Surprised with a Blichmann Floor Burner!... anyone have advise on its operation?

[DSorenson]

I come home from work the other day, exhausted and my mom comes in the room and says "did you notice the kitchen?". I had not. I go in there and in a box on the floor is a Blichmann Floor Burner! Hot damn. I have a girlfriend and parents who support my brewing habit.

I was getting ready to attempt a brew in a bag all grain brew (5 gallon total) with my 10 gallon pot on the stove. What I was going to try to do was find a setting on my stove that maintains the mash temperature while it does it's thing.

Blichmann burners seem really adjustable. Is it possible to have it on a simmer setting for maintaining a mash temperature? has anyone done this?

What settings do you blickmann users out there use for 5 gallon boils? I get the impression I could scorch my wort to death with this sucker.

Also, I'm trying to figure out about how much propane I'll need to have handy. It seems clear to me that I can't just borrow the grills propane tank. I have no idea how much is in there. Does anyone have any experience with the propane usage?

Thanks in advance. I searched, and there was some good information, but nothing that seemed to help my particular cause.

 

[Pie_Man]

When I did BIAB with my Blichmann, I heated the strike water to the appropriate temp, turned off the burner, then added my grains while stirring until I reached my desired mash temp. I then put the lid on my pot and covered it with a couple of towels. I was brewing in the summer, and this was adequate to maintain mash tempertature for me. The Blichmann burner does have a very precise regulator to control the flame, so I'm sure it's possible to use some heat to maintain temperature as well if you find that necessary. Just make sure you don't burn the bottom of the bag.

 

[Dieffenbach]

Let me preface by saying that I do not have any specific experience with the Blichmann burner, but I have read about what others have done to help control mash temperature with the burner still on.

It seems to me the best thing to do if you wanted to keep the burner on during your mash is to actually elevate the kettle so it sits further away from the burner (less heat applied to the kettle). In theory that is simple, but in practice it could be hazardous to lift a nearly boiling pot of liquid. If you lifted the kettle beforehand, I imagine you would waste fuel bringing the kettle up to temperature.

Please report back on your experience because I am interested in upgrading from my SQ14 to a Blichmann in the future and this would be a great bonus...

 

[day_trippr]

Using the provided 0-10psi regulator, you can dial a Blichmann down to just pin-points of blue flame (actually looks kinda cool). Spread across that huge 10" diameter the heat output at that point is so small I'd be surprised if it could ever scorch anything...

Cheers!

 

[Cyclman]

Congrats, I love my blich, plan on two more.

 

[DSorenson]

Thanks for the info guys. I have decided that as much as I want to biab with my new 10 gallon pot and blichmann, my next beer will probably be extract so I can figure out what I'm doing. Of course tonight I thoroughly enjoyed an extract brew made with a 2 out of 5 gallon partial boil, no wort chiller or fast burner! I should be excited to be seeing how my beer improves!
Cheers fellows!

 

[DSorenson]

Oh, and when I do biab with it I will record all of my data and post it here.