No More Stove.....Burner Questions

[blackcows]

Brewed my 50th batch today....the previous 49 on the stove, the last one on a turkey fryer. What a difference, sad part is that I have had the turkey fryer on a shelf in the garage for years but never got around to using it. It use to take 30 minutes to get water\wort to boil now it takes about 30 seconds.

A few questions.....

1. Beautiful day today so I brewed in the garage with the door wide open. As it turns to winter is it safe to brew in a two car garage with a high celling and the door closed?

2. Can I get the water too hot? Probably should have paid more attention in school but is 212 as hot as water can get and then it turns to steam? Never a problem on the stove as I just hoped I could keep it at a small boil....now I get rolling boils.

Mike

 

[BeardedIdiot]

I would at least crack the garage door open so you get some air circulation, and maybe set up a fan as well. Not a good idea to use propane in an enclosed space without ventilation.

 

[Yooper]

Brewed my 50th batch today....the previous 49 on the stove, the last one on a turkey fryer. What a difference, sad part is that I have had the turkey fryer on a shelf in the garage for years but never got around to using it. It use to take 30 minutes to get water\wort to boil now it takes about 30 seconds.

A few questions.....

1. Beautiful day today so I brewed in the garage with the door wide open. As it turns to winter is it safe to brew in a two car garage with a high celling and the door closed?

2. Can I get the water too hot? Probably should have paid more attention in school but is 212 as hot as water can get and then it turns to steam? Never a problem on the stove as I just hoped I could keep it at a small boil....now I get rolling boils.

Mike

1. Crack the door or window, and have a CO detector on with a fan blowing the exhaust out. Be smart, not dead!

2. You're right- it won't get hotter than boiling. BUT, if you boil too hard you can get maillard reactions, like caramelization type darkening of the wort, a higher boil off, etc. You want a nice rolling boil, but you don't need to have the whole boil kettle rocking! Once you do it a few times, you'll get the hang of it. You want a nice hot break, when the wort stops trying to boil over and then it looks like you've got egg drop soup in your wort. After that, you can turn down the flame so you just have a nice rolling boil.

 

[xmacro]

CO detector is mandatory for brewing indoors, even on an enclosed patio.

CO is slightly lighter than air, but not so light that it'll go right to the ceiling like helium balloons; it'll mix easily in with air. CO poisoning makes you tired, groggy, and eventually lose consciousness - very similar to the reactions of getting drunk, and it's gradual so you may not feel it until it's too late.

 

[blackcows]

Thanks for the replies....I will get a CO detector for the garage.

 

[jds]

Thanks for the replies....I will get a CO detector for the garage.

Good idea. You can also just put the kettle outside of the garage. I've brewed in temperatures down to 10F or so outdoors. Just be careful of the ice slick when you spill water on the driveway. One advantage: great boil off rate.