Wooden Stand Question

[Stanleyjw]

Hey guys, so I moved to all grain earlier this year. I built a wooden gravity system on the cheap utilizing turkey fryers to heat the HLT and the kettle. Today was my first time brewing on this system in 90+ weather and noticed that the wood under my HLT was getting discolored some (this didn't happen on my previous brew days). I figure I need some sort of heat barrier to protect the wood and was wondering if anyone knew if just a square piece of metal would work or is there something better out there?

I'm not worried about a fire because you can see my safety officer laying in the grass in the background! Thanks for the help guys.

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[Jakeintoledo]

if you want to continue on the cheap, might I recommend a trip to the local hardware to procure yourself some sheet metal and a pair of tin snips. Purchase some liver snaps for the Safety Officer, as I can see, he's putting a lot of effort into his job and could use a treat.

 

[Gato]

Nice setup...I'm impressed.

You could also sheet the stand with 1/2" plywood and lay down a layer of pavers like your patio. A little heavy but far more heat proof. Sheet metal under the pavers for extra char prevention.

Get pavers at the Depot, Pavestone brand is the best (because I work for them).

Those propane burners are hot...don't want to have the fire department ruin a perfectly good brewing session.

 

[Airplanedoc]

tin foil or screen if you want to do it on the cheap

 

[wilserbrewer]

Sheet metal, couple layers of aluminum foil...ceramic tile...a wet rag...large aluminum serving trays cut to fit...metal flashing...doesn't take much I'd imagine.

 

[Stanleyjw]

I might keep clear of the pavers for now as it's already a little heavy to be lugging around by myself. I will give the sheet metal a try and see what happens. Thanks for the help!

 

[Slowfro]

I have a wooden stand, and there was some discoloration of the wood as well. I used metal flashing on the sides which works great. The stand had been used a number of times without the flashing, but it was just for peace of mind. $8 and 10 minutes and you'll be set.

 

[Cavemann310]

I actually just built my stand and had concern about this happening, and it looks like we have the same burner, see attached pics. I used screws as a buffer and used bent sheet metal from HD, put six screws across 15"-16" space ends and middle, drilled a hole in the middle at the ends and middle and screwed them down, very solid, going to run a test this afternoon to see if it is properly deflecting heat away from the wood frame.

 

[Cavemann310]

So far so good! Performing perfectly.

 

[Cavemann310]

Update again, turned off the burner and touch the metal on the stand two minutes later and its already back to cool temp, I think it works for sure.

 

[beerloaf]

I use a 3 tiered wooden frankenbrew stand and I insulated the bottom where the burners stand on with 1/2" Durock cement board and the side where heat rises next to the wooden legs with sheet metal. Probably overkill for the most part but no issues since and it was fairly cheap and easy to work with.

beerloaf

 

[mack65]

I used concrete backerboard like beerloaf above. Also, in other places that get some heat I used spray paint meant for BBQs.

 

[Rundownhouse]

Ditto to the Durock/Hardie Backer.

 

[Stanleyjw]

Awesome. I will give the sheet metal a try and maybe some BBQ spray paint and see what happens. Thanks!

 

[Cavemann310]

Yeah I happened to have a piece sitting around and after cutting there was only a 1" strip left and the rest was just screws I had around so cost was $0 vs buying duraroc which is heavy

 

[Stanleyjw]

ya weight is an issue for me so i'll try the metal first. I'll let you know what happens

 

[Stanleyjw]

Just to update. I painted the entire stand with black high temp spray paint and have not had another issue. Thanks for all the help!