using turkey fryer setup to boil water

I somehow successfully ruined my wifes new stainless steel gas oven. I was boiling about 3 gallons of water on the stove top, when I got done making the wart, I removed the pot, only to find that the grates on the top of the stove had mini pin sized bubbles all over the grates that sit above the gas burners...

Needless to say, I was given the approval to buy the outside propane turkey fryer setup.

I have to work on getting new burner grates for the stove here in the near future.

This leads me to my question to those out there that use the propane burner setup.

I didn't go and buy the best burner/pot setup ever, I just got a $70 dilly whop doo hickey...

So basically the pot is thin and doesn't hold heat well.

I attempted to boil 4 gallons of water in the pot that can hold about 6 gallons. It took 1 hour to get that to boil, and then another 45-60 minutes for the normal cook of the brew.

So basically 2 hours with the burner on....I had a full tank of propane....I now have about half tank of propane with 1 batch of beer.

Is this a normal use of propane? If this is true, then it will add about $10 per batch of beer, just for the propane that I will be using.

I am trying to figure out why is is taking so long to get the water to boil, and why I am using so much dang propane.

I messed around with the burner setting and set it so that it was high enough to cover the bottom of the pot, and high enough that it wouldn't blow itself out.

I am sure the crappy pot has something to do with it, but I have a hard time dealing with blowing off 1/2 tank of propane...

I can use my grill all summer and never blow off a tank of propane.

Any ideas? Or is this Normal?

Thanks in advance,

Ksuflash

Try it with the lid on the pot. Until it comes to a boil. You lose a lot of heat out of the top without a lid. Make sure you watch it with a thermometer when you actually do a brew, because it will boil over bad and fast if you get it boiling and leave the lid on. With my cheap $30 fryer, I can bring 6 gallons to a boil from room temp in about 15 min and some change.....with the lid on.

Something is definitely wrong with your setup. Perhaps it was really windy or you didn't have the air mixture right? I can boil 4 gals in less than 15 minutes on my burner, and that isn't even full open. I paid $30 for my turkey fryer setup, so I am sure it isn't even as good as the one you bought.

I have used propane the last two bathces and I try to get the water moving good, then crank up the heat to a "torch-like" flame. I am sure this blows some fuel but it usually boils 2.5 to 3 gallons in around 20 minutes. I am using a Bayou Classic? fish fryer set-up with a 15 quart pot. I have made two batches using it as I said, and have around 1/3 tank of propane left. I think it is a good idea to get another tank to always have a back-up tank handy in case you run out mid-brew. Come to think of it, I better swap my other tank soon. Good luck.

ksuflash said:

I am sure the crappy pot has something to do with it, but I have a hard time dealing with blowing off 1/2 tank of propane...

I can use my grill all summer and never blow off a tank of propane.

Any ideas? Or is this Normal?

Thanks in advance,

Ksuflash

Click to expand...

NOT NORMAL...NOT your crappy pot.

Does your fryer sound like a small jet engine? You should need to raise your voice to stand next to it and talk to someone. if not, you have become a victim of the OPD valve...it's limiting the pressure that the valve sees. While ok for stupid people, it causes the rest of us heartache.

The cure for mine was to take the hose off of the tank....crank the valve(S) both on the tank and the hose...FULL OPEN...then FULL CLOSED. Put the hose back on the propane tank (Make sure you really screw it on tight) then open the tank valve first, then turn on the gas at the pressure regulator and light your burner....you should boil 6 gallons in about 25 minutes with no lid.

P.S.
I've done 4 batches on my last tank....that wasn't 100% full...and it still has some left in it.

Thanks for the quick responses....I will brew another batch and hopefully have better results by using your suggestions.

KSUFlash

In my experience that is not normal. I'm not sure what burner you have, but I can bring 4 gallons of water to a boil in about 15 minutes with my cheap 65000 btu burner and thin pot. I usually get about six batches from a 20lb tank with two burners running off it (one for hlt and one for boil).

+1 on the OPD valve theory. I had a issues with mine when I first bought my burner and tank. Had to disconnect a few times.

Not normal for sure. Are you getting soot or yellow flames from your burner? If so, you may not be getting enough air in to your venturi burner.

This is actually for blacksmithing, but is a great picture demonstrating what rich, neutral, or lean is supposed to look like:

I have wind barriers up around my pot when I use mine, because otherwise the wind really does a number on the amount of propane I use.

it doesn't sound normal. i got a 40 fryer setup i went for the 110k burner and 32qt pot. i got i think 4-5 batches under it and i was using that tank for the burner then also heating sparge water and mash water and grilling and we grill out about 3 times a week for a month or 2 and its got a 1hr boil on some corn too and i finally killed that tank the other day. so there is something wrong with your setup.

I had a the same inefficiency problem with my burner until I adjusted my air/gas mixture. I would start there. A five minute adjustment shaved 2 hours off of my 14 gallon boil time (3hours to 60 minutes). I had too much air in the mix.

how do you know how much air/gas mixture you should have? Is there a paticular flame color you need?

I had my flap opened up all the way on the burner. So it was getting as much air as the setup could handle.

I could adjust it so that the flap was closed more, but I when i do that it seems to really hinder the flame.

ksuflash said:

I could adjust it so that the flap was closed more, but I when i do that it seems to really hinder the flame.

Click to expand...

if it's hindering the flame, you're probably good at full open. I wouldn't change that....Make sure your regulator isn't all gummed up. Especially on the "Walmart" versions...this is an issue....and it's what was flubbing mine up.

ksuflash said:

how do you know how much air/gas mixture you should have? Is there a particular flame color you need?

I had my flap opened up all the way on the burner. So it was getting as much air as the setup could handle.

I could adjust it so that the flap was closed more, but I when i do that it seems to really hinder the flame.

Click to expand...

If your air valve was full open, I'm guessing that was your problem. Check out post #9 for a visual of what you are looking for as far as flame color. Your flames aren't going to look like that exactly (it's a different flame) but it should give you a frame of reference.

Basically you want to get the flame as blue as possible. With our style of burner your never going to get it completely blue like the torch in post 9 but you want to get it as blue as possible. The yellow tip flames are bigger than the blue flames but they don't burn as hot and are wasteful on gas.

Another thing you can do is adjust it until you start to get a little bit of soot on your boil kettle (an indication you are running "rich" or too much gas) then step it back a bit (a little more air) and leave it there. Good luck.

This should get you up and running. Let us know if it works

I know this sounds a little off, but check your orifice to make sure it's clear. Went to have a cookout with a brand new gas grill, hooked up the gas, and it barely had enough flame to light. Eventually we found that a spider had made a nice little nest in the orifice opening and it was blocking off most of the gas flow.

Dang, was about to post and SC_Ryan beat me to it. heh
I don't have a cooker yet, but I imagine it's like adjusting any sort of flame. Like SC_Ryan said, basically start on the rich side, and open up the air until you get a nice blue flame (or as blue as you can get it). I'd just add that you don't want to go too far. Too much air will give you a noisy, sputtering flame.

Beyond that, like BigKahuna said: make sure that all your regulator, vents, etc are clean.

Chris