WSURaider41
Well-Known Member
Depending on tank size of course, but for a typical tank of propane, how many batches can you usually make before you have to refill your tank?
I usually only get about 5 or 6 all grain batches.
All you guys saying between 4 and 6 batches made me go back and count brews. I have brewed fourteen 5 gal batches this year with my propane burner. I have used one and half 20# tanks. I have done 60 min and 90 min boils. I wonder why I'm getting twice as many brews out of my tank than everyone else????
I do all grain. I'm not high, I quit doing drugs years ago I'm in Dallas, no clue what the elevation is. And I don't know the btu's. It's a fish/turkey fryer from Bass Pro Shops.
I do all grain. I'm not high, I quit doing drugs years ago I'm in Dallas, no clue what the elevation is. And I don't know the btu's. It's a fish/turkey fryer from Bass Pro Shops.
All you guys saying between 4 and 6 batches made me go back and count brews. I have brewed fourteen 5 gal batches this year with my propane burner. I have used one and half 20# tanks. I have done 60 min and 90 min boils. I wonder why I'm getting twice as many brews out of my tank than everyone else????
I get around 10 beers, all strike and sparge water heated, with a 20# tank. I did build a heat shield and am not an advocate of boiling your wort to the point of jumping out of the pot. BTW, the heat shield more than doubled the number of beers i could brew on a tank of gas.
I get around 10 beers, all strike and sparge water heated, with a 20# tank. I did build a heat shield and am not an advocate of boiling your wort to the point of jumping out of the pot. BTW, the heat shield more than doubled the number of beers i could brew on a tank of gas.
The pot handles will get very hot because all of the heat is going up the sides of the kettle and not blowing out the bottom. Be sure to use good oven mits when handling the kettle.
This has greatly decreased my time to heat sparge and strike water as well. Not to mention saving a ton of money on propane.
So, if I'm seeing this right, it's a tall narrow chimney extending below the burner up around the sides of the pot? Hmmmm....
I'm wondering if a half height version would be beneficial without super heating the handles? Might just have to try that. Thanks.
That's a great discription, a chimney made of flashing.
Flashing is cheap. I think I paid $8 for a roll.
Well, maybe in your part of the country. Down here, extreme SW Florida, that stuff is imported and you have to pay the import fees. Found a 10 foot roll for $13. Think I'll keep looking. And, maybe scrounge around the side of the road. I could use the aluminum siding the last hurricane stripped from a mobile home.
It depends on how much propane is in the tank you start with. The tanks at a local gas station or store... the ones in the cages where you swap your empty for a "full" tank" typically contain 15# propane, . I take my tank to a propane refill place and pay for how much they actually put into the tank. If I feel that I don't have enough to start with I can take a partial tank and have it topped off... so I have never really figured out how much I use for a 5 gallon batch. My estimate is 4 batches....I need to build a heat shield and see if I get better efficiency.
Trust me, it will be a well spent $13. I'm tight on money as well and can assure you will save a lot of gas if you build a heat shield and do not use more gas than needed to keep a rolling boil.
I'm sure it will be but it's on hold for this weekend. Just spent a bunch on ingredients, copper tubing, and fittings etc.
But, this raises a question for me. I plan two all grain BIAB sessions this weekend. I wonder what the heat shield will do to the paint strainer bag hanging over the edge of the pot?
I'm thinking, bring strike water to temp, insert bag, only use burner to maintain temp shouldn't expose bag to extreme heat for long, remove bag, crank burner for boil.
Maybe the heat shield will help retain some heat during the mash? Maybe remove heat shield for temperature maintenance burn? Replace at flame off? Anyone?
Trust me, it will be a well spent $13. I'm tight on money as well and can assure you will save a lot of gas if you build a heat shield and do not use more gas than needed to keep a rolling boil.
Assuming you are using nylon bags for BIAB, I would probably not use the heat shield for fear of melting the bag. Maybe just use the shield to heat strike water and for the boil? I guess you won't know 'till you try. Good luck and let us know how it works for you.
My chimney only extends up two inches above the bottom of my pot. My logic is that retains most of the heat while keeping the handles cooler. I don't have a picture but mine was from an old metal desk (18 ga steel?) that was left behind when I moved in. I cut a rectangle out, wrapped it around the stand, clamped it temporarily, and pop riveted it together. Voila! Double the amount of brewing on a tank...
I'm guessing those that build heat shields don't have thermometers on their kettles? I don't want to overheat mine, and was thinking about using a half circle heat shield instead. I figure keeping the wind from stripping heat is almost as good as trapping all the heat against the kettle.
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