What Turkey Fryer do you use?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

sportscrazed2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
775
Reaction score
8
Location
Dyer,IN
Thinking of picking up the bayou classic from amazon for $60 before I do my next brew. Do you think it's a good turkey fryer? Also, is the only difference between a full boil and a partial boil the fact that you boil all 5 gallons at once compared to topping off in fermenter?
 
I use the SQ14. I picked this over the SQ10 because it supposedly is more efficient in propane usage. Yes, I believe you are correct in your description of full vs partial boils. If you have the capacity, I would recommend a full volume boil. Several people have indicated a better tasting beer doing this, and it lessens the chances of infection by boiling all the water.
 
allright and is doing it on my deck a good idea? i have a garage but it's full of crap. also if i did it on my deck i would have quick acess to the hose spout for a immersion chiller. only problem is using the turkey fryer on the deck would limit me to what months i could brew. I just ordered a kit from northern brewer and would like to get it going soon because it's unseasonably warm from october
 
Using it on your deck is fine. The height usually provides plenty of clearance. However, before you drop $60 on your burner, check around for clearance items. Last year around this time I got a complete turkey fryer setup (burner, stand, kettle) from Home Depot for much cheaper.
 
alright will do. Menards,lowes, home depot, and sears hardware are all located within 2 blocks of each other where i live for some weird reason
 
I use the Bayou Classic SQ-14 and I am very happy with it. Been using it well over a year with no problems or complaints.
 
i have an aluminum brew kettle that is 32 quarts. It is kind of stained from my first brew and even an sos pad wouldn't remove it. is there anyway i can get this stain off? and did i remove some kind of protective coating by trying an sos pad? would i be better off just using the brew kettle i have and buying just the burner?
 
alright you reccomend round or square shaped burner? SQ 14 looks like a good deal. Looks like my favorite so far assuming I don't find a steal on clearance. only thing is for $7 more i can get 3066A which comes with a 30qt brew pot.
 
i have an aluminum brew kettle that is 32 quarts. It is kind of stained from my first brew and even an sos pad wouldn't remove it. is there anyway i can get this stain off? and did i remove some kind of protective coating by trying an sos pad? would i be better off just using the brew kettle i have and buying just the burner?

That's the oxide coating that develops with use. It protects the aluminum metal surface underneath when you boil liquids, and is normal.

You DO NOT want to remove this coating, it will slowly damage your pot and will re-appear anyway with the next use. If you don't want to see any discoloration, you have to buy a stainless steel pot, and this is more $$$
 
allright good to know but how do i clean it throughly and know that it is clean? also did i do any damage by trying an sos pad?
 
alright you reccomend round or square shaped burner? SQ 14 looks like a good deal. Looks like my favorite so far assuming I don't find a steal on clearance. only thing is for $7 more i can get 3066A which comes with a 30qt brew pot.

I feel a 30 qt pot is on the small side. That is only 7.5 gallons and even when I did extract brews I did full boils and had to start with 6 or a little more gallons of liquid. I'm not saying it is impossible but be sure and keep a good eye on your boil.

I use a 10 gallon pot and have never had any worries or boil overs. Just my .02.

dogma9,

I copied this off a bayou classic web site.

The Bayou Classic Square Propane Burner is one of Bayou Classic’s more popular propane burners. This propane burner’s top measures 16 x 16, which is viewed as more stable than the round propane burners. The height of this propane burner measures 13 inches tall. The needle valve on the square propane burner gives you complete control over the amount of flame, so you can cook food or heat beverages properly. The Bayou Classic Square Propane Burner includes a 10 PSI regulator, which reaches 55,000 BTUs.
 
+1,000,001 on the The Bayou Classic Square Propane Burner! really stable, and 55,000 BTUS is enough to bring a 6.5 gallon volume for a 5.5 gallon batch up to a boil in a reasonable amount of time.
 
+1,000,001 on the The Bayou Classic Square Propane Burner! really stable, and 55,000 BTUS is enough to bring a 6.5 gallon volume for a 5.5 gallon batch up to a boil in a reasonable amount of time.

55,000 btus about the lowest we want for 5 gallon batches? i noticed the same priced one's on walmart website are only 38,000 btu's
 
SQ-14 all the way for me. I get ~7 gallons to a full boil in 20 minutes or less! I have a 52qt aluminum pot I bought at WINCO (Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon) for $39, added a sight glass and 1/2" valve for another $25.

Do not use Oxyclean in the aluminum pots, it is not good for the metal and left my batch of Stout with a metallic taste yuck!

I wash my pot with a soft sponge and let it air dry. Any bad guys left in the pot will be killed off during the boil!
 
55,000 is the lowest I'd go. It takes me over an hour and a half to mash from start to finish (heating mash water and sparge water to temp, mashout, recirculation, and sparging.) and I don't want to wait longer than 20-30min to get up to a good rolling boil!
 
I keep a low flame going on my SQ-14 as I runoff into it. Takes about 30-40min, double batch sparge. I crank it as soon as the last sparge run finishes off and it's boiling in less than 10 minutes.
 
hmmm may need a longer run off tube.... My burner is 8' from my deck horizontal distance and 3' vertical ... but may well be worth the longer tube to get to a boil in 10min!
 
any opinions on sp10 vs sp14? also anyway to make sure oxidized layer is ok or how to restore it just in case? btw i will most likely stick to 5 gallon batches for the forseeable future.
 
now i have never fried a turkey so i dunno any of the steps to it or what you use besides a turkey lol, but i ran across a video of firefighters demostrating the dangers of turkey fryers in case of a boil over. it took a split sec for this thing to bust into a big huge flameball which the firefighter standing next to it put out very quickly cuz if the hose to the tank catches fire, well it will be a little bomb i suppose. Now i know whatever you fry turkey with is very flameable, but for my safety and others newbies out their. Is our wort flammable or would it most likely just put out the burner flame?
 
any opinions on sp10 vs sp14? also anyway to make sure oxidized layer is ok or how to restore it just in case? btw i will most likely stick to 5 gallon batches for the forseeable future.

I can only speak for the sp10, as thats what I have. I love the thing, it will get 7.5 gallons boiling in no time. I'm using a 40qt. brew kettle and it fits with no problems, as someone else said if you plan on using a keggle the square burner would probably work better. I have seen the round one modified to fit a keggle though.
 
By definition since the SP14 has 4 legs instead of the 3 of the SP10, it should be more stable unless it's taller and therefore has a higher center of gravity.
 
i think i'm going to pay the extra $13 or so and get the sq14 just for the added stability. also would you reccomend a wort chiller for doing partial boils? i plan on doing partial boils for awhile because it's not as heavy carrying wort back into house. the stove i have now is way too weak. i think the square one with 4 legs is probably the safest course of action for me.
 
nvm i'm an idiot the first batch too forever to boil since i only used one burner. i am doing a test run with 2.5 gallons of water straddling 2 burners and it's already producing tiny bubbles.
 
Back
Top