Buying my first propane burner

[ziggy13]

Hey guys,

I am looking into buying a propane burner so I can start doing all grain brewing. My electric stove just doesn't give me enough control over the temperature.

Right now I'm leading towards the Bayou Classic cooker from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000291GBQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's 185,000 btu at 20 psi...all the burners I've seen on home brewing sites are like 10 psi and 60,000 btu and around twice the price.

The hurricane burner from Midwest is 60,000 btu at 1 psi. That seems like it would take forever to boil 10 gallons.

I want something that will boil a full 10 gallons. Right now I'm only making 5 gallon batches but I want a burner that will handle a full 10 gallons for the future. I also don't want it to be crazy inefficient....I am totally new to propane burners so any help would be appreciated!

 

[JonK331]

I have a 60,000 btu camp chef and it puts out more than enough juice. In fact I wish I could turn it down even lower than it goes. If I turn it all the way up, the flames shoot up the side of my kettle.

 

[the_bird]

I like this one a lot:

It's got a lot of oomph, no problems whatsoever bringing the wort to boil. It burns clean and it's pretty easy to dial in the right flame. It's big enough and strong enough for a keggle. It burns quiet. Seems to be reasonably efficient with the propane use. I haven't use the one you linked to, but I have used the Banjo Cooker and actually sold it because I like the SQ14 a lot better.

Can usually buy them locally at Home Depot, too. Got mine for $40, I think, although I think they're closer to $50 now.

YMMV.

 

[joeunc]

+1 on the Sq14 used mine for the first time on Sunday, awesome burner. The larger square base is great.

 

[tlael]

This one fits a keggle perfectly.
http://www.agrisupply.com/banjo-burner-gas-cooker/p/64482/cn/5400001/

 

[DrawTap88]

I too have the SQ14 which puts out more than enough power to bring 7.5 gallons to a boil (5 gal batches on my system). When I was shopping for a burner, I also looked at the SP10, but decided to go with the SQ14 because of the base. They both have the same burner, just different regulators (I believe) and different bases. The square one seemed more stable to me.

The only thing that I've needed to do to modify my SQ14 is build a wind shield, which a lot of brewers do with other burners.

 

[Catt22]

I like this one a lot:

It's got a lot of oomph, no problems whatsoever bringing the wort to boil. It burns clean and it's pretty easy to dial in the right flame. It's big enough and strong enough for a keggle. It burns quiet. Seems to be reasonably efficient with the propane use. I haven't use the one you linked to, but I have used the Banjo Cooker and actually sold it because I like the SQ14 a lot better.

Can usually buy them locally at Home Depot, too. Got mine for $40, I think, although I think they're closer to $50 now.

YMMV.

+1 IMO, this burner is ideal for the home brewer. I've been using one for a number of years with excellent results. It has plenty of power and excellent flame level control from very low to very high. The stand is wide and well built. Best of all, the price is right. SQ-14 FTW!

 

[the_bird]

I actually bought the SQ14 first because of the flame control, I was playing around with some decoction mashes and had far too little control with the Banjo burner. This one, I was able to dial in the needed heat for a gentle decoction boil with no trouble whatsoever.

 

[ImperialLover]

I used a single sp10 for 5gal boils for a long time and liked it. Remember that a lot of people stick to the same burners when they upgrade. The sp10 is a high pressure burner; therefore you can use it in conjunction with other high pressure burners on one regulator. If you try to use a low pressure burner in conjunction with this one, you'll have to have another regulator.

If you're willing to do a little metal work you can get 3 sp10 burners for $48.00 on amazon (shipped). I say 3 because that's enough to do a single sp10 under a 5gal 3 pot system (since you discussed upgrading). I'd get one sp10 for your five gallon batches; but I'd upgrade and use two sp10s on a single BK to boil 10gal faster. Bobby M just did a 3 sp10 set-up for a 55gal BK. Do a search on youtube for brewing with bobby m and check out his videos. I'd throw in a 30 psi regulator ($25) with 4 burners ($64) and you'll have enough juice to do 5 or 10gal batches on a 3 pot brew rig. You'll have to add some misc. gas accessories to your parts/cost list to make this work. If you order over $25 on amazon you get free shipping too.

 

[justinakajuice]

I'm also ready to switch over to gas and I like what you are saying about the SQ14. So this can handle 10 gallon batches with a keggle, or will it bend under the ~120lbs of wort?

 

[Catt22]

I'm also ready to switch over to gas and I like what you are saying about the SQ14. So this can handle 10 gallon batches with a keggle, or will it bend under the ~120lbs of wort?

The stand is built like a tank and will easily support 120 lbs and probably way more than that. I use it to brew 12 batches regularly (pre-boil volume as much as 14 gallons sometimes). The SQ-14 handles these with ease and maintains a roiling boil at much less than full throttle, so there's power to spare. Dem Cajun's makes some good stuff!

 

[the_bird]

It's a lot stronger than it looks. I only do 5-gallon batches, but I'm often boiling 7.5 gallons and it doesn't seem to be under any duress. I've seen other brewers using it with full keggles.

 

[ziggy13]

looks like the SQ14 it is...roughly how long can I expect it to take to boil 10 gallons...or around 12 pre boil?

 

[DrawTap88]

looks like the SQ14 it is...roughly how long can I expect it to take to boil 10 gallons...or around 12 pre boil?

I can get mine going to a full boil in about 15-20 minutes. But, it all depends on your environemental conditions, but nothing that a wind shield can't solve.

 

[the_bird]

Not that long. I've never timed it, but going from mash-temp to boil for seven gallons is... maybe 10 minutes? 15? After I've finished filling the keg, it goes on the burner, I empty the mash tun and rinse it out, by the time I get that done and I get all my stuff together for the boil, it's pretty much there.

It's faster than a lot of the "jet" burners I see people use.

 

[I-Hop]

I was in the same boat. I have an electric cooktop in the kitchen and was waiting TOO long for a boil. My wife got me one of these for Christmas last year:
http://www.homebrewing.org/14-Propane-Burner--220000-BTU_p_1190.html
I LOVE IT!! 220,000 BTU's, I am amazed at how quickly it gets me to a boil.

 

[chapa]

+1 on the SQ14. Just used mine for the first time on my last brew day...and man is it efficient! Its really quiet and burns a solid blue flame with no hassle. Solid square base is perfect for my keggle. Good bang for the buck, and big enough to grow into, if you're only using it for 5g batches right now. I'm looking to buy another one for my HLT. I think it will really conserve on gas usage also, as my other turkey fryer burners would blast through a tank of propane within 1x 10g batch!!

 

[ziggy13]

Awesome I am definitely getting the SQ14. Thanks a lot guys!

 

[Catt22]

I was in the same boat. I have an electric cooktop in the kitchen and was waiting TOO long for a boil. My wife got me one of these for Christmas last year:
http://www.homebrewing.org/14-Propane-Burner--220000-BTU_p_1190.html
I LOVE IT!! 220,000 BTU's, I am amazed at how quickly it gets me to a boil.

You would only get about 2 hours of burn time out of a full 20 lb tank running at 220,000 btu's per hour. IMO, the manufacturers btu ratings are often highly exaggerated. I suppose that this is done purely for marketing purposes and apparently there are no regulations prohibiting them from doing so. Running a propane burner at very high flame levels wastes a tremendous amount of fuel for very little gain. I've done this myself on more than one occasion, but only because I was very pressed for time. Normally, I brew at a relatively relaxed pace and feel no need to run the burners at wide open throttle. One thing that does speed things up without un-necessarily wasting a lot of fuel is to begin gently heating the BK as soon as you start running off the wort. By the time you finish the sparge, you will be almost there. I make this standard practice.

 

[the_bird]

+1 on not trusting the BTU ratings. I've read that the old Banjo burner I got rid of was north of 200k, and the SQ-14 is "only" 55k. Note which one I got rid of. SQ-14 heats wort at least as fast as the more "powerful" burner, in my estimation.