Indoor Butane Burner?

[nickharbour]

I live in an apartment and am looking to start doing full 5.5 gallon boils but I don't trust my underpowered electric stove to handle the job (it had a pretty hard time getting 3 gallons going) though I have not yet tested it. Does anybody else have this problem? my

I was considering buying a butane burner for brewing but I wanted to check here to see if anyone has any experience with this. Most of the butane burners I've found seem to be for campers and I'm curious if they are sturdy enough to hold a full brew kettle. propane or other outdoor burners are not an option for me.

 

[billf2112]

I also have the electric stove issue. I have been centering my brew pot over to "burners" it super heats each side and gets a boil going, but keep it to 3 gallons or less.

As I recall the butane burners are not very strong or do they really heat/boil water well. I actually bought a small propane burner and stove for camping but they are not strong enough to hold the weight of a full boil.

Just get a propane burner from your lhbs, they are really not that expensive (of course I already have tanks so don't need to spend on them). If you are worried about the fumes, simply vent the room with a small fan in a nearby window (if you do not have a vent that vents to the outdoors).

 

[Irena]

I live in an apartment too,and i use butane burner from when i started brewing.My electric stove was too weak to boil even 2 gallon of water so i bought a small butane burner.sadly it couldn't boil 6 gallon of wort,then i bought a bigger one (double in size) and it works like charm.i put it in balcony but you should be careful to put the burner far enough from gas tank.(do it if your balcony is big enough)

 

[dfc]

I also have the electric stove issue. I have been centering my brew pot over to "burners" it super heats each side and gets a boil going, but keep it to 3 gallons or less.

As I recall the butane burners are not very strong or do they really heat/boil water well. I actually bought a small propane burner and stove for camping but they are not strong enough to hold the weight of a full boil.

Just get a propane burner from your lhbs, they are really not that expensive (of course I already have tanks so don't need to spend on them). If you are worried about the fumes, simply vent the room with a small fan in a nearby window (if you do not have a vent that vents to the outdoors).

I don't recommend this whatsoever. I have bought a butane burner made for campers and on full blast it still couldn't bring 3 gallons to a boil. If you really don't have space/can't use a propane burner I suggest splitting your boil on your stove top. Boil half your wort in one pot and the other half in another pot.

 

[kegtapper]

I recommend building a heat stick. There is tons of info on here about them. I built one a few months ago and can now do full boils on my electric range with no problems.

 

[nickharbour]

dang, sucks to hear that butane burners aren't that powerful. I think I'll look into heat sticks as I already have a nice blichmann 10 gallon brew kettle I'd like to get a chance to use instead of splitting the batch.

I'm sure this kind of thing comes up a lot, I haven't seen it in a faq though. how to brew full boil with low powered electric stoves.

 

[GreenDragon]

My smoker is about ready to bite it, the weather has gotten to it over time. I noticed the cabinet comes off the base and the base would make an excellent stand for a brew pot. I may do the conversion once I get my new smoker in.

Might be worth checking craigslist for an old or broken propane smoker. Not sure I'd run it in an apartment though..

 

[nickharbour]

Not sure I'd run it in an apartment though..

thats the whole issue. If I wasn't in an apartment I would have gone with some propane contraption and been done with it. (actually if i had my own house in never would have had an electric range to begin with). Even when you've got plenty of money to spend though, nobody seems to sell the stuff you need to do it indoors, for us city dwellers.

 

[billf2112]

I have a propane heater in my basement, going to put an un-vented fireplace in my living and planning on changing out my electric stove for a propane one, none are vented. What is the issue with the single propane burner besides that fire issue? over 90% of propane exhaust is water.

 

[kansasbrew]

I'm not an expert, but it seems that is always good to vent any gas or propane fumes. Used to live in the country and our indoor range was propane. We also had a vented hood. I now brew in my basement in my large and "well-ventilated" 1920 home. I use a turkey frier with propane. I'm not real worried. Don't know what I'd do in an apartment.

 

[nickharbour]

even if you would try propane in a house (3000 sq/ft ish?) I am definitely not going to try it in my 600 sq/ft apartment. in addition to violating lease terms I don't want my first brewing-related award to be a darwin award.

 

[mendnwngs]

A propane burner (Turkey Frier burner) is fine on a balcony, or outdoor porch. I would not, however ever, burn any gas burner over, say 15,000BTUs indoors.. Ever.. (The large burner on a gas stove may be as high as 15K, but its a well carbed, and designed device to prevent CO buildup) but a $30 turkey frier base (at 50-70K BTU) is not, and a little bit of yellow billowy flame, and suit on the bottom of your pot, and you've made a lot of Carbon monoxide.

Point being; Outdoors, on a porch, or balcony, the cheap, easy turkey frier type burner (or even the other type burners discussed here, Jet, Tornado, Banjo) are fine, with a modicum of thought towards safety, but never would I burn any of them indoors.

 

[kansasbrew]

Let me play the devil's advocate for a moment especially seeing as I do use one indoors. It seems to me that in the case of a range indoors the possibility of a pilot light going out or other malfunction is as high or higher a concern than me in my well-ventilated basement (house is over 4000 square feet not counting the basement and the door to the outside is cracked open) watching every moment of my boil. But, again, maybe there is something I'm not seeing on this. I'm not suggesting the guy use one in an apartment, but I wonder about whether a CO detector might not be a good solution to general concerns where there is plenty of ventilation and square footage.

Also, as a parting thought. Not only was our range propane but our water heater, and furnace were also propane and we lived in what was considered a "super insulated" home. There was a whole lot of propane burning going on and a whole lot of pilot light issues that were ever present.

 

[pwndabear]

why wouldnt you be able to do it outside? yes, i understand that you live in an apartment building, but is there a sidewalk or even a small lawn?

if you really need to, you can always rent a spot at your local park and make a gathering out of it

 

[mendnwngs]

Let me play the devil's advocate for a moment especially seeing as I do use one indoors. It seems to me that in the case of a range indoors the possibility of a pilot light going out or other malfunction is as high or higher a concern than me in my well-ventilated basement (house is over 4000 square feet not counting the basement and the door to the outside is cracked open) watching every moment of my boil. But, again, maybe there is something I'm not seeing on this. I'm not suggesting the guy use one in an apartment, but I wonder about whether a CO detector might not be a good solution to general concerns where there is plenty of ventilation and square footage.

Also, as a parting thought. Not only was our range propane but our water heater, and furnace were also propane and we lived in what was considered a "super insulated" home. There was a whole lot of propane burning going on and a whole lot of pilot light issues that were ever present.

Im just basing my opinions on:

Range, Water heater, furnace, tested to government standards for indoor use, and the water heater and furnace were more than likely vented to the outside, anyway (chimney pipe)

Turkey fryer base explicitly states not to be used indoors, and has no such testing.

Making beer is not a reason to end up on the Darwin awards.

Cheers, and stay safe!

 

[pwndabear]

Making beer is not a reason to end up on the Darwin awards.

only the drinking it in mass quantities part should be reason enough (and usually is)
:rockin:

 

[kansasbrew]

Agreed. No turkey fryer would state that you can use it indoors. But it wouldn't suggest that you make beer with it either. I also, like many others in this forum, have disabled the safety cut off on my unit. So, my Darwin award is already in the mail.

The biggest problem with a turkey fryer indoors would seem to be the same as in a garage. Hot oil catches fire and burns the place down.

All that said, you may be right on the CO. I really can't be sure. I have brewed through the winter when there was no way I'd have gone outside. I'd love to have a meter to get an exact read on how much CO is emitted. As said, I kept the door to the basement propped open and took my chances.

So, no one should ever use a turkey fryer indoors. That's my official position.

 

[mendnwngs]

Just curious, as I may be understanding you wrong, but why would a burner from a turkey fryer not be suggested to brew with?

Im not pokin' at ya or anything, Im honestly wondering if theres some reason I don't know about. (I use a 10 yr old burner from a turkey fryer myself, and now i'm wondering if I should be worried)

I have recently acquired a banjo burner too, which is great for big pots, but I still use that old fryer burner..

 

[kansasbrew]

Ten years old huh? You're lucky. Today they make them so that they cannot burn uninterrupted for an hour boil time. If they knew that you had to take the safety device out of the regulator to make it work for beer, they would never accept any liability. So, in effect, if you asked them, "can I modify this thing, take off the safety, and make beer" they would say, "forget about it." Of course, they would still sell you the thing. They have posts on the forum about how to deactivate the safety. It's pretty easy, but you do have to essentially break the thing. So, as I say, I my Darwin award is in the mail. I'm ok with that. I'm also a scuba diver and have at times dived alone. That is another cardinal rule I have been known to break. If you read about a diver who drown while brewing beer alone in Kansas, that was me.

 

[mendnwngs]

Heh, Okay, Cool..

(Padi cert OWD 1994, Went advanced in 1998, and master in 2000, here... Have dove alone a couple times. and dove "alone" with someone in the boat above me more times, but yeah, thats a no-no)

Well, my concern as you agreed with was CO more than fire..

What gets the CO going is incomplete combustion, as I understand.. Range burners are usually less than 20K BTU ea, and have a well figured out carb system to burn clean (otherwise gas stoves would leave soot on the bottoms of your pans everytime you cooked) Furnace, and water heater can be 40, 50, 70, 90+K BTU, and again are engineered to burn way clean, but also vent the combustion chamber to the outside (stovepipes through the roof)

Its just good practice to burn outside.. Especially in an apartment.

And no-one wants to see anyone get hurt in this wonderful hobby.

Sorry for the birdwalk, people.. I now return the thread to its regularly scheduled mayhem!

Cheers!