Upgrading turkey fryer regulator

Hi Guys-

I have a cheapo brinkmann turkey fryer from Home Depot (Turkey Fryer (815-4001-S) | Brinkmann)
and would like to buy a more powerful regulator, but don't know what to look for. Anything I should be aware of, and how much can I expect to spend?

Thanks in advance!

The regulator is adjustable and matched to the burner. If you want more power you need a different burner.

I use that set up and it works pretty well. Could you explain how you're using it? I get a 5 gallon boil in 15 minutes or so (depending on outside conditions) and it adjusts pretty nice to the hour boil. Doesn't use much propane either. Have you checked the baffle on the end of the burner? If you open it up, it goes pretty well.

About the only negative is having to duct tape the starter button because of the off switch.

lgilmore said:

I use that set up and it works pretty well. Could you explain how you're using it? I get a 5 gallon boil in 15 minutes or so (depending on outside conditions) and it adjusts pretty nice to the hour boil. Doesn't use much propane either. Have you checked the baffle on the end of the burner? If you open it up, it goes pretty well.

About the only negative is having to duct tape the starter button because of the off switch.

Click to expand...

Really? It takes maybe 45 minutes to an hour to boil from cold water for me. I can't seem to get it dialed in- adjusting gas and oxygen just throws a lot of orange flame- not very efficient.

I was under the impression that I could switch out the regulators for more power. There are a number that look quite similar- I would guess Brinkmann is just buying them from someone else.

If it has the normal high pressure burner like this 170000 BTU burner



use this one.
HIGH PRESSURE ADJUSTABLE REGULATOR/VALVE - Agri Supply

I use a 50 psi regulator on my Bayou. It's a little more than it will burn and it's not very good for lower pressures for five gallon batches. It would be perfect for multiple burners controlled by valves.

I also get plenty of heat from mine. I almost never have the valve anywhere near fully opened. Make sure the valve on the tank is fully open and adjust the baffle so only the very tips of the flames are orange. The more blue the better.

This week I quickly overshot on both my mash and sparge temperatures. Then, sparge to boil takes about 10 minutes. I then turn the flame way down or the wort roils over the edge of the pot until some boils off.

I get around a 2 inch blue flame out of mine with the O2 open all the way. If I open the regulator all the way, I get orange coming up around the side of the pot. I use room temp water as I usually have already boiled it off for chlorine. So it's not refridgerator cold or out of the tap cold, just cool water. About 15 minutes I can hit boil on 5 gals. 6 gals takes about 5-7 minutes longer.

My burner is also shielded on the sides so heat channels upward, not out. Maybe that's a factor?

Malticulous said:

If it has the normal high pressure burner like this 170000 BTU burner

use this one.
HIGH PRESSURE ADJUSTABLE REGULATOR/VALVE - Agri Supply

I use a 50 psi regulator on my Bayou. It's a little more than it will burn and it's not very good for lower pressures for five gallon batches. It would be perfect for multiple burners controlled by valves.

Click to expand...

Are all the burners of this style 170k btu?

The spec sheet on the link you provided states it's a 45k BTU burner.

Q. How many BTUs do I need?

A BTU (British Thermal Unit) is the amount of energy required to raise 1 lb of water 1 degree Fahrenheit. You will usually see propane burners rated in BTU's, but what they mean is BTU's/hr.

Here is a simple way to see how many BTUs you need for your pot size. Water density is 8.3 lb/gal. To raise 1 gallon of water (1 x 8.3 = 8.3 lbs) from 70 to 212 deg F in 1 hour you will need 8.3 x 142 = 1,178.6 BTUs.

Using this BTU requirement for each gallon of water you can figure out how many BTUs would be required to boil your pot of water in one hour. For example a 30 quart pot (7.5 gallons) (full) would require 7.5 X 1,178.6 BTUs = 8,839.5 BTUs to bring the pot to a boil in one hour, assuming 100% efficiency. Of course 100% efficiency isn't realistic. Assuming 100% efficiency a 54,000 BTU/hr cast burner should bring that pot to a boil in 8,839.5 / 54,000 BTUs = .16369 hours or 9.8 minutes. Anyone that has ever tried to bring a full 30 quart pot to a rolling boil knows that it doesn't happen that quickly.

How much heat is lost before it even gets to the pot is hard to calculate. Outside temperature and wind each can negatively impact the efficiency of the heat transfer from the flames to the pot. A safe estimate would be 50% efficiency, so doubling the heating time would probably be realistic.

Evaporation takes away heat and to hold a rolling boil will require additional heat besides that required to raise it to a boil. Without going into a technical explanation just take my word that boiling away 1 gallon of water per hour will require approximately 8,000 BTUs/hr.

So, a 54,000 BTU burner should comfortably boil a 30 quart pot in 20 minutes or less and comfortably hold that pot at a rolling boil. However, if you move to a 60 quart pot, the heating time doubles and now you are sitting around for 40 minutes or more waiting for the pot to boil. Somewhere between a 30 quart pot and a 60 quart pot you probably need to move to a jet burner which produces 110,000 BTUs and therefore cuts the heating time approximately in 1/2.

Be skeptical of BTU/hr output claims.


sourced from Cooker Frequently Asked Questions

jeepinjeepin said:

The spec sheet on the link you provided states it's a 45k BTU burner.

Click to expand...

With 30 psi all it can make is 145000 BTU. It's only limited by the amount of fuel.
http://www.agrisupply.com/cast-iron-high-pressure-burner/p/30295/cn/5400001/

Hmm, sounds like I just need to get mine adjusted properly. I'll try playing with the oxygen for the next brew. Hopefully I won't have to buy any new stuff. Glad somebody's making this thing work. Anybody try using a bigger pot on the Brinkmann stand? It's set up to only take its one 13" diameter 30qt pot. Could I just sit a bbq grate over it to use a bigger pot?

Malticulous said:

With 30 psi all it can make is 145000 BTU. It's only limited by the amount of fuel.
http://www.agrisupply.com/cast-iron-high-pressure-burner/p/30295/cn/5400001/

Click to expand...

and how much air it can take in to burn the fuel.

Just some info from Bayou Classic "The actual cast iron element (burner) does not determine the BTUs. The regulator determines the BTUs."
Thought this might help