New outdoor burner... a few questions!

[Ashella]

Hey all,

I purchased a 60,000 BTU outdoor burner a few weeks ago, and finally got around to taking the thing for a test drive tonight. Which leads me to my questions...

1) For outdoor burners, how high should you turn up the regulator? If I crank mine all the way, the flames lick a good 6-7 inches up the outside of my 8.5 gallon pot. I tested the burner turned up to about the point where the flames are only just starting to lick up the outside of the pot, maybe 1-2 inches. Is this too high??

2) After bringing the water all the way to a boil, my 8.5 gallon aluminum pot was absolutely COVERED in carbon on the outside. This was much worse on the bottom, where it was about 1/16 inch thick! Is this normal? Will this happen every time? Or, is this a result of running the burner too high. If it's a result of running the burner too high, I have to imagine I will still get significant carbon deposits on the bottom of the pot.

Any tips and info is appreciated!

 

[SimonHucko]

sounds like you might not be adjusting the air intake properly. once lot, you need to open the intake until the flame is all blue. I typically keep my flame under the pot, or just licking the side. you don't need a lot to keep a good boil - too high and you're just boiling off too much and risking scorching

 

[Ashella]

After some research, it appears that I may have at a bad air mixture, as SimonHucko suggested. The carbon deposits on the pan are from incomplete combustion of the propane. I adjusted my air intake, so I believe this issue will be avoided in the future.

 

[454k30]

Must've been really rich for propane to leave soot! Glad to hear you got it figured out though.

 

[Stocktonbrew]

Your flame should be blue. I bought two burners a while back and had to exchange one that would not adjust correctly. Hope it works out fr you.

 

[iamperplexed]

Your flame should be blue. I bought two burners a while back and had to exchange one that would not adjust correctly. Hope it works out fr you.

I know this is an older thread but I'm having the same issue. No matter how much I adjust air intake I can't get a blue flame. Tried my first boil with the keggle today and it took 30 minutes to get to boil. Afterwards, quite a bit of soot on the bottom of the pot. I don't mind the clean-up but I sure hate wasting the fuel.

Sounds like I might need to replace the burner? It was $30 from Academy. I guess you get what you pay for.