Propane Burner Question

[John_Trappist]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I use my house stove burner for starch conversion and wort boiling. But I've noticed in the picture section that a lot of brewers seem to use exterior propane burners.

I have one that I use for camping and it is capable of big time BTU's and can burn HOT! Should I be using it instead of my house stove burner? Is there an advantage to this sort of set-up other than it looks really cool?

Thanks in advance for your brewing wisdom!

John Trappist

P.S. It's nice and cold in my garage now in northern Idaho, so I have my first lager in the primary bubbling away. Yeah Baby!!!

 

[the_bird]

Most of us aren't blessed with house stoves that can boil 5+ gallons...

 

[Joker]

Most of us aren't blessed with house stoves that can boil 5+ gallons...

Exactly, plus setting up a lawn chair with all your ingredients and a brew in the garage is fun to do. Not to mention gives the neighbors something to talk about.

 

[bradsul]

I wish I had a garage OR a stove I could boil on.

 

[Soulive]

I wish I had a garage OR a stove I could boil on.

That's awesome :rockin:

My home stove can't sufficiently boil more than 3.5 gallons...

 

[bradsul]

That's awesome :rockin:

My home stove can't sufficiently boil more than 3.5 gallons...

I used to get a lot of really strange looks from windows and balconies around me. I think everybody is used to me now though.

 

[Joker]

I wish I had a garage OR a stove I could boil on.

I'll go out on a limb and guess that cooling to pitch temp really isn't an issue.

 

[bradsul]

Not really, no. The problem is the 'chiller' likes to work so much it fights the propane burner!

 

[Benny Blanco]

This is probably a dumb question, but can you use a turkey fryer inside?

I live in an apartment building...

 

[Lil' Sparky]

This is probably a dumb question, but can you use a turkey fryer inside?

I live in an apartment building...

Sure... if you want to burn down the apt building.

And John, I just wanted to pont out that you're approaching this from the very un-manly point of view. You question should be. "Hey, if some guys are using one bad ass burner, surely there's a way I can figure out how to use THREE at the same time!!!" Here's my rig.

 

[malkore]

Most of us aren't blessed with house stoves that can boil 5+ gallons...

my fancy-schmancy ceramic top stove can't even boil 3 gallons. heat sensors in the ceramic surface cause the burner to shut off 5 seconds after it kicks on, because the pot extends too far past the burner 'ring'.

I can't even cheat and span an enamel pot over two burners.

propane was my only option for a full boil. I did my extracts in two 12qt pots and then combined them with 1 gallon of top off water...what a hassle!

 

[Joker]

This is probably a dumb question, but can you use a turkey fryer inside?

I live in an apartment building...

List of things that could go wrong include:
Boil over - sticky carpet forever/ or atleast mess on the linoleum.
Fire - the stand get very hot and could just melt the carpet or lino
The heat from the burner would heat your apartment to somewhere in the 100's I would guess.

Sounds like you need a brew buddy with a house. If you are on the first floor use the patio. I usually use my carport but will also use the garage on windy days.

 

[John_Trappist]

That is AWESOME! Thanks for all of the responses. WOW! I need to pull my head out and get with the program.

I live on 5 acres in the country, so neighbors are deer, turkey, elk, etc. They woudn't think anything of me brewing. In fact, the deer love the spent grain.

We have a cool house stove that runs off a 500 gal. propane tank. That's why it'll do the trick. But maybe I need to be a man and pull out my propane burner and start doing the thing.

The pictures are awesome and I've used the same natural snow wort chiller on several occasions. It's a good way to go.

John Trappist