Gas cooktop instead of propane burner?

[BeardedIdiot]

Hey everyone. I'm not sure if this is really the right place to put this. But here goes.

I am currently talking to several people on CL about different brewing equipment. One of them has a pair of Bayou Classic propane burners for sale with a pair of pots (one stainless, one aluminum), for doing up to 10gal batches.

The other person, who I'm hoping to hear back from shortly, has a Bosch gas cooktop, (pic included).

Now, I have natural gas lines running through half my house. If I got the gas cooktop, I could set up a brew station in the unfinished part of my basement where i ferment, and it is the same room as the nat. gas lines, and just run a hood with exhaust fan through the wall to outside.

With the propane burners, I'd pretty much have to brew in the garage or in the driveway.

Do you guys think a natural gas cooktop like that (with 4 burners, ahem) would be as good as/better than a pair of Bayou classic propane burners in terms of brewing 5gal batches?

 

[bad67z]

Keep in mind, if you boil 12.5 gallons of wort in your basement you will need to get rid of 2 gallons worth of boil of steam. Or 1-1.5 gallons for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[punkerdru]

Well, brewing inside is good when the weather won't cooperate, but it's nice to be outdoors when its nit raining or snowing. Its up to you really...

The propane burners are likely more BTU than the stove, so if you're doing full volume batches, then you're better off with them as the stove will take a lot longer to boil and probably won't boil as vigorously.

I have propane at my house so I've never looked into it, but there might be a way to convert the outdoors burners to natural gas...

 

[BeardedIdiot]

Well, I also have a hood vent sitting in the garage from when I bought the house. Its not pretty, but with a coat of paint, it would look good, and it works just fine. I figured I could mount that over the gas cooktop, in a cabinet or benchtop, and then I'm brewing in the same room as fermenting, so no need to carry heavy carboys/buckets around the basement.

I guess the main question, is will the natural gas burners take so much longer than the propane burners to boil that it isn't worth it?

(And I have seen the natural gas burners like the propane ones. I just like the idea of a multi-burner natural gas cooktop).

 

[boscobeans]

One danger to worry about is carbon monoxide. Big (wide) pots on kitchen ranges can cause incomplete combustion of the gas producing more CO than is normal. Long boil times with burners running on high can easily increase CO levels even with a good hood since only a small amount of the combustion products will be drawn out.

If you are going to do it make sure you have a reliable CO monitor in the immediate area.

bosco

 

[estricklin]

punkerdru good idea, they can be converted. I believe just changing the burners themselves will work though I'm not sure what to do about the regulator. Oh and natural gas produces a lot of water vapor itself when it burns.

 

[mikescooling]

IMHO, most cook tops are 10,000but's some a little bigger. I know mine is 10,000btu and it takes 45min-1hr with the lid on to bring 7gal to a boil (I have an 8gal pot). No lid = no boil. Some guys use KW heating elements, just a thought.
Mike

 

[punkerdru]

punkerdru good idea, they can be converted. I believe just changing the burners themselves will work though I'm not sure what to do about the regulator. Oh and natural gas produces a lot of water vapor itself when it burns.

I don't think you'd need a new regulator but you would need to mess with the air/fuel ratio. I converted my kitchen stove from natural gas to propane and all that was required was adjusting the regulator (but on a freestanding burner you can do the same thing by adjusting the flow) and giving it less air (for propane, more air is needed for nat gas) for the burn.

Water vapor could be an issue, as well as CO as someone else mentioned. I wouldn't suggest using a freestanding burner in the house anyhow, as they put out a ton of heat. The suggestion was more how to utilize existing utilities instead of buying propane tanks. If you're going to brew in your basement, you should really look into electric... waayy safer.

 

[BeardedIdiot]

Well, I do have a 220v line ran into the garage, sitting there unused. But if I'm gonna brew in the garage, might as well use gas, right?

I like using natural gas, and with a water source, drain, easy venting, electrical, and natural gas line all available with about a 12x15 foot area that's not being used, I thought it would be perfect.

Right now I'm only doing 2.5gal batches. Hopefully sometime in the next couple weeks I'll be doing a 5gal batch, but it will most likely be an extract with specialty grains, or else a BIAB. I don't think I'm likely to be doing large fully boils any time in the near future (although you never know...).

Oh well, just an idea.

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

here's a simple comparison: in a commercial kitchen they use very large cook tops due to the volume being heated. You wouldn't see the cook top in the photo in a commercial kitchen
Size matters

 

[BeardedIdiot]

here's a simple comparison: in a commercial kitchen they use very large cook tops due to the volume being heated. You wouldn't see the cook top in the photo in a commercial kitchen
Size matters

True, but at the moment, I'm not even boiling 5gal of water. Most likely when I do 5gal batches, I will either be doing extract with specialty grains, or PM or AG BIAB, using deathbrewer's method (in the sticky).

While I enjoy drinking beer, I don't see myself being the kind of brewer who is going to be jumping up past 5gal batches anytime soon. So my question is, do I really need something that can get 10+ gallons of water to a boil in 15 minutes in a single pot, if I'm only doing 3-5gal boils?

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

Find a similar cook top at a friends house and see if it does what you want.

 

[Calichusetts]

If your just doing 2.5 and maybe a 5 gallon BIAB/partial, I think you should go for it. My curse is I started with indoor brewing and small batches, and I just don't see myself ever having to rely on the weather. Its just so relaxing to do it in the comfort of my house. My equipment is close and I don't have to carry the beer far.

Check the diameter of your pots compared to what it would look like over the burners. hoppyguy is giving good advice in seeing if you find a similar one. I have an induction and my folks have a really nice gas stove. I still haven't convinced them to let me use it, but they will go on vacation sometime.


Finally, waiting an hour or more for a boil would be an absolute buzzkill IMO. Unless you can figure a way to do a double batch (mashing while the wort comes to boil) I would not be happy extending my brew day more than an hour with nothing to show for it. Insulate that kettle and keep the lid on until you get it going.

 

[rico567]

I fought heating on a gas cooktop for the first 18th months I brewed- insulated my boil pot and everything. My cooktop is a Jenn-Air, and the biggest burner puts out only around 7.5K BTU. Your Bosch may do better, so YMMV. I was much happier with my boils after switching to a Bayou Classic SP-10 propane burner when I went AG, although I still use the indoor cooktop to do a lot of the water heating. It runs off the big 1K gal. propane bulk tank, so the gas is a lot cheaper than the little 20 lb. cylinders.

 

[BeardedIdiot]

Well, I may look into running a natural gas line to the garage, and then get a natural gas burner (maybe that 32 jet one I've seen people talking about) with a long flexible connection so I can brew in the opening of the garage or just outside.

Right now I'm just doing 2.5gal extract batches, so a brew "day" is really only about an hour from start to finish. Just about anything I do is going to at least double that at this point.

 

[BeardedIdiot]

Also, the reason I was looking at getting this gas cooktop, before going to an outside burner, is because I currently am brewing on a glass flat-top electric stove. I am slightly worried about 2 things:

The amount of weight the cooktop can take before cracking, and its ability to heat large quantities of water to a boil.

This is a brand new stove (just purchased and installed in February), and its got some nice bells and whistles, but its not exactly a commercial cooktop, ya dig?