Bayou Classic 3066a Use

[Krane]

I just recently got a Bayou Classic 3066a burner with a 7.5 gallon aluminum pot and decided I would boil some water (6 gallons) to test it out and get some oxidation on the pot before I do a brew. It seems obvious that more gas=faster heating but I'm wondering what is "ideal." I ended up turning it on full blast and got a boil in about 20 minutes in 40F weather.

Do you open the regulator up all the way when bringing it to a boil?

I know it would work either way, but I imagine there is a trade off between efficiency and speed and I'm wondering what other people do. Either way, just trying to find out if I'm over thinking here/get some more informed opinions.

 

[beerand420]

I have the same burner. In my case, my wort is already pretty hot by the time I start my boil ~150 to 165F because I'm usually just finishing my sparge. I have to be careful of boil overs, because like you, I have the same pot too . You didn't say what kind of brewing your into, but I don't open the burner up wide open because it generally only takes 15 minutes for me to get my wort boiling well and I usually have 7 gallons of wort in the pot at that point which makes temp control more critical. If I was just heating up water, I'd crank it all the way open. Extract brewing, I'd probably find a middle ground where I wasn't concerned about scorching, but still boiled in a reasonable time, just over 3/4 full on the valve seems pretty good to me. I'm always tweaking it throughout the boil anyways.

Regards,
Mark

 

[Krane]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll try out going 3/4 open for my next extract batch. Seems like a good balance between speed and safety from scorching.

By the way, you must really have it down right to be boiling 7 gallons in that 7.5 gallon pot. I thought 6 gallons was the limit, but apparently not.

 

[Patirck]

I have a 7.5 gallon pot and do full boils on a costco turkey fryer. I used to have a lot of boil over issues but I got a bottle of ferm cap and I have to say it is amazing. about 6 - 10 drops in 7 gallons of wort and it never boils over. I have used it four or five times and I am now comfortable to walk away from the kettle and not worry about boil overs.