Using a propane burner

[GregKelley]

I'm considering getting a propane burner, but don't want to spend a lot of money. From what people have said, though, propane burners will boil water much faster than using your gas stove, right?

What BTU range should I be looking for in a burner? I'm assuming that they attach to a standard propane tank that one would have for a gas grill. How many batches of beer would I expect to get from one tank? I do 5 gal extract recipes and typically do a full boil.

 

[2nd Street Brewery]

Most of the burners that come with the turkey fryers are in the 55K to 65K BTU range. I do 3 gal boils and can get anywhere from 5 to 10 batches depending per tank

 

[Blender]

Outside with a propane burner really is the wayto brew if you have the room. I bought one from Home Depot and I think the Model was SQ14. I am getting 4-5 batches from a 5 gallon tank. This is the one http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?prod_id=100121665&cm_mmc=CJ-_-pricegrabber-_-D28X-_-100121665&BV_SessionID=@@@@0059081040.1158774027@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccheaddilkhfehmcgelceffdfgidglm.0&aid=10368321&pid=603315&cj=1&cpncode=07-13184335-2&srccode=cii_5784816

 

[myersn024]

I bought one from Academy that was 160,000 btu for about $19.00. It didn't come with a kettle but I already had one. It is plenty strong enough to hold all the weight associated with a full boil...I stood on it yesterday before I took the picture below just to see how strong it is. I think the brand is Outdoor Gourmet.

 

[GregKelley]

Thanks for the replies. I typically boil on my stove using my stainless steel pot. Could I use that on a propane burner?

 

[rdwj]

Thanks for the replies. I typically boil on my stove using my stainless steel pot. Could I use that on a propane burner?

Yep - sure can

 

[Hermish]

When i built my 3 tier system i used 2 burners from the side of propane bbq's. i haven't seen many other people do this, but it works fine for me. and the best thing is one was free, and the other one was from a $10 bbq from craigslist. I dont know what the BTUs are, but they work fine for me.

 

[Bobby_M]

One thing to realize is that looks can be deceiving when it comes to burner size and BTUs. Propane has a lot more BTUs per unit of gas than natural gas does. That is, if you think the flame looks about the same size, the propane one is actually throwing a lot more heat.

For me, this is still a bit irrelevent though because I run a natural gas grill and have no other need for propane unless I bought a standalone burner. Luckily, my grill uses heavy cast brass burners so they can stand up to the weight of my brewpot. The largest burner on my stove is 12k BTU and it took almost an hour and a half to get a rolling boil on 6.5 gallons. Straddling two 13.5 Kbtu burners on my grill does it in 25 minutes or so. It would probably go even faster in calmer wind. I wonder how hard it would be to adapt a propane turkey fryer burner to accept natural gas. Would probably just need to drill the holes out just a bit to get more gas.

Bobby

 

[Flyin' Lion]

I bought a 54k BTU burner and 15.5 gal keggle and did a test run trying to boil about seven gallons. After about 45 min. the temp was only 180 (uncovered). I finally just covered the keggle and the boil occurred fairly rapidly, I reached boil at just about and hour.

I know that most on this board advise boiling with the lid off, but I just can't wait that long and when I boil on the kitchen stove I have to leave the lid on anyway.

I'll see how things go when I do my first actual boil, as I'm hoping to start full ten gallon batches soon.

 

[Todd]

I bought a 54k BTU burner and 15.5 gal keggle and did a test run trying to boil about seven gallons. After about 45 min. the temp was only 180 (uncovered). I finally just covered the keggle and the boil occurred fairly rapidly, I reached boil at just about and hour.

I know that most on this board advise boiling with the lid off, but I just can't wait that long and when I boil on the kitchen stove I have to leave the lid on anyway.

I'll see how things go when I do my first actual boil, as I'm hoping to start full ten gallon batches soon.

Using the lid to get to boil should not hurt. just take it off after it starts.

I'm curious what temp you started out at? I would have thought 55k would be big enough to boil pretty fast.

 

[Flyin' Lion]

Ambient air temp was in the low 80's and the hose temp was probably upper 60's.

Yeah, it seemed to me that the time to boil was too long. I normally leave the lid on after it starts to boil, just cracked open--so far no off flavors.

 

[EdWort]

Just picked up a pair of those burners at Academy. It's tough to beat the price. Purchased separately, the burner, hose, & regulator cost $24 and that's without the stand. I believe this is a seasonal item though with thanksgiving coming up

Those are my two in the cart.

I'll be glad to pick one up for anyone one wanting it, slap a shipping label on it, and send it out via UPS ground for actual costs. Just send me a private email.

The other beautiful thing is I picked up a 36" King Kooker Crawfish paddle for $9.95

It will make a sweet Mash Paddle.

 

[chillHayze]

Just picked up a pair of those burners at Academy. It's tough to beat the price. Purchased separately, the burner, hose, & regulator cost $24 and that's without the stand. I believe this is a seasonal item though with thanksgiving coming up

Those are my two in the cart.

I'll be glad to pick one up for anyone one wanting it, slap a shipping label on it, and send it out via UPS ground for actual costs. Just send me a private email.

The other beautiful thing is I picked up a 36" King Kooker Crawfish paddle for $9.95

It will make a sweet Mash Paddle.

You sourtherners get all the good deals on outdoor cooking gear. Paint me jealous.

 

[Brewpilot]

I usually heat my infusion water (small ammounts when infusing) on my stove top. More accurate temp control in my case too. I then boil my wort on a 65k BTU propane cooker and it takes about 10 minutes to get from 150F (runoff temp) to boiling (6.5 gal), then I just let the burner idle and it holds a nice rolling boil for the hour on autopilot.

Brewpilot

 

[the_bird]

You sourtherners get all the good deals on outdoor cooking gear. Paint me jealous.

Yeah, I wonder why we Yankee folk don't have crawfish paddles readily available for sale...

Incidentally, I happened to notice that one of our better supermarkets is stocking crawfish in their fish counter. I am intrigued, to say the least, but have no idea what a good way to cook those buggers up might be. Any of my southern buddies here have a recipe that they'd like to share?