Masterbuilt Turkey Fryer ?

[HopKeller]

So, I'm in the process of slowly transitioning into All Grain Brewing and have been looking at Turkey Fryers. My local Home Depot sells a Masterbuilt 30qt. Propane style for about $60. My main concern is the quality of the the product, namely the pot (which is listed as stainless). Anyone have experience with this fryer?
I do own a Masterbuilt electric smoker and absolutely love it, but it has given me some problems...

 

[Beezy]

I might be wrong but look closer I think the masterbuilt one is an electric turkey fryer. It might work but I haven't heard of anyone using those. The one homedepot by me has a propane one by Brinkmann and I have done 3 batches with it so far with no problems whatsoever.

 

[Beezy]

Oh sorry I just looked at the HD app. I see the Masterbuilt one on there for 70 bucks. I'd see if your store can order this one. http://bit.ly/o0BwZ2 it has been good for me.

 

[RichBenn]

If you do beers with alot of hops (IPA, IIPA), go with a 36 quart instead of a 30 quart. Typically, one goes for 5.5 gallons post boil to account for trub and other losses. So for a 90 minute boil, a lot of hops, etc., you may start with about 7.5 to even 8 gallons of liquid! And you need headspace for the boil!

Plan first, buy once.

Rich

 

[OLDBREW]

the btu's on those units listed in the link above are not high enough for brewing outdoors. 38,000 btuh is a very small burner check the masterbuilt propane fryers btuh before buying. 55,000 for 5 gals., would be the smallest sized burner i would use

 

[Beezy]

The one I linked to is 45,000. It is working for me. I think my 30qt is even less than that because 6 gallons pre-boil doesn't leave much room at the top. The kettle isn't going to be any good for bigger beers of over 5 gallons. I am making mostly sessions and I am using 5 gallon fermenters so yeah I am getting less than 5 gallons of product but so what I am making beer! If I had to save up for a 10 + gallon kettle I would still be doing extract and that's not it. But when I do get a nice kettle I can still use the burner AND the TF kettle. I can use it to catch my first runnings while I hear my sparge water. I think it's well enough thought out.

 

[HopKeller]

Thanks for the info guys. Hmmmm, I thought 30 qts = 7.5 gal. Need to check my math on that. Didn't know about the low BTU's. I will be brewing in a carport in GA. So maybe the 38,000 BTU will be sufficient?

 

[Cubslover]

Thanks for the info guys. Hmmmm, I thought 30 qts = 7.5 gal. Need to check my math on that. Didn't know about the low BTU's. I will be brewing in a carport in GA. So maybe the 38,000 BTU will be sufficient?

30qts is 7.5gal, but he was stating that for heavier beers, you may end up boiling 7.5+gal of wort. Needing the extra headspace, a 9-10gal kettle will give you plenty of room. I brew with a 7.5gal pot, and 6.5gal of wort from my mini-mash needs extra attention when boiling, it'll go QUICK. Until you have a bigger pot, you may need to use a bit of DME to get the gravity up to where you want it while keeping room in the kettle.

Also...

My 40k btu burner will bring 6.5gal to a boil in about 15-20min at 75%. If you have any problems, build yourself a windblock to position if it get's breezy. That is my main issue with just 40k BTU.

 

[heckels]

I was using a 38K BTU turkey fryer from king kooker. It was way underpowered. At 70F outside, it took over an hour to bring 7 gallons of wort to a boil that was already at 160F. Even then, I never got a good rolling boil.

I just tried a new Bayou Classic KAB4 burner yesterday. My wort was boiling before I even finished sparging. It cut about 1-1.5 hours off my brew day.

 

[Homercidal]

You could boil 7 gallons if you use some Fermcap, otherwise you are going to be boiling over all day long.

But you could do it and start with a heavier wort and simply dilute with a bit of water at the end. It's not enough of a difference to really affect the beer.

Or you could boil the full volume and just end up with a smaller batch size.

I did several batches on my 7.5 pot before getting a keggle.

 

[HopKeller]

Good News. While perusing Craigslist I found a 55K BTU Bayou Classic Turkey Fryer w/ a heavy duty pot for $30! It's in great shape and runs like new. On my way to all grain...