Heating times for LP gas?

[JeffLacoy]

OK, on my 5th brew now and trying to make up some time where I can. Have a blichmann turkey burner I got off CL for $25,but not sure it's doing me any favors.

Takes about 30+ minutes to heat 5g of sparge water to 170, takes well over 20 minutes to heat 8g of hot wort 130-140* to boiling. Are these reasonable times, or can I be doing better without a huge investment? Just sick of losing an hour+ to wait times because of my burner. 😯

 

[Stillraining]

Your normal...it is what it is.

I heat 9.5 to 170 in 40min when its mid 30's to low 40's out. If your using a cooler mash tun then Time heating sparge water is not lost...your still mashing during that time right? so twiddling your thumbs anyway basically.

I "can" brew a 5 gallon batch in 3 hours, a 10 gallons batch adds an hour. 30 gallon batches with 3 pots, burners and mash tuns going takes 5 to 5.5 all times include clean up.

I would be hard pressed to shave off any more safely. without cutting mash or boil times from 60min each. And Im not running around either...I brew peacefully, just organized.

I use the water heating time to weigh hops, and grains and set things up. Heating my water is the very first thing I do before I even get the rest of the stuff out. Or even decide 100% on a recipe.....Very little wasted time.

 

[JeffLacoy]

Yeah, I'm getting my sparge heated while I mash, so I'm making use of that time. I suppose it's mainly just the wait of the initial strike water and bringing to a boil that's a loss. Measuring and cleaning already during these 'breaks'.

Oh well, thank you!

 

[govner1]

I start with 120°F strike water by using a tap directly from the hot water line (filtered). I'm generally at strike temp in 15 min or less w/ 7 gal. The extra volume gives me a bit of a head start on my sparge water which I start heating about half way through my mash.
Also, start adding some heat to your wort when you add your first runnings to your BK, then as you drain your MLT after sparging crank up the heat and you'll be at boil a lot faster.
I did a 6g AG batch yesterday in 4 1/2 hours from milling through clean up and pitching my yeast.

 

[JeffLacoy]

Good point. I hadn't considered the gain of 15 minutes I could make up by heating my first running while my sparge sat in the mash. I typically had always waited until I collected all my wort before striking the flame again.

I'm using purified bottled water in lieu of dealing with campden tabs and working with my unknown minerals of town water, so I'm at the disadvantage of starting with 60* water from the bottles sitting in my basement.

 

[brick_haus]

The blichmann burner is as good as it gets. Your times seem in line with what should be expected.

 

[govner1]

Good point. I hadn't considered the gain of 15 minutes I could make up by heating my first running while my sparge sat in the mash. I typically had always waited until I collected all my wort before striking the flame again.

I'm using purified bottled water in lieu of dealing with campden tabs and working with my unknown minerals of town water, so I'm at the disadvantage of starting with 60* water from the bottles sitting in my basement.

The added advantage of adding heat to your first runnings is that it stops unwanted enzymatic activity.
+++1 on Blichmann burners. That's what I use. Quiet & efficient.

 

[Horseflesh]

Out of curiosity I ran an electric heat spreadsheet for comparison. A 5500W kettle will take 8 gal from 140 to boil in roughly 16 minutes. If your $25 burner takes just 10 minutes longer I'd say you got an awesome deal.