Propane burner advice wanted: cast iron vs. sheet steel vs. bricks?

[Peppers16]

Hi all,
I'm planning on making the 'jump' from stove to a propane burner. My issue is that in the UK we don't seem to have a "go to" burner that you can just order off Amazon so I was hoping for some advice.

Basically I only do 5 gallon batches in a steel pot, but I honestly have no idea about the structural strength of these things and am a bit paranoid about ordering something that's only intended to have a wok sat on it. I'm also aiming for longevity too. Can someone who knows their metals advise?

I'm looking at:

1) This cheap sheet steel burner, 7.5kW for $40. I've heard talk of people using these for brewing but I'm not entirely confident from the picture you'd want to put 25L of wort on it?
(Little paranoid because this eBay page rates a similar-looking one at 8 litres max)

2) This cast iron tripod at 8.8kW for $55. Which to me looks a little more sturdy?

3) Just buy the burner itself at 8.8kW for $40 and just stack some bricks around it? If people reckon the first two look incapable of supporting a stock pot maybe an option?

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

Build an electric brew kettle.

If you are dead set on using gas, I would think No. 1 would be fine for 25 litres.

 

[Peppers16]

Build an electric brew kettle.

A bit ashamed to say I hadn't properly considered that option! I blame the fact you don't really see that any instructional videos using electricity. It's either someone doing extract on a stove, or AG on gas

I think I'm still erring towards a gas boiler for a few reasons:
I'm not really welcome in the kitchen and was trying to move to the garage anyway, and more importantly, I assume a gas burner would give me a bit more freedom method-wise. I could use the same burner for heating various infusions/decoctions whilst the mash is ongoing.
Not forgetting the fact I am no where near handy enough to convert a steel pot!

I might hold back and do a bit more research though. The good news is I've seen what appears to be the same stove as no. 1 in someone else's setup, and it definitely looks sturdy enough!

 

[JonathanS]

www.theelectricbrewery.com goes into great detail about the design and usage of an electric brewery. You would probably be ahead of the game compared to us yanks since you have 230v power readily available. Don't be intimidated by the complexity of that site's design. You can start out small with just a single controller / heating element.

 

[Peppers16]

Without wanting to sound dismissive (I'm taking the advice on-board) could somebody maybe give some pros as to why electricity is superior to gas?

As far as I can tell, electricity works out cheaper per brew (pro), you can automate it (potentially an advantage for mashing) and you can do it indoors (not particularly an advantage to me).

I seem to be finding a few cons though: heating elements are prone to failure, need cleaning, supposedly they can scorch lighter beers, you can crush elements with the BIAB method and/or immersion chillers (both of which I use) and of course you have to irreversibly convert your stock pot. Unless I re-purpose heating elements from cheap kettles it doesn't work out much cheaper either.

I'm honestly not trying to shoot down advice given to me, but I'm a little unsure as to why I'd go for this over just sticking my pot on a burner? I can definitely see the appeal to advanced brewers though.

 

[Shockerengr]

Electric is nice because the level of control is great, and you can't run out of propane.

That said, I wouldn't have any qualms about using number 1 with 25L of wort... It looks sturdier than the stand i used with 10 gallons.

Just make sure to fill the pot full with water and make sure it doesn't move around before starting a boil

 

[govner1]

You might run out of propane due to poor planning but you can have power outages that you cannot control or repair!
I'd bite the bullet & buy a Blichmann burner & stand w/ leg extensions. Worth every penny, economical & quiet operation, too.

 

[dyqik]

For 86 pounds, Hop and Grape will sell you an electric 32 litre boiler/mash tun which has a false bottom for use as a standalone boiler or which can used with a temperature controller for BIAB mashing. This would probably be my choice if I was still in the UK, although I would probably plan on shifting the components to a similarly size stainless pot at some point in the future. As it is, I'm using a Camp chef propane burner for garage brewing here in the US, but that plus the propane cylinder cost more than the above boiler, and that's without the brew pot which I already had.

In the UK, I helped convert a keg to electric as a boil kettle. We also had second hand tea urn which makes a good HLT. Since you have 3kW at each socket (230 V at 13 A), it's pretty easy to set up a 3kW ultra low power density element which will happily boil a 5 imp gal batch in a sensible time frame. For 10 imp gal, you might need two elements running from separate sockets, but that's not a issue with the usual UK wiring set ups. Electric is nice because it's a lot cheaper than propane in the UK (propane is nowhere near as popular for BBQs or other uses as in the US), and you can brew in an enclosed space without worrying about carbon monoxide.

Power outages are extremely rare in the UK compared to the US. We just don't get the weather to cause them, and most of the final leg of electricity distribution to the home is by buried cable. So that's really not a concern vs. running out of propane.

 

[outside92129]

They have ultra low watt density heating elements that are more forgiving to running dry:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BPG4LI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Per:
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/heating-elements

 

[smithwatson]

Rather than seeking advice from common people, consult with HVAC certified professionals. This will be a perfect solution, otherwise you will face the same problem again and again.

 

[LordUlrich]

I am going to comment on the idea of using bricks.
Most "bricks" produced now days are actually concrete blocks. Concrete can explode with high heat... you need to get "fire bricks" which will take the heat. They are used for fire pits and the like

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Home Brew mobile app

 

[acidrain]

$40 for the burner, plus a bit more for the orifice +shipping is a killer deal. http://www.bayouclassicdepot.com/bg14_cast_iron_burner.htm