burner advice for the poor

I'm probably not going to be brewing in the house again. Lets not get into that.

Either way I'm working with extract/partial boils right now and I'm SUDDENLY in need of a propane burner so I can brew outside. I'm only doing about 3 gal boils and using two gallons as striking water for the wort.

What should I be looking for in a burner? I need the burner and something reliable to hold the brew pot over the flames. How many BTUs should the burner be? (I'm in a Michigan winter). With that, I don't have a lot of cash to throw around ATM (student working as a waiter) so keeping it on the cheaper but not unreliable side is a big plus.

I'm still new, so anything helps. I'm also enjoying it so far.

For three gallon boils, I'd say just keep an eye out for the cheapest turkey fryer on sale if you're strapped on cash... Unless you're planning on stepping up your boil volumes or going AG in the future (you probably will ), most any turkey fryer would be enough. I'm sure people will chime in about better burners (Banjo/bayou classic etc) and give you a better idea of BTU's. Good luck!

Sorry to hear about the not brewing inside- I hope it wasn't too much of a mess!

MoRoToRiUm said:

For three gallon boils, I'd say just keep an eye out for the cheapest turkey fryer on sale if you're strapped on cash... Unless you're planning on stepping up your boil volumes or going AG in the future (you probably will ), most any turkey fryer would be enough. I'm sure people will chime in about better burners (Banjo/bayou classic etc) and give you a better idea of BTU's. Good luck!

Sorry to hear about the not brewing inside- I hope it wasn't too much of a mess!

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Might not be a bad idea although i;m not really sure what I'm looking for. Along with what kind of burner should I look for, what other equipment will I need to go along with it?

It wasn't really a mess rather than the lingering smell of delicious malt. A smell that did not want to leave it's new cozy home.

SkylerChaBro said:

Along with what kind of burner should I look for, what other equipment will I need to go along with it?

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Uh.. hm, you'll need a propane tank. Your basic turkey fryer kit will have the base, burner, regulator, and even a 7-ish gallon aluminum pot. Mine was $40.

944play said:

Uh.. hm, you'll need a propane tank. Your basic turkey fryer kit will have the base, burner, regulator, and even a 7-ish gallon aluminum pot. Mine was $40.

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That's pretty much it, I found my elcheapo turkey fryer for 29.99 a week before turkey day at Meijer's....

Depending on where you look (they're everywhere) you find the whole range of prices (for basically the same thing) anywhere bweteen 30 and 70 bucks...

If you want to step up to something else (though these work fine) use the search feature to find out info about btu-s and such...someone a few weeks back did a great thread on burner info, I believe in the equipment section.

But if you want el-cheap just walk into any big box store and walk out with one of their big boxes and a propane tanks...it will getcha started.

But if you want el-cheap just walk into any big box store and walk out with one of their big boxes and a propane tanks...it will getcha started.

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Not only will it get you started, you'll be using it for quite a while. I'm still using mine. I'd much rather spend my dollars and cents on ingredients than the latest shiny brew gadget. If you plan on doing full-volume boils in a 7.5 gallon pot, FermCaps are your friend.

If you plan to eventually do bigger boils just make sure you get a 10psi 40k BTU (minimum) and you'll be able to do ten gallon boils. I got my current one (specs above) at Home Depot on sale with a 35 qt pot for $24.99.

To save money see if there is a place near you that does propane refills instead of exchanges. I am saving about $6 per tank of propane this way because I was exchanging tanks that still had propane in them.

This information is of great use, thanks guys!

One last question, since it seems many of you are using turkey fryers, are you using the pot that came with the fryer for your boil? Or did you buy a separate brew pot?

And Yunus, Currently the closest places to me do exchanges but I'll keep my eyes open for refills. Thanks for the info!

Probably the cheapest way to get a burner is to look for a used turkey fryer on Craig's List. You'll get the burner, the stand and maybe even a propane tank if you are lucky. If you lead a good clean life, the tank may even have some propane in it.

Tom

I got my propane tank on freecycle. There were people with the old type ones that didn't want them, but lowes doesn't care when they change them out.

SkylerChaBro said:

This information is of great use, thanks guys!

One last question, since it seems many of you are using turkey fryers, are you using the pot that came with the fryer for your boil? Or did you buy a separate brew pot?

And Yunus, Currently the closest places to me do exchanges but I'll keep my eyes open for refills. Thanks for the info!

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Many of us are using the pot that came with it...works quite well, and it is cheap....

I use the pot that mine came with... for a hot liquor tank.

The ONLY REASON I don't boil wort in it is that my (slightly smaller) stainless kettle is much easier to clean.

SkylerChaBro said:

This information is of great use, thanks guys!

One last question, since it seems many of you are using turkey fryers, are you using the pot that came with the fryer for your boil? Or did you buy a separate brew pot?

And Yunus, Currently the closest places to me do exchanges but I'll keep my eyes open for refills. Thanks for the info!

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I am. its a 30qt stainless pot. just put a ball valve on it but i was doing without until i decided to just add the valve.

I think I got the best deal on a turkey fryer ever... it was on sale at Target for less than $9! That was maybe 3 years ago, but I ALWAYS go look when I'm in Target just in case they ever do that again! I sold that burner and another I had witht the AG setup I sold this past Sept. though. However, I do still have the pot,and that's what I boil in.

Not bad, you can count on me shopping around for fryers while my current brew is still in primary.

Thanks guys.

Mark K.

I snagged a brand new turkey fryer in Tampa for $30 and another in Lansing while on vacation for $25. Craigslist is awesome.

Either people around Boston don't buy all that many turkey fryers or they do and keep them forever because I'm constantly checking our Craigslist for them and have never seen one on there. Or...maybe they just haven't found Craigslist yet and there's fryers in garages doing nothing!

I got a nice turkey frier with an 8.5 gal pot for under 60. Stainless pot even.

I've used it right up until I just finished making my single tier pumped keggle/blichmann system, so it was YEARS of brewing.

One hint, look for one with a stand that will accomadate a keggle, since you may well want to use a keggle one day. My burner stand couldn't hold it because it has this annoying ring around it, but I swapped up to the big rig anyway.

Also... you can fry turkeys.

If I can find one at Target, that would be PRIME! I have one or two gift cards that I could use on it.

I'll take a look around.