Picking up my Turkey Fryer tonight!

[UnderPressure]

Just the other day, I learned my parents have had a brand new turkey fryer just sitting in their garage for the past 9 or 10 years, never opened. A Christmas gift that they never used. Anyway, my dad said I could have it in exchange for some of my brew!
Tomorrow is going to be a big day for me! My first time using liquid yeast, first partial mash brew, and my first time using a turkey fryer. I know it sounds lame, but, this is pretty exciting. I've read a lot of threads about using the turkey fryers, and I think I'm going to play around with it tonight and boil some water or something, just for practice.
I am a little worried about the ability to maintain a constant temperature (for the mash) and a steady boil. Will this be difficult to acheive with a fryer? Also, any tips or precautions could be helpful, since I've never used one of these things. But I think I've got the basic idea.

 

[Grinder12000]

hmmmmmm - a turkey fryer for partial mashing? seems risky and I don';t think you will have success (prove me wrong).

I full boil but partial mash using my stove and over to get the perfect temps! Then boil everything.

Tips - don't stand right next to it - - or be aware of the flame. Cover the pot until it begins to boil.

 

[itsbeeryo]

It doesnt sound too lame, you'll be surprised how exciting it is to watch a thermometer go up as fast as it does. :rockin:

You'll be able to control the size of the flame with the regulator so holding your temps should be no prob. And watch your leg hairs.

 

[impur]

I brew with a turkey fryer, although i do all grain. Works great for me, no problem maintaining temp or keeping a rolling boil. Have fun!!

What you brewing BTW?

 

[UnderPressure]

hmmmmmm - a turkey fryer for partial mashing? seems risky and I don';t think you will have success (prove me wrong).

I full boil but partial mash using my stove and over to get the perfect temps! Then boil everything.

Tips - don't stand right next to it - - or be aware of the flame. Cover the pot until it begins to boil.

I mean partial mash as in, I will be using extract and grains. Sorry if my terminology is not correct. I'm still a beginner. But, everything should be cool if I turn off the flame while I dump the extract, right? Or am I in for trouble? I just figured anything would be better than my ceramic top stove. It never seems to get hot enough.

 

[Gopher40]

Welcome to the club. I have actually heard it is a good idea to boil water prior to using the new aluminum turkey fryer. Oxidizes the pot (whatever the heck that means). Have fun! What is your first brew going to be?

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

I mean partial mash as in, I will be using extract and grains. Sorry if my terminology is not correct. I'm still a beginner. But, everything should be cool if I turn off the flame while I dump the extract, right? Or am I in for trouble? I just figured anything would be better than my ceramic top stove. It never seems to get hot enough.

I think what they're saying is that you should mash your small amount of grains on the stove or in the oven. Then strain the grains out and pour that into the boil kettle on the turkey fryer, add the rest of you water, then add your extract when desired. It might be hard to hold your mash at a steady 152 or whatever on the turkey fryer.

What is the grain bill that you are going to mash? How much extract are you adding?

Might as well post your recipe, we might be able to give you some pointers.

 

[Rover]

I would say read and reread deathbrewers partial mash post https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/
and don't try to maintain the correct temp with the turkey fryer, You living in SC should be warm enough to heat the water to 166, mix in the grain and cover for an hour, and sparge. I've been getting 80 and 85% efficiency using his method. I did an AG recipe and got 75% with no additional heat after the initial strike. The biggest improvement I got with the turkey fryer is head and color. You can really do some light color beers using a full boil.

 

[dummkauf]

congrats....you didn't mention if you were single or not, but it made my SWMBO very happy when the brew rig moved outdoors.....I don't understand why she doesn't like the smell of boiling wort

 

[UnderPressure]

Thanks for all the info everyone. No, I'm not single my SWMBO hates the smell of hops (go figure). Hates the heat even more. I'll be using a RyePA ingredients kit from northern brewer.
SPECIALTY GRAIN
--3 lbs Rahr 2-row
--1.5 lbs Weyermann Rye Malt
--0.5 lbs Carared
FERMENTABLES
--6 lbs Amber malt syrup late addition (15 min)
HOPS & FLAVORINGS
--1 oz Summit (60 min)
--1 oz Palisade (15 min)
--0.5 oz Palisade (5 min)
--0.5 oz Palisade (dry hop)
(This was copied and pasted from www.northernbrewer.com)

 

[UnderPressure]

I picked up my fryer last night, BTW. It's a Cookmaster 30/10. I assume the 30 refers to the 30 quart pot, not so sure about the 10. (10,000 BTU maybe? I was hoping it was more powerful than that). I wasn't able to find much info on this brand, or model. Like I said, it's almost 10 years old. But I did recognize the Wal-Mart inventory tag (I used to work there) with a date of 10/21/01 and a price of $99.
edit: Some of the parts are labeled "Masterbuilt"

 

[jeffmeh]

You can definitely steep the grains in the pot on the turkey fryer. Get the water up to temperature, turn off the burner, add the grains. If it loses 1-2 deg F during the steeping time, it is not a big deal. If you want, you can throw a blanket, sleeping bag, or towel over the pot to give it some additional insulation.

Heck, I do full-volume, no-sparge BIAB and mash with my turkey fryer and an old surplus US Army blanket.

 

[Brewdouche-RuBrew]

Thats awesome.

DID I MENTION MY NEW POT

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