Who's using their 14,000 BTU stove burner?

[TerryNJ]

I am currently doing extract kits in a 3 gallon kettle indoors on my stove. I'm able to only boil about 2.5 gallons. We are getting a new stove this week that has a 14,000 BTU Quick Boil Burner. I'd like to get a larger kettle (looking at an 8 gallon) so I can do a full 5 gallon boil and am wondering if anyone is successfully boiling 5 gallons on one of those quick boil high BTU burners. I don't want to buy the new kettle and not be able to get a boil going. Thanks.

 

[Hello]

14,000? I think you'll need a lot more than that to get 5 gallons to a good boil. In comparison, the Bayou SP10 has about 185,000 BTUs and that can boil 5 gallons. Unless you just wrote that wrong and it is 140,000 BTUs. I think I've seen the SP10 advertised as "18,5000" when they list BTUs. I am not sure what the correct way to write BTUs.

 

[TerryNJ]

Most normal gas stove burners put out 9,000 BTU's which is what I am currently using.

 

[JBOGAN]

brewed last night on a hot point stove that has less than 14,000 btus..Get a rolling boil with 6.25 gallons every time.All i do is center my kettle over two burners.

 

[TerryNJ]

I've heard of people using 2 burners. I'm thinking that the single 14,000 may be able to do 5 gallons by itself.

I'd like to continue brewing indoors if possible rather than getting a separate propane burner.

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

any reason you would prefer to brew inside, other than cold weather? Ive done both and outside is far more enjoyable

 

[bigskygreg]

I brew on my stove. My 17,000 btu burner will boil 4.5 gallons by itself no problem. Now I have a 10 gallon pot and straddle a second 9,000 btu burner. It will boil 7 gallons, albeit not extremely vigorously.

I definitely think you can do it. If you haven't gotten your pot yet and don't plan to brew outside, I would recommend buying a wide and short pot vs tall and skinny.

I like brewing inside personally, also your inside stove will be much more efficient than a propane burner (no wind, more burner control etc.). Propane burners may be rated at high btus, but that doesn't mean you need that many. Just MHO.

Good luck and cheers

 

[m3n00b]

I boil 4 gallons on my 9kbtu burner and it takes about 30 minutes to boil.

 

[TerryNJ]

any reason you would prefer to brew inside, other than cold weather? Ive done both and outside is far more enjoyable

I know it's just a matter of time until I progress to outdoor brewing then to all-grain, etc.

A couple of things that currently make me want to stay indoors:

-having to setup outside...ie. plenty of counterspace in the kitchen
-airborne nasties coming into contact with the wort, utensils, etc.
-dealing with propane tank refills

None of these are that big a deal I guess but the reasons seem to add up.

 

[Desvio]

I use a large single burner (electric) on a full 5-gal+ boil, takes a little more time to get it to boil, the closer it gets to boil you want to start backing it off a tad. After a few batches you get used to quirks of fiddling with the temp, and where on the knob it will maintain a contstant temp.

With much disapproval from the wife-boss I made marks on the knob to back it off for maintaining different temps, one day I'll get a burner for outside, but it's getting cold and making beer inside makes the house smell so good.

 

[Euphist]

The "Power Boil" burner on my gas range is rated at 17000 BTU and can handle a full boil no problem. It takes a bit longer to get it to a boil than my Blichmann, but it'll do it.

 

[TerryNJ]

I guess if I get an 8 gallon kettle and have problems with the boil on the stove I can get a propane burner.

 

[bigskygreg]

I was thinking the exact same thing as you 3 weeks ago. I ended up with a 10 gallon pot. Highly recommend it over 8 gallon. Here's why: it's wider (can straddle 2 burners better), less risk for boil over, can plan on 5.5-6 gallons in fermenter if you like. Only downside is a little more cash upfront. Measure your stove and give it some thought.

 

[EROK]

I do it and it works fine, I have a main burner about 16K btu, and I put the kettle over that and a smaller 6K burner and can bring 7.5g to a boil in about 45 minutes. Inside brewing (rain or shine) BTW I have a Blichmann burner for outside too ! :rockin:

 

[Robar]

I seriously eye-balled a stove that had a 17,000 btu front, 6,000 rear and an 9,000 middle burner that my squat 8gal would have covered, but couldn't justify the price on a stove we didn't need. My stove fantasy aside I used to bring 6 gal to a nice boil on my old electric stove. I think my current stove has a 14,000 btu burner in front and an 8,000 in the rear. No problems!

 

[TerryNJ]

I have a few Midwest gift certificates that I'm going to use. Their 8 and 10 gallon kettles both are 14" in diameter . Other than height restrictions with the hood\microwave (one kettle is 11" high and the other is 14") would one be better than the other if I started doing all grain in the future?

 

[Robar]

I have a few Midwest gift certificates that I'm going to use. Their 8 and 10 gallon kettles both are 14" in diameter . Other than height restrictions with the hood\microwave (one kettle is 11" high and the other is 14") would one be better than the other if I started doing all grain in the future?

For my stove top brewing I have an 8 gal that works just fine. I have had a couple boil overs with it, but that was with an electric stove and the added volume for 90 min boils.

A 10 would be nice

 

[MikePote]

I have a 17k btu burner on my kitchenaid and it does full boil with no problem. You should be ok. I use a piece of crap $20 8 gallon tamale steamer from target and keep the lid on untill temps are reached. It may take a little while but it will work.

 

[eric19312]

You could put part of the wort into another pot...maybe your spaghetti pot, start it on another burner, then combine it with the main wort after everything is boiling. Takes a fair amount of energy to get 6 gallons or so to a boil, but not much at all to keep it boiling once you get there.

 

[TerryNJ]

I ordered a 10-gallon kettle which I am waiting to receive. The stove came in yesterday and an hour or so after it was installed and the delivery men left I noticed that the top of the back of the stove was dented it. They are going to delivery a replacement on Tuesday so I may be testing it out that night on my next batch.

 

[IslandLizard]

14,000? I think you'll need a lot more than that to get 5 gallons to a good boil. In comparison, the Bayou SP10 has about 185,000 BTUs and that can boil 5 gallons. Unless you just wrote that wrong and it is 140,000 BTUs. I think I've seen the SP10 advertised as "18,5000" when they list BTUs. I am not sure what the correct way to write BTUs.

Higher numbers tend to sell better. Bayou seems to follow that strategy. Whether they can deliver to the advertising hype remains a common question.

Serious restaurant stoves can crank out as much as 35,000-50,000 BTU per burner. Those burners are as large as the SP10's.

 

[Hello]

Higher numbers tend to sell better. Bayou seems to follow that strategy. Whether they can deliver to the advertising hype remains a common question.

Serious restaurant stoves can crank out as much as 35,000-50,000 BTU per burner. Those burners are as large as the SP10's.

Yeah, so I am learning. I'd love to be able to brew indoors. Maybe I need to buy a new stove.

 

[judsonp]

I can get an acceptable boil with ~4.5 gal on a single high-BTU burner (I don't know the number, but 14k sounds in the ballpark), and a similar boil with ~7-8 gal (in a 10 gal pot) on a pair of burners, one of which is high-BTU.

It's not as vigorous a boil as I'd like, but it seems to work just fine.

 

[MikePote]

Terry,

I would double check your model number against the btu of your stove. I used to sell appliances and although I obviously don't know the model number of your stove It looks like a basic firgidaire which usually has four lower btu (9k range) burners. You probably know better than I do but I would hop on figidaires website and double check.

 

[bigskygreg]

It will work out for you. These droids are not the droids you ate looking for. Trust the force

 

[Queequeg]

I do 4 gallons on a 17K btu and no problems, have to have it turned down for the most part to avoid boil overs.

 

[temple240]

I do a full boil (7gal) using two 9k btu burners on my natural gas stove. It takes a long time to reach a boil, even from mash temps. I wrap my kettle in two layers of aluminum foil and I also put foil under the burners to help a bit.

I like brewing inside but keep in mind that it makes the brew day longer and it makes anything over 7gal difficult to boil (for me anyway)

 

[NTexBrewer]

Found this on http://www.lalagniappe.com/mall/lobbycookerfaq.htm

A BTU (British Thermal Unit) is the amount of energy required to raise 1 lb of water 1 degree Fahrenheit. You will usually see propane burners rated in BTU's, but what they mean is BTU's/hr.

Here is a simple way to see how many BTUs you need for your pot size. Water density is 8.3 lb/gal. To raise 1 gallon of water (1 x 8.3 = 8.3 lbs) from 70 to 212 deg F in 1 hour you will need 8.3 x 142 = 1,178.6 BTUs.

Using this BTU requirement for each gallon of water you can figure out how many BTUs would be required to boil your pot of water in one hour. For example a 30 quart pot (7.5 gallons) (full) would require 7.5 X 1,178.6 BTUs = 8,839.5 BTUs to bring the pot to a boil in one hour, assuming 100% efficiency. Of course 100% efficiency isn't realistic. Assuming 100% efficiency a 54,000 BTU/hr cast burner should bring that pot to a boil in 8,839.5 / 54,000 BTUs = .16369 hours or 9.8 minutes. Anyone that has ever tried to bring a full 30 quart pot to a rolling boil knows that it doesn't happen that quickly.

How much heat is lost before it even gets to the pot is hard to calculate. Outside temperature and wind each can negatively impact the efficiency of the heat transfer from the flames to the pot. A safe estimate would be 50% efficiency, so doubling the heating time would probably be realistic.

Evaporation takes away heat and to hold a rolling boil will require additional heat besides that required to raise it to a boil. Without going into a technical explanation just take my word that boiling away 1 gallon of water per hour will require approximately 8,000 BTUs/hr.

So, a 54,000 BTU burner should comfortably boil a 30 quart pot in 20 minutes or less and comfortably hold that pot at a rolling boil. However, if you move to a 60 quart pot, the heating time doubles and now you are sitting around for 40 minutes or more waiting for the pot to boil. Somewhere between a 30 quart pot and a 60 quart pot you probably need to move to a jet burner which produces 110,000 BTUs and therefore cuts the heating time approximately in 1/2.

Be skeptical of BTU/hr output claims. There is no industry standard, so take wild ratings with a grain of salt.

 

[dyqik]

To add to the math above...

14k BTU/hr is just over 4kW. Plenty of electric brewers are using less than that for 5 gallon batches (two 1650W elements is sufficient, AFAICT). This assumes that that heat is actually delivered to the wort.

 

[bigskygreg]

Have you tried out your new stove and kettle yet?

 

[TerryNJ]

Have you tried out your new stove and kettle yet?

The kettle and the replacement stove both came this afternoon. The size of the 10 gallon kettle caught me off guard...it's huge. As others have mentioned, it'll have to go on the quick boil and the simmer burners due to it's size.

I'll be brewing sometime in the next 3-4 days and will post my results.

 

[greenspan76]

...A safe estimate would be 50% efficiency, so doubling the heating time would probably be realistic...

I don't remember the name of the show, but saw a show on Discovery or the Science Channel a year or so ago that discussed the efficiency of different stovetops. According to that show, natural gas stoves only have about 35% efficiency, so I think 50% is a high estimate for gas. I don't remember the quoted efficiency of electric, but it was higher than gas.

Good info, though. Thanks.

 

[DocnSun]

All I can add to this is a watched pot never boils!

So don't put your watch in the pot!

In all seriousness, cover with a lid to bring boil faster. The vapor you see rising from the pot is just heat out the window!