Propane burner questions

[BradTheGeek]

So, I scored a free, unused cheap turkey fryer (it was a gift to a neighbor about 5 years ago and she never used it). It is a 30L cajun injector. The burner build is cheap, and the pot is aluminum, but it will get me started.

I have never used a propane burner like this before though so I had some questions. I put it all together yesterday and wanted to see how long 5 gallons of water took to boil. It also smoked off most of the cheap fume ridden paint they put on the thing.
I have two adjustments, gas flow from the regulator, and air intake from the little washer/valve thing on the inlet to the burner. If I crank the gas, and open the air, the thing sounds like a jet engine. I can cut back on both to slow it down. That is pretty obvious, but what is the most efficient use of the LP to get the pot to a boil? Both open all the way? Cut the air back? Should I look at the color of the flames for clues?

Also, how long do you think it should take to get 5 gallons up to a boil, and how many hours should a tank of gas last? I am tossing some pictures on here so you can see what I am talking about.

(I also just scored an igloo water cooler. Now I need a valve and false bottom, and a wort chiller and I will have all I need to go AG when ready!)

 

[william_shakes_beer]

At some point more gas just pushes heat out the sides. The hottest part of the flame is the tip. I adjust my banjo burner so the flame tip is just below the bottom of the pot. I don't care if the water takes 20 minutes or 40 minutes to heat to dough in temps. I have other things to do to get ready anyway. Once i have doughed in, I'll turn the gas off and wrap the pot with refletix insulation to maintain the heat.

 

[rocketsan]

Getting a turkey fryer kit for Christmas. Did I read you need to prep it before you use it the first time (conditioning?)?

 

[BradTheGeek]

This one was super cheap. The paint on the burner smoked off with nasty fumes when heated. So yes, I would rec. a burn in run.

 

[estricklin]

For the most part you'll want to leave the air adjustment all the way open, at least I do anyway. Nice blue flames are what your looking for.

I used to get 4 or 5 batches from a bottle of propane, but I built myself some flashing to go around the cooker itself, and started heating my strike water in the house, looks like now I may be able to get 10 or more batches from one tank! The flashing only cost me 10 bucks, and it allows me to run the burner turned way down and still maintain a nice rolling boil. If you want a picture you can find it in the "Earling Morning Brews" thread, if you can't find it I'll post a link if you want.

It takes a while to boil 6 or 7 gallons with these things, it seems to be a lot more efficient to me to leave the burner turned down a little lower than to blast it. I turn the gas up a bit when I'm getting it to a boil, when it gets there I turn it down some.

 

[JoppaFarms]

You can check how much propane each brew uses by weighing the propane tank. There is a Tare Weight imprinted on the tank itself that tells you how much the metal weighs. Mine is 19 lbs. So 19lbs + 15 lbs of Propane is 34 lbs. I use about 2 lbs per brew so that would give me about 7 brews per tank.

As far as adjusting the flame, you don't want any yellow. That will create soot on the bottom of the pot you're using and can be a pain to clean off, not to mention gets all over your hands when you're trying to clean it. The air/gas ratio is something you will have to play with until you get it right. More air generally will cause a yellow flame, too much gas flow and you can actually blow the flame out. Make sure the tank valve is all the way open and adjust the gas flow with the red knob on you regulator. That will give you much more fine control on the flow. You will get to a point of diminishing returns. The kettle of wort/water can only absorb heat energy at a maximum rate. Any excess heat above this doesn't get transferred to the kettle, it just goes around the sides. So find the sweet spot where you are heating as quickly as you can with the least amount of gas you can. It will take you a few runs to get it down.

Also, the paint on the cheap burners is worthless. Mine, like many others, just burned off the first time I used it and it smelled awful. I already had my wort on the burner when I noticed this. It didn't hurt anything, just smelled awful. Just be careful because the burner will rust now that the paint is burned off. I have heard you can get high-temp paint from HD/Lowes/Auto Parts store and repaint it if you feel it is worth it.

Hope this helps!

 

[rocketsan]

Do u need to prep pot the first time you go to use it?

 

[JoppaFarms]

I have a steel pot, so no. I've heard of people "baking" their pot for an hour or something to oxidize the aluminum? But I have no idea about that process or what it does and why.

 

[mlail]

Where do you cook your wart, Inside the house, garage, shed or outside? I mentioned this to my wife and she didn't like the idea of using a propane burner in the house.

Thoughts?

 

[Trox]

Do u need to prep pot the first time you go to use it?

If you have an aluminum pot the first time you use it it is best to bust boil a few gallons of water in it for about 30 minutes so as to get a layer of oxidation built up. You want to keep that layer so don't use any harsh chemicals or scrubbing pads when you clean your pot. It will help keep some metallic flavors from transferring you your wort.

Getting a turkey fryer kit for Christmas. Did I read you need to prep it before you use it the first time (conditioning?)?

I would recommend running any type of cooking device for a bit the first time you use it just to make sure any bad containment that might be on it are burned off.

 

[colhep67]

Where do you cook your wart, Inside the house, garage, shed or outside? I mentioned this to my wife and she didn't like the idea of using a propane burner in the house.

Thoughts?

Its a bad idea to use a propane burner in the house. You might kill someone lol. I do it in the garage with the garage door wide open. Low winds but plenty of airflow.

 

[estricklin]

You'll definitely want to do this outside.

My pot was a used turkey fryer pot, I cleaned the holy hell out of it and boiled some water in it, that was all the prep I done.

USMCPayne makes a good point about leaving the tank valve open all the way. Those valves were not designed to choke. It's probably just my 10 years in the oilfields that makes me paranoid enough to say something so nerdy but I will anyway. Another reason it's not good to choke with those needle valves is, they have not only have a primary seal for the shaft connecting the internal assembly to the handle, but a secondary one also. The secondary seal cannot be engaged unless the valve is ALL the way open. Same goes for cutting torches.

 

[jrgtr42]

Where do you cook your wart, Inside the house, garage, shed or outside? I mentioned this to my wife and she didn't like the idea of using a propane burner in the house.

Thoughts?

Like ColHep said, DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, run the propane burner inside, or in an un-ventilated area. It causes all kinds of fumes that are very hazardous, even lethal.
Preferably run it outside, though in a garage is acceptable if the door is open.
Your wife is right on this one.

 

[BradTheGeek]

Any burner that uses fuel will release carbon monoxide. No scent, no color, deadly. Your body adsorbs it like oxygen, but can't use it. Essentially you slowly suffocate, but due to the confusion/dizziness caused by lack of oxygen, you don't realize it. Don't burn inside!

 

[mlail]

colhep67 and others,

That was my understanding as well but in my instruction book that came with the kit, it says to not cook the wort outside or in the shed. The shed thing is just like in the house... not enough ventilation. Outside you are subjected to all the airborne molds, bacteria and wild yeasts. The book specifically said this was a no no.

It's obvious that many people cook their wort outside. Is this not a problem like the book suggests or is it more likely that most people do not taste the difference?

Thanks for getting back to me. I am always picking up on different things and processes.

 

[BradTheGeek]

There are yeasts, bacteria and mold indoors too. While I have not done an outdoor boil yet, part of the reason to boil is to kill the nasties, and hopefully all or most of the ones that land in it too. This is also the reason to cool it and get it in the fermenter and sealed ASAP. If you want, you could also put a sanitized lid on it to help when not stirring I guess.

My gut feeling though is that some stuff will get in it regardless, unless you brew in a certified clean room. The heat, low count of whatever bacteria/mold spores/wild yeast get in, and alpha acids in the hops all work to keep the bad stuff at bay so the yeast can get a foothold.

The takeaway is, stay as clean as you can, so as not to help the nasties, but don't be OCD about every speck of dust in the air. THen just keep an eye out for normal fermentation or infection.

 

[boydster]

Outside you are subjected to all the airborne molds, bacteria and wild yeasts. The book specifically said this was a no no.

Like it or not, those things are floating around in your house, shed, garage, and anywhere else that isn't a hermetically sealed clean room. If you're not brewing in a high security containment facility at the CDC, you have airborne microbes to contend with. Keep yourself safe, use the burner outside, the boil will sanitize your wort and if you cool it reasonably fast to pitch the yeast, you have nothing to worry about. The yeast will take over as the dominant colony and any other bugs will not be able to get a foothold.

 

[Trox]

If you want, you could also put a sanitized lid on it to help when not stirring I guess.

You should not put a lid fully on during the boil; you should even avoid putting it partially on if possible (some peoples stoves have trouble maintaining a roiling boil unless it is partially covered though). The reason being is a lot of bad things are boiled off during the boil and if you have the lid on they can't escape so just fall back into the wort creating off flavors.

 

[BradTheGeek]

You should put a lid fully on during the boil; you should even avoid putting it partially on if possible (some peoples stoves have trouble maintaining a roiling boil unless it is partially covered though). The reason being is a lot of bad things are boiled off during the boil and if you have the lid on they can't escape so just fall back into the wort creating off flavors.

I think you left out a 'not' I had never heard that, but it makes sense. I have never boiled with a lid. But I could see using one possibly after the boil when cooling if you are doing a water bath or can get the lines for your chiller under the lid. Do you think it would be an issue then?

 

[Trox]

Yeah I left out the "not"; got it added into the proper spot though, thanks. Also if you are using a water bath you probably should cover it so as to keep the bad things out, but sine I've started using a chiller I stopped putting a lid on since it doesn't sit right. After the 60+ minute boil majority of the bad stuff should be gone, so putting the lid on would do more good than harm at that point.

 

[mlail]

The book that came with my kit states pretty straight forward that after the boil is done to put the lid on and move the pot to a sink with ice water in it. That was my approach. Will a sink of ice water, I got the wort down to 83F in 20 minutes. But it was a partial boil not full 5 gallons. The more you have the longer it takes to cool.

Making our own immersion chiller sounds like a fun project.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

The compound you want to "boil off" is DMS. I usually leave the lid on until I achieve 200F, then take the lid off and adjust the flame to maintain a steady boil. No DMS so far.

 

[LibertyBrewer]

Like it or not, those things are floating around in your house, shed, garage, and anywhere else that isn't a hermetically sealed clean room. If you're not brewing in a high security containment facility at the CDC, you have airborne microbes to contend with. Keep yourself safe, use the burner outside, the boil will sanitize your wort and if you cool it reasonably fast to pitch the yeast, you have nothing to worry about. The yeast will take over as the dominant colony and any other bugs will not be able to get a foothold.

A nice large yeast starter will also help get rid of any foreign microbes that happen to drop into your sterile wort.