Wort would not boil on propane burner

[nursejen813]

Hello everyone,

I had an odd problem last night: had 7 gal of wort, starting at 140F and after 7 hours on a propane burner was only at 190F! I had to go to bed at this point for work today and now I'm looking for ideas on how to get it boiling tonight (it would need to reach boil within 2 hours or so because I work again tomorrow). Right now, it's sitting in a covered pot making me nervous, but, it's still to be boiled.

I used a propane burner similar to this one: Carolina Cooker® Single Burner, Cast Iron Stove Looks the same, but not sure of the brand, BTU, etc. In case the link doesn't work, it claims to be 15,600 BTU low pressure burner.

My options for tonight would be to lift it onto the stovetop (18,000 BTU burner) or put in on a portable induction stove I've used before (my issue with this is it may take too long to heat- I usually start it at sparge temp and I'm sure it will be closer to room temp tonight)

I still don't get why the propane didn't work; the tank was full and I had it cranked up full blast with blue flames (though they didn't get big enough to physically touch the pot)

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Jen

 

[horsepowerwhisperer]

Hey, Jen.

There's a safety measure on propane burners that require a certain order of operation. If you go out of order, they will produce a reduced output. I don't know why, but I learned it the hard way.

1. Make sure there is no gas in the line...turn off the tank valve and open the regulator valve on the hose to bleed any residual gas.
2. Completely close the regulator valve.
3. Turn on the tank valve first
4. Then start opening the regulator valve and light the burner.

I've noticed the same issue on my propane grill, if I have the burners or regulator valve open before turning on the tank valve.

Hope this helps.

 

[nursejen813]

Thanks!

I hope that is the problem, I'll try that and post result

 

[day_trippr]

Good call by @horsepowerwhisperer. And not an infrequently reported issue here on HBT.

The typical regulator used on 20 pound propane cylinders uses a plastic "ACME" nut which has an "Excess Flow Preventer" check valve within, that looks like this:

Opening a cylinder valve with the gas regulator already open can trigger that spring-loaded-ball EFP and latch it up in the position that reduces the gas flow to a very low rate. A burner may still be lit but the power will be very low - which is too bad because it may not be obvious to a new user.

Follow the prescribed sequence listed above and things should work as intended...

Cheers!

 

[AJinJacksonville]

Not sure the burn rate on a tank with the safety actuator actuated, but after seven hours of burn make sure you have enough propane left in the tank to finish the boil. If you have a second back-up tank, it's a moot point. I've been that guy who has started a boil and didn't realize until the flame went out that my back-up was...well..not much of a back-up. Good luck Jen!

 

[nursejen813]

Omg thanks everyone, this was the problem exactly! Went from 90F to rolling boil in an hour. I also worried about running out of gas but if that happens I can throw it on the induction stove: it works with a ton of reflectix though not quite as vigorous a boil.
Cheers,
Jen

 

[IslandLizard]

Glad you got the help you needed! HBT for the win!

Sounds like your kettle is induction capable. Using induction is a lot cheaper than propane.
Many induction stoves come with a high wattage burner/area, 3000-4000W.

Or maybe you'd want to switch to Induction at some point, getting a dedicated induction plate for your brew system. I have been using such a plate for over 8 years, an Avantco IC3500 for $170.
You do need a dedicated 240V 15A or 20A circuit for it.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

Here's a link to watch great job explaining.

 

[nursejen813]

Glad you got the help you needed! HBT for the win!

Sounds like your kettle is induction capable. Using induction is a lot cheaper than propane.
Many induction stoves come with a high wattage burner/area, 3000-4000W.

Or maybe you'd want to switch to Induction at some point, getting a dedicated induction plate for your brew system. I have been using such a plate for over 8 years, an Avantco IC3500 for $170.
You do need a dedicated 240V 15A or 20A circuit for it.

I was doing induction before this batch, and still use it for the HLT but for boiling I just barely get a roll beneath a layer of scum, after wrapping my kettle in 5 layers of reflectix. I thought a better boil may increase hop bitterness and reduce some of the DMS, but I’m not really sure if it will make a noticeable difference. If this batch is much better than the induction batch maybe I’ll look into getting a more powerful induction unit.

Thanks everyone for the help, I feel silly making such a noob mistake lol.

Cheers,

 

[IslandLizard]

I was doing induction before this batch, and still use it for the HLT but for boiling I just barely get a roll beneath a layer of scum, after wrapping my kettle in 5 layers of reflectix. I thought a better boil may increase hop bitterness and reduce some of the DMS, but I’m not really sure if it will make a noticeable difference. If this batch is much better than the induction batch maybe I’ll look into getting a more powerful induction unit.

Thanks everyone for the help, I feel silly making such a noob mistake lol.

Cheers,

It's strange that an induction stove/range kitchen appliance doesn't have enough power to boil a 5 gallon batch. Have you checked the specs on the heating/energy output?

I ran in a similar problem on my glass top (radiant heating) stove. The largest triple element would cycle on and off repeatedly. I could only maintain a bare simmer if I kept the lid on halfway. That's not a problem actually, it's been proven to be sufficient for driving off any DMS formed. You also don't really need a wild rolling boil, a good simmer (surface rippling) is plenty strong enough for wort. The only thing you'd do with applying more heat past that is causing more steam/evaporation.

Now those "5th burner" type of 1600-1800W induction plates they sell everywhere aren't gonna be powerful enough for that volume.
On my 3500W unit I need to apply 2000-2300W to keep a steady boil with the lid off, and a box fan running in the window above to drive off the steam.

No need to feel silly, that valve/limiter issue not intuitive or common sense, it's actually very much unknown.

 

[nursejen813]

It's strange that an induction stove/range kitchen appliance doesn't have enough power to boil a 5 gallon batch.

It does get to 212F but doesn't roll vigorously. It has no problem getting an equal volume of water to a rolling boil, but I think the viscosity of wort increases the energy requirement for a good boil.

Now those "5th burner" type of 1600-1800W induction plates they sell everywhere aren't gonna be powerful enough for that volume.

That's exactly what I have, LOL. 1800W

You also don't really need a wild rolling boil, a good simmer (surface rippling) is plenty strong enough for wort.

Maybe I'll go back to my induction unit for future batches, then. I wanted to try the propane as an experiment to see if a stronger boil makes a noticeable difference. I used to have an outdoor setup with propane burners that lacked this safety valve, and those batches turned out great. I got rid of that setup because the burners were falling apart and winds can be problematic where I am. Now I have a setup in a laundry room that is open to the garage so I can use all induction or open the garage and use propane.