point I'm just doing 5 gallon batches in a 30qt aluminum pot. Probably overkill, but I do need something bigger than my kitchen stove. It takes forever to bring 5 gallons of water to a boil, and loses the boil every time you wash the hops stuck to the side of the pot.

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Go with the Hurricane.

If you are looking at propane, you can look at homebrew sites, but any burner that can get a pot of oil to 375 is going to be plenty hot enough to get your wort boiling, even in a 15 gallon batch. Burners marketed as turkey and fish fryers generally cost less than those at homebrew stores, and are essentially the same thing. Look for one that is welded and has 4 legs, which will be more stable than a 3-legged or rivited/bolted model, after that get the cheapest one you can find.

I've been doing 10 gal. batches for some time now and have decided to start using a gravity-fed set up. I've done a lot of reading on burners on a lot of the HB boards and decided to get the Bayou Classic SQ-14 for my boil keggle and use my current (cheap round burner) to heat my HLT water kettle.

From what I understand, the orifice size is the determining factor in using NG. The orifices (essentially the gas jet) vary in size depending on the fuel source and pressure. Natural gas is supplied at very low pressure and uses the largest orifice. Propane uses high pressure and a small diameter orifice.

IMO the ring type burner casting shown like the one shown in the SQ-14 is the perfect choice for home brewers. It combines horse power with efficiency, burns very clean and had good heat distribution. The SQ-14 can't be beat for price and all around great performance. For use with a DIY set-up, I think I'd buy the separate casting and an adjustable high pressure regulator with the appropriate orifice.

I have read or heard from many homebrewers who say that the jet burners (looks like a pipe with an orifice jet inside) and the multi-jet wok burners are lousy for our purposes, with the wok burners being the worst. They have no provision to adjust the air/fuel ratio and they use a lot of fuel. They are designed to be operated at near-wide open throttle and burn way too hot. They are also expensive and look cool, but that's about it.

I'm sure others with some hands-on propane-to-NG conversion experience will chime in here but that's my 2cents.

Rhoobarb said:

I have read or heard from many homebrewers who say that the jet burners (looks like a pipe with an orifice jet inside) and the multi-jet wok burners are lousy for our purposes, with the wok burners being the worst. They have no provision to adjust the air/fuel ratio and they use a lot of fuel. They are designed to be operated at near-wide open throttle and burn way too hot. They are also expensive and look cool, but that's about it.

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I have a single jet burner and it kicks ass. It's not expensive. Actually cheaper then the one in your link. The flame is fully adjustable and can be run low or high. Narrow or wide. There is no air/fuel adjustment but the flame is always blue so I don't think it's needed. I don't know how much fuel it uses but were burning the same thing right? So how can one burner be more efficient then another? It's not like the propane escapes the flame somehow. Isn't propane combusted = X amount of heat?

And you want to talk about horse power! When you open the valve all the way that single jet looks like a rocket. 185,000 BTUs

DBONES said:

Well, my wife gets home from work and gives me the “LOOK”. (Most married guys will know the look I’m talking about). I guess I better take this hobby to the garage in cold weather, and outside in nicer weather if I want to stay married.

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LOL I got banished from the kitchen before my first go.

I picked up a turkey fryer at Home Depot which has done great for my first couple of batches. It is a Brinkman. 50 bucks.

maida7 said:

I have a single jet burner and it kicks ass...

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Your talking one of these things, right?



I know of a fellow brewer that picked one of these up at Lowe's b/c it was cheap. He thought they'd be good for 10gal boils and found that, yes, they were massively powerful but very inefficient. Maybe if you had a copper brew kettle, but for S/S and aluminum...? YMMV. Even with my cheap cup burner I can usually get 3-4 10 gal. boils out of one 20lb tank or propane.

Rhoobarb said:

Your talking one of these things, right?


I know of a fellow brewer that picked one of these up at Lowe's b/c it was cheap. He thought they'd be good for 10gal boils and found that, yes, they were massively powerful but very inefficient. Maybe if you had a copper brew kettle, but for S/S and aluminum...? YMMV. Even with my cheap cup burner I can usually get 3-4 10 gal. boils out of one 20lb tank or propane.

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I have this one

I use it with a stainless pot. I do 5 gallon batches but I'm sure it's got enough power for 10 gal. I don't keep track of how much I get from a tank but it's more then 4 batches.

I still don't understand how one is more efficient then another. Doesn't the combustion of propane make a set amount of heat?

maida7 said:

I still don't understand how one is more efficient then another. Doesn't the combustion of propane make a set amount of heat?

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The difference is it's more diffused across the bottom of an admittedly inefficient metal pot (S/S and Al), instead of pinpointing one area. You get more dispersion and, therefore, quicker heating time and a consistent rolling boil. Think of your stovetop burners - it isn't one flame at one spot on the bottom of your pot. It has (or should) have several points across the bottom. If it works for you, that's great!

Rhoobarb said:

The difference is it's more diffused across the bottom of an admittedly inefficient metal pot (S/S and Al), instead of pinpointing one area. You get more dispersion and, therefore, quicker heating time and a consistent rolling boil. Think of your stovetop burners - it isn't one flame at one spot on the bottom of your pot. It has (or should) have several points across the bottom. If it works for you, that's great!

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It has a plate that diffuses the flame to spread it out wide. So it can go with one narrow jet or a wide pattern. The plate swivels into place and can be adjusted at any time while the burner is on.

However, the single jet is way hotter and will boil water way faster then when the plate is in place and the flame is spread wide. When the single jet hits the bottom of the pot it spreads out all by itself to the edges of the bottom of the pot.

So I just don't buy your claim that the jet is not as efficient. But that's cool, we don't have to agree.

maida7 said:

It has a plate that diffuses the flame to spread it out wide. ...

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Ah, I didn't know that. See, there's the key. That helps in the dispursion of heat!