First 5 Gal Brew on Propane Burner and Safety

[SteveLikesBeer]

I finally have the space and equipment to do a 5 gallon brew and am pretty excited after a long hiatus (health related, not related to beer).

My question is around propane burner safety. I'm somewhat nervous as I've seen so many horror stories around their usage and I tend to be the overly cautious type. You can laugh at me in this thread .

I don't have the luxury of using my drive way as it's on a pretty steep incline. I have a fire extinguisher, bayou classic, a hardieboard to lay in my backyard for the burner to stand on (instead of grass/leaves), my blichman boilermaker 7.5 gal, a propane tank, crusher, mash tun, and ingredients. I've placed the hardieboard in my backyard on the dirt (I raked leaves away), and put the burner and propane tank on it. Made sure everything is in the off position and connected the burner to the tank. This is situated a few feet away from my small concrete patio. Roughly 4-5 feet away from everything in all directions.

Other than the most obvious things (such as don't use a burner inside, follow the instructions that came with the burner, etc..) is there anything I should be keeping in mind, doing, or worrying about?

 

[TallDan]

I think the horror stories you've heard are from people using propane burners for deep fryers.

So, don't use the burner to heat flammable liquids.

Boil-overs with beer are nowhere near as exciting.

 

[Auger]

The burners throw a surprisingly little amount of heat downward. I've used them on composite decking with no issue. Just keep the propane tank a good distance away from the burner (as far as the hose will allow anyway), and try to situate it so the hose does not present a trip hazard (it would suck to trip over the hose and knock over a pot pf boiling wort). Boil overs, as mentioned above, aren't really dangerous, just messy.

I brew inside with propane in my basement, with two open windows and an exhaust fan going. I keep a CO sensor nearby and I've never had it go off while brewing. My standard practice is to go through and make sure all valves are closed, then open the gas bottle and wait a few minutes and try to smell gas to check for leaks. If everything passes muster, I open a burner valve, light it up and start brewing. At the end of hte day, to turn off the flame, I turn the gas bottle valve off and let the residual pressure bleed out until the flame goes out, then close all the valves again.

 

[Sailingeric]

You sound fine. I did a test of how hot it gets under the burner when using mine the same burner as you. I could put my hand under it (just after it is turned off) on the ground and not feel too warm so the risk of fire is fairly low but like you I would try to avoid leaves or dry grass. If you can round a few bricks to give yourself some more vertical space all the better.

 

[kh54s10]

Don't go too overboard worrying. I use 2 propane burners on an enclosed porch They are a couple of feet from a wall. It was the side of the house and I did deform the vinyl siding a little once. I have a sheet of plywood behind the burner now. I open the windows, have a couple of fire extinguishers handy. Both burners are on a plywood and 2x4 stand painted with high gloss paint. There is no evidence that the burners have even gotten the paint heated up significantly.

As to boil overs.. It is a disaster when cooking with oil. Wort on the other hand is messy and could scald you but it will put out the burner if enough gets onto it. Ask me how I know!

 

[SteveLikesBeer]

Thanks for the tips everyone! I appreciate it!

As to boil overs.. It is a disaster when cooking with oil. Wort on the other hand is messy and could scald you but it will put out the burner if enough gets onto it. Ask me how I know!

I have to ask then ... how do you know?

 

[KennyPowers55]

I melted the handle on my mash tun by not turning the burner off while filling it up from the kettle. Nobody got hurt though.

 

[Jtk78]

I finally have the space and equipment to do a 5 gallon brew and am pretty excited after a long hiatus (health related, not related to beer).....

.......This is situated a few feet away from my small concrete patio. Roughly 4-5 feet away from everything in all directions....

Two things - hope the health related issues are resolved and all is well now.

And..

...why not just set up shop on the concrete patio a few feet away? Seems easier than lugging hardie board around.

 

[kh54s10]

Thanks for the tips everyone! I appreciate it!



I have to ask then ... how do you know?

Wort and fire do not mix. In this case fire loses. My porch is very well stained.

 

[helibrewer]

A 7.5 gallon kettle is pretty small for a 5 gallon batch....watch the flame very closely through the hot break, it has a real tendency to want to boil over up to that point....adding your hops will also cause foam production during the boil....hitting the foam with a spray bottle can help knock it down. For that size kettle, I would consider using FermCap to help prevent boilover.

 

[EthanH]

I stack a couple cinderblocks on each side of my burner. Cuts down on wind but, more importantly, minimizes the chances of someone knocking it over. (not sure why photo uploaded sideways, but you get the idea)

 

[SteveLikesBeer]

Two things - hope the health related issues are resolved and all is well now.

I'm happy to say they are

And..

...why not just set up shop on the concrete patio a few feet away? Seems easier than lugging hardie board around.

Good question. My reasoning is that the patio is close to the house and pretty small. It may be me being to careful but I feel like it would be safer in my yard. I live in the city and don't have a huge backyard as it is.


So here is what I ended up coming up with:

1. Added fermcap to brew day
2. Added some cinderblocks around the burner

I plan on doing the 20-30 minute "burn the paint" later today (without the pups outside of course!). How's it look?

 

[xpops]

A 7.5 gallon kettle is pretty small for a 5 gallon batch....watch the flame very closely through the hot break, it has a real tendency to want to boil over up to that point....adding your hops will also cause foam production during the boil....hitting the foam with a spray bottle can help knock it down. For that size kettle, I would consider using FermCap to help prevent boilover.

+1 for fermcap and spray bottle! i used to do 5gal in a 7.5gal kettle....it's a tight fit and you will definitely be seeing boil overs!

 

[xpops]

Two things - hope the health related issues are resolved and all is well now.

And..

...why not just set up shop on the concrete patio a few feet away? Seems easier than lugging hardie board around.

that patio by the door/house is ample space and would also help cut down your wind issues from most angles

 

[mongoose33]

I have no problem with what you're doing--if it makes you feel better, then do it.

If it were me, however, I'd ditch the cement blocks and perhaps the hardiboard, though it may be helpful in preventing the legs of the burner from digging into the soil under the weight.

Have you ever used a gas grill? If so, did you surround it with cement blocks and rake away everything that might be flammable?

 

[Jtk78]

I think xpops is right about the patio. Here's what I would do, do your paint burn test run where you have it in the pictures and see how warm the blocks get. I think you'll find they stay pretty cool. That should give you some ease of mind.

 

[bkboiler]

cant be too careful, but i agree with the previous post that the amount of heat they throw downward is not a lot.
if moving all that cement board and block starts to hurt ur back u may find out that they dont get very hot and that u can do without them.

 

[swampbrewcrew]

Not sure what burner that is, but if it's a Bayou Classic it's an OLD one. Also, if it is a Bayou it's not meant to support the weight of a brew kettle, none of the Bayou tall burners are.

 

[MaryB]

I brew n my garage only 2 feet from the overhead door that I keep closed in winter. Never even gets warm...

 

[SteveLikesBeer]

Not sure what burner that is, but if it's a Bayou Classic it's an OLD one. Also, if it is a Bayou it's not meant to support the weight of a brew kettle, none of the Bayou tall burners are.

You're right, it's actually camp chef.

 

[xpops]

I brew n my garage only 2 feet from the overhead door that I keep closed in winter. Never even gets warm...

I do the same!

 

[MaryB]

Love it when I open the entry door in winter and the fog bank rolls out from all the steam in the garage. And that is with 2 windows open!