Looking for and outdoor brewing setup

I cam across the following in my search and wanted thoughts on it's use for the boil. 58000 BTU's, 7.5 gallon pot (w/ a bottom spigot!!!)

http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Sho...y-Fryer-with-Spigot/product/10211714/-1631023

It's got a "worry free safety timer" that will be a pain in the ass for brewing. Those things shut off every few minutes unless you remember to press the button. Inevitable that happens when you gone into the bathroom or something and don't get back for 20 minutes and you find your boil has stopped. Yours looks to be that big black box on the front with a nob on it....You can't really bypass them and it will inevitably frustrate you.

I've posted this repeatedly, but yours is the first type I've seen with the black box dial timer, but the principle is the same. You can't just turn it on and boil, you have to keep pushing buttons.....

But of greater concern for you is that that burner stand advertised has the newer safety feature that requires you to push a button every 5-15 minutes in order to keep the gas flowing.

They're a pain to use for home brewing, and noone's come up with a good way to bypass that feature.

This one doesn't have it, it is a straght un-inerrupted hose from tank to burner'

But if you look at your picture you will see a little grey box a little larger than an AA battery with a red button on it, located after the red-knobbed regulator. It uses different sized fittings so you can't even easily cut it out of the line and straight pipe the hose.

If all you can find at stores are the ones with the safety feature, than look at Cl or Garage sales.

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I've circled what I am talking about on yours in red.

Bassproshops said:

Powerful 58,000 BTU cast iron burner is adjustable and comes equipped with a regulator and hose and a worry-free safety timer.

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No one's found an easy bypass for them.

Thanks Yoda! I owe you a beer.

If you are looking for a decent turkey fryer for cheap, check this out: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

I just bought and used it for the first time this weekend. I was able to get 6.5 gallons boiling in something like 15-20 minutes. At $60 it's an amazing deal.

My brew partner bought one a while back and bypassed the timer. We use his 7.5 gallon set up as the HLT and boil in my 15 gallon keggle. He also uses his system for 5 gallon batches.

Good luck!

rmedved, did the CSA ever kick in and turn off the gas like Revvy was advising about? Different style than the timer, so wondering if it reacted during the boil? Is the pot stainless or alluminum? I didn't see it specified. I know everyone says it doesn't matter, I just prefer stainless for a number of reasons.

Riverfront, can you provide more detail on the bypass? I really like the idea of a spigot vs. pouring 5.5 gallons, could benefit aeration as well.

Thanks all!

No it didn't shut off.
It's aluminum. SS is would be nice, but at 60 bucks, I'm not going to complain.

therealrsr said:

rmedved, did the CSA ever kick in and turn off the gas like Revvy was advising about? Different style than the timer, so wondering if it reacted during the boil? Is the pot stainless or alluminum? I didn't see it specified. I know everyone says it doesn't matter, I just prefer stainless for a number of reasons.

Riverfront, can you provide more detail on the bypass? I really like the idea of a spigot vs. pouring 5.5 gallons, could benefit aeration as well.

Thanks all!

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I just sent him an email. I'll report back.

I started using one of Home Depots outdoor turkey fryers with an AL pot. worked great. the burner worked so well in fact I bought a second one and installed them both in the brewing system I eventually built

My burner has the black box on the front with the 20 minute timer. I put a pair of vice grips on the timer knob when I'm boiling and it doesn't time out. It makes it a lot easier than remembering to turn the knob every little while.

Hey all, my brew partner sent me detailed instructions (W pics!) to bypass the timer in the form of a word doc....pm me your email if you want me to send it to you.

Revvy said:

I've circled what I am talking about on yours in red.

No one's found an easy bypass for them.

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You could always buy a new hose from a gas supply store.

I bought the one linked and brewed a cream ale with it last night. Looking forward to the bypass instructions from river as managing timer was a PITA, but great buy otherwise. My wort has never been that well aerated.

email sent

Easy, clear and detialed instructions. River and his brew partner rock! In the end it is just a very simple bypass. Don't let the new timer style fryers make you pass up a great deal! And Bass Pro is running some great ones right now. They have an AL 30 qt. pot with burner for $39.94, and obviously the stainless 30 qt. with spigot for $99.99. I will fry a turkey or two in it so I opted for the non-pourous stainless, but if it were going to be brewing dedicated $40 is a steal.

for those with the stainless and spigot model, do you think you could remove the spigot and install a ball valve?

Isn't the Lowe's turkey fryer a 7.5 gallon unit? From what I have read here the 10 gallon is preferred if one wishes to do a full 5 gallon boil to prevent boilovers. What has been your experinece? Do you do 5 gallon boils or something less? I'm looking into getting a propane burner to start my equipment loadout. The 7.5 gallon seems to be much more common.

WSB-

If you want to do a full boil you'll generally start with 6 - 6.5 gallons....in my experience the 7.5 gallon turkey fryer is well suited for this with one caveat. When adding pellet hops, do it slowly because if you throw 1 oz in you will instantly get millions of tiny nucleation sites and very possibly boil over. BUT even if you do boil over, it's not the end of the world.

Good Luck!

therealrsr said:

I bought the one linked and brewed a cream ale with it last night. Looking forward to the bypass instructions from river as managing timer was a PITA, but great buy otherwise. My wort has never been that well aerated.

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FYI - You don't get any aeration from a rolling boil. Boiling actually takes oxygen OUT of the wort. The hotter a liquid gets, the less oxygen will remain in solution. You want to aerate your wort AFTER the boil and only once it has been chilled to yeast pitching temps. You can do this by shaking your carboy or using an oxygen system.

riverfrontbrewer said:

WSB-

If you want to do a full boil you'll generally start with 6 - 6.5 gallons....in my experience the 7.5 gallon turkey fryer is well suited for this with one caveat. When adding pellet hops, do it slowly because if you throw 1 oz in you will instantly get millions of tiny nucleation sites and very possibly boil over. BUT even if you do boil over, it's not the end of the world.

Good Luck!

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I've been using one for years and it works for most brewing situations.

Fermcap-S or one of the other defoamers @ 2-3 drops/gallon works great to help prevent them.

Revvy-

I have never used fermcap, so I have had to be careful when adding hops to our smaller pot. If you use fermcap can you just toss all of your hop addition in? I have to "sprinkle" them in over the course of a few minutes.

riverfrontbrewer said:

Revvy-

I have never used fermcap, so I have had to be careful when adding hops to our smaller pot. If you use fermcap can you just toss all of your hop addition in? I have to "sprinkle" them in over the course of a few minutes.

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Well I still would rather be safe than sorry.

Just finished the bypass (actually, removal of the timer completely) and tested, thanks again river!
For the aeration, the benefit comes from using the spigot to transfer to the primary vs. pouring for my other pots. It is a good sized spout, not too slow but enough to break the stream as it pours and therefore get lots of surface area exposed to the oxygen. While only one test run, the cream ale in the primary from last night is a testement to the better oxygen level in the wort vs. my prior experiences.
For the hops, I did 1 oz pellets at 60 and ~.3 oz whole at 15. I had the timer to deal with last night so I was on top of it all 90 minutes. So I just pick the pot, douse the flame a bit and find that nice rolling boil which keeps it from scorching on the bottom with an open flame as well. No doubt I will get careless w/o the timer but cross that bridge when I come to it. Never used fermcap either, but I am adjunct hostile after my LHBS tried to talk me into a cider clarifying agent using some shellfish extract. I can't imagine asking everyone I offer a cider if the have an allergy to shellfish, you could hand me the nectar of the gods after asking that and I wouldn't like it.
Anyway, thanks everyone for the input. I am a happy camper.

JeepDiver said:

You could always buy a new hose from a gas supply store.

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I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that. I think the concern though is with buying two hoses when you only need one.

Revvy said:

I've been using one for years and it works for most brewing situations.

Fermcap-S or one of the other defoamers @ 2-3 drops/gallon works great to help prevent them.

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Shouldn't your avatar be more like Relax, worry don't home brew must have?

dfc said:

I think the concern though is with buying two hoses when you only need one.

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Very true, and the single wire nut required was on hand so I don't even count that as an expense.

One other change I made. I took scrap flashing and snipped a disk the same size as the one mounted under the burner, drill a couple hole and mount it under the grid supporting the pot. Evens the heat dispersion, good-ole turkey fryin' MO boy mod. (Definately helps if you are trying to cook a big bird as well)

Good thread! Have been eyeing these waiting for a killer deal to come along. Thanks riverfrontbrewer for offering bypass instructions, pm sent.

Looks like a good investment. Can I get those bypass instructions as well riverfrontbrewer? PM sent.

emails sent out...

Thanks!

A few more emails sent!

I've been keeping my eye on this turkey fryer..

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Brinkmann...0000003260370&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=13812608

It comes with a 10.5 gallon AL pot! A few months ago it was about $85 on amazon, now it's twice as expensive. I've been waiting till after T-giving for the price to drop (hopefully lower than $85). I'm thinking that this one would be a good investment as I wouldn't need to get anything else, until I melt the bottom out!

I don't see a regulator on it in the pic, but that doesn't mean too much... Anyone have experience with this model or know someone who does?

d- what size batches are you doing? This setup would not be ideal for 10 gallon full boil batches, and if your doing 5 gallon batches the Bass Pro setup for half the price would work well. On the other hand, this burner may work well with a keggle?

I'm doing 5 gallon batches. I was thinking 10.5 gallons would be great for when I transition from extract to AG... If it's overkill then perhaps I should just get the Bass Pro...

edited to say- I've read the threads on AL versus SS. I'm okay with AL. (This isn't meant to start that debate)

If you buy the Bass Pro model then move up to larger batches later on you can still use the BP set up for your HLT.

Ah great! I'd much rather spend $40 than $85-100! And I just so happen to have a Home Depot around the corner... Hello, instant gratification!

Here's the modified in action. Notice the hole where the timer used to be.



Tried 4 times from a public server and no luck, sorry. I give up, but it works and super easy!

Folks in Oregon, check out your local BiMart. They have a similar setup to the OPs and also sell the 58k btu burner without the pot, (and without the stupid safety device) for $29.99. Hadn't seen them before but with turkey frying season here, they seem to have just got them in.