Outdoor brewing.

[maxamuus]

SWMBO is on the war path to get a new range for the kitchen. We have electric (old style) now but she wants a glass top electric range. I cant imagine those would be brew friendly.

This is a battle i wont win so been looking at some outdoor options. Just getting started and doing extract brews for now but plan on going all grain once i feel comfortable with the basics. So i want to get something that will work now and meet my future needs.

So wondering what you outdoor brewers go with ?

Should i go cheap and simple and get this? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000BXHL0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Or upgrade to something a little nicer like this? http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...cabelas/en/common/search/search-box.jsp.form1

Or is it worth the extra money for 60,000 BTU burners and go for something like this ? http://www.campchef.com/store/item/77/EX280LW_outdoorsman_high_pressure_2_burner_stove.html

Price differnce isnt all that much but don't want to buy more then i would ever need and likewise don't want to go cheap and need to replace it a year down the road.

Thanks for you 2 cents.

 

[Memorex88]

Get the Bayou Classic, you'll be fine. I started the same way and have since gone electric.
I still have mine for Big Brews with the club and corn roasts.

 

[Zen_Brew]

Well you could tell her you want a Vulcan kitchen range with a 30,000 BTU burner.

That aside you don't need the fancy two burner set-up. The Bayou burner you are looking at will work fine. You may or may not run into trouble with a 30 QT pot however. It depends how big of beers you will typically be making and your batch sizes. I try to boil for a post boil amount of 5.5 gallons. This means I am starting with somewhere in the 7 to 7-1/2 gallon area pre-boil into the kettle. This leaves no room for the wort rising during the intial start of boil and means you will need foam control and a very watchful eye to prevent boil over.

If you can swing it you would find a 9 to 10 gallon pot more friendly and useful due to the extra room at the top. It makes boilover much less likely, however you could use the 7-1/2 gallon pot, and I believe many do. I just prefer the extra volume and room for error of the larger pot.

 

[marubozo]

Yeah, don't mess with the two burners you listed above. They are really close together and you'd end up spending more time and money to modify them to work with the larger pots you'd be brewing with. IMO, just get a Bayou Classic SQ14. It won't limit the diameter pot you can use on it and it puts out plenty heat. That's what I've been using and it works great.

 

[Homercidal]

I use the Bayou Classic and it work fine. The kettle is a bit small, but unless I'm making a real big beer, it's no problem. If you decide later that you want more headspace, or to make brewing big beers easier, you can always upgrade the kettle.

A glass stove is NOT something you want to put a full brewkettle on.

My big question is": Why does she want one of those stoves? They are expensive, and aren't as good for cooking on IMO (Watch ANY chef or cooking show. Are they using those?)

I'd get gas for cooking on. But I'd still brew on a turkey fryer outside too though.

 

[pernox]

I have a glass top electric range and regularly roll an 8 gallon boil on it. Don't discount the possibility yet - if you get a good stove, you're in business.

 

[mlyday]

If you want to do it on an electric glasstop stove, do your research. I could barely get 2.5 gallons boiling on ours. You also need to worry about the weight of 7 gallons or so of water.

 

[Memorex88]

I did it for awhile on the glass stove but I had to split the batch it 2 pots. The secret with these glass tops is the pot. It must be perfectly flat.
But my kitchen brewing didn't last long. You steam up the kitchen pretty good and end up cleaning the walls and ceiling adding to the long enough brew session.

 

[GeauxBrew]

If you really want a 2 burners that will fit 2 pots you can try this, http://www.academy.com/index.php?pa...ng/fryers&start=8&selectedSKU=0267-40037-0001

 

[Homercidal]

I have a glass top electric range and regularly roll an 8 gallon boil on it. Don't discount the possibility yet - if you get a good stove, you're in business.

Or, you could set a kettle of wort on there and have it crack...

Might want to know before you do this if the stove can handle it. I hear the stovetops are pretty expensive to replace. More than one person on here has broken them.

 

[Ragutis]

My two-burner looks like the one you listed and it works great. It holds two keggles side by side and brings 14 gallons of water to strike temperature in less than an hour. I use two mash tuns and two boil kettles to do two batches at the same time. The double unit handles two keggles for the boil with no problem. The legs seem a little flimsy so I put mine on a couple of benches.

 

[pernox]

Or, you could set a kettle of wort on there and have it crack...

Might want to know before you do this if the stove can handle it. I hear the stovetops are pretty expensive to replace. More than one person on here has broken them.

That's a logical concern, and one that I had when we bought the stove, which was actually before I got into brewing. I've made large batches of stew (five gallons or so at a time) for years, and was very concerned about the cooktop. The salesman informed me that I could throw whatever I wanted at this thing as far as weight, and if I could break it, he'd be shocked. He might have been talking out of his ass to make a sale, but the way he described the properties of a glass cooktop now as opposed to the older generation, I feel pretty comfy throwing down eight gallons at a time. =)

(the warantee probably helps my comfort level a bit, too )

 

[JeepDiver]

Or, you could set a kettle of wort on there and have it crack...

Might want to know before you do this if the stove can handle it. I hear the stovetops are pretty expensive to replace. More than one person on here has broken them.

I do a full 5 gallons on our Glass top all the time. And if you do have a boil over, clean up is easy.

The tops of these stoves are not thin window glass. The stuff is made to be heated and cooled repeatedly, and is designed to handle heavy loads.

Like any electric stove, you can get high output burners for them.