Turkey fryer

I'm slowly upgrading from a mr beer kit to either BIAB or all grain. Will a 30 qt turkey fryer be a good starting point? I only have a 10 gal igloo mash tun so far. What else would I need to save time and hopefully money for now?

You'll want to check the BTUs on that turkey fryer--my burner produces 54,000 BTUs and it's only barely enough for a full 6.5-gallon boil.

A 10-gallon tun is ok.

As far as saving money goes, I've found over time that in trying to buy THE most cost-effective items I run the risk of buying something I'll regret when the time comes to upgrade.

I know that's tough to combat when starting a new hobby--we're not certain we'll want to stick with it, so we buy lesser items to keep cost down, but in the end, it costs MORE because we lose the money in our cheap purchases when we upgrade.

If you buy quality equipment you will be able to sell it should you decide to move in a different direction. You won't get all your money back out, but it will likely be no less than what you'd have sacrificed in buying cheap equipment.

And I know not everyone has a money tree in their back yard, but buying quality usually saves money in the long run.

Welcome to all of this (it's addictive, maybe not what you want to hear), and good luck with whatever choices you make.

I've used a turkey fryer/7.5G kettle combo that I bought on the cheap from Bass Pro shops 3.5 years ago for maybe 50 batches. Boiling 6.5-7G batches in that kettle was a little hairy, although doable with careful watching and Fermcap. This past spring I bought a 10G kettle at a local restaurant supply store. Sweeet.

Buy once. With a 30 qt your preboil volume is going to have to be spot on and a high risk for boil over with 5-5.5 gal recipes.

Just keep watching amazon, craigslist and such.

I started with a 30qt with BIAB and it was quite a feat to keep it from boiling over, definitely need to watch it.

If I had to do it again I'd get at least a 10 gallon pot.

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004070QDA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470047699&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=king+cooker+crawfish+cooker&dpPl=1&dpID=41zU1YNQsqL

I use a King Kooker 5012.

It has a 50 quart pot and a burner assembly that gets the wort to a great rolling boil.

If you look at the offerings on amazon you can get an open box delivered for less than $100. To me it's a great deal and the extra space in the pot really cuts down on the chances for a boil over.

I have used the 30 qt pot and burner to great success. You do have to watch for a strong hot break/boil over and also evaporation with a vigorous boil will be increased.

I like my set up and will use it til the wheels fall off!

If you already have access to a 30 quart turkey fryer then use it until you decide you need to upgrade (if ever). I personally brew BIAB using a 29.5 litre brew bucket that I converted to a wort boiler using elements out of two counter top tea kettles. I have no problem getting 21 litre batches on a 60 minute boil and 19 litre batches on a 90 minute boil. I do have to be very vigilant when the wort starts to boil (spray bottle at the ready and switch off one element to reduce the heat). I also have to keep an eye on things for the first half an hour or so. If I let the kettle run on both elements continuously during this period the wort might splash out over the side. After this the wort level is low enough to run both elements without risk of messing up the kitchen. A turkey fryer should allow more precise temperature control than I have.

If you don't want to take a chance on filling the pot too much you can scale down the recipe a little for a smaller batch size. I used to do stove top BIAB with a 19 litre pot and was able to make 14 litre batches scaling down recipes I found right here on HBT. Another option is to use a slightly reduced pre-boil volume understanding that you will have to top up the fermenter a little with water to hit your desired batch volume. This could have some minor effect on pre-boil OG and hop utilization that you can either try to account for or just ignore for the time being.

Having said that, don't buy a 30 quart system for brewing unless you are getting it for next to nothing. I went the way I did because I had an extra bucket I didn't need for anything else and it seemed like a fun DIY project. My system works but it requires a little more attention than a larger system would require.

I agree with those suggesting a bigger pot. I use a 36-quart Bayou Classic for BIAB, and while it works OK, I do wish I'd started with a 40- or 44-quart pot (the bigger, the better).

The biggest benefit would be in lessening the fear of boiling over (I've had two decent boilovers when not paying attention), but having a little more room for the mash wouldn't go unnoticed, either!

Here's an example of what I was referring to:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7656631&postcount=890

I use a 36qt turkey fryer. I also do 4.5-4.75g batches so they have space in my 5g buckets. And I still boil over the hot break almost every time. So, it works, but it ain't pretty.