Burner

Mashing
1

How long does it take you to reach boiling with your wort on an outdoor propane burner?

2

You need to specify boil volume and burner BTUs (or burner model) or you’ll get answers ranging from 10 minutes to 1+ hours.

3

My 45,000BTU turkey frier burner can bring 6.5gallons of wort (at 150F) to a boil in about 20min in my 30qt aluminum pot.

4

Thanks Shadetree

My question is how long does it take you to boil 5 gallons of all-grain wort with a propane burner.

Please tell me kettle size, burner brand and time to boil. That way I know if it is taking me longer than it should and what options I have to reduce the time. Thanks

5

Dobe12,

Do you have a high pressure regulator? The one I have is from Lowes and it’s just a regular regulator.

Is aluminum okay for brewing? What’s the difference with stainless steele?

6

I have this

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... 907&ci_kw={keyword}&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-202038907&ci_gpa=pla

It’s a great deal for only $40! When I bought mine, they made a mistake at the register so it cost me only $30. SCORE!

Anywho, aluminum is fine for brewing. So is stainless steel. Both have advantages and disadvantages. You have to oxidize the pot with aluminum. Meaning you have to fill the pot with water and boil it for 30-60min to build up a layer of aluminum oxide. It turns the inside of the pot a dark gray color, which is what you want. When you clean the pot, you won’t want scrub off this layer. You can’t use any harsh chemicals or oxygen based cleaners. I just use some dish soap and the soft side of a sponge. The pros for aluminum IMO, are that the wort heats up and cools quicker than aluminum and the pots are just cheaper.

Stainless steel is stronger and you don’t have to worry about how you clean it.

People will talk about aluminum pots can cause alzheimer’s, but there’s no proof to back that up. And if that bothers anyone, they should stop eating out as well because a lot of restaurants use aluminum cookware. And if it were proved to be true, the FDA would ban aluminum cookware from being used in any type of cooking which would stop the production of them as well.

7

I started out with a cheap Home Depot turkey fryer. I made perfectly good beer with it, too. The problem was that it took a LONG time to get my wort boiling - more than 30 minutes (from 150oF). Heating strike water took a long time too. I then bought and modified a banjo burner (KAB4). Difference is night and day. Strike water heats in a fraction of the time as compared to before. I can get my wort boiling in 10 min or so (from 150oF). Conversely, I can maintain a nice rolling boil with the banjo burner turned almost off (super low).

Kettle-wise I am still using an old 28 qt blue-enamel steel pot that my mother got at a yard sale for $5. I have to keep a mindful eye on boilovers (only have ever had one). I’ll replace it one of these days and when I do it’ll be a 40 qt aluminum stock pot.

8

What’s the difference between a high pressure hose and a standard hose? What makes the wort/water boil faster, the hose or the burner?

9

I use the Brinkmann turkey fryer. I have never really timed to a boil but would guess from sparge temp to boiling takes a bit less than a half hour. I have never used anything else so I have nothing to compare. Electric stove takes just as long for 3 gallons. From hot water to strike temperature is fast enough that I have to be careful to not overshoot.

I will be getting a Banjo SP10, maybe. I will use the better one for the boil and the cooler one for the HLT.

10

Regulator question is answered here: http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4914536_pr … -work.html

Basically, bigger burners require slightly higher propane pressures. Most turkey fryers are 10 psi; the banjo (KAB4) is 30 psi. At the end of the day it takes a certain number of BTUs to heat a given quantity of liquid, regrdless of regulator pressure/burner size. If your burner can supply more BTUs, and do it efficiently, it’ll take less time to heat/boil a given quantity of liquid.

11

So to quickly heat liquid, you need a high btu burner and corresponding regulator?

12

I’m leanin’ toward the Cajun thing with 210k BTU’s. Haven’t got it yet but it’s my next thing. Go w/more BTU’s. Personally I like ring burners, just me.

13

If you haven’t already purchased a burner, I’d go with something like a banjo burner. If you have a turkey fryer kit already, that’ll boil things just fine, you just have to wait a little longer. Think of it this way, when you have to boil a big pot of water to make pasta for dinner, which burner on your stove do you choose: a big one or a little one? Both will bring the water to a boil, but one will take a little longer than the other.

14

The size of the bottom of the kettle relative to the diameter of the flame spread of the burner will also affect the rate at which water will heat. All other things equal, pots that are large and low will heat water faster that those that are tall and thin. The more surface area on the base of the kettle, the more heat can be transferred to the liquid contained within in a given amount of time.

15

Thanks for the responses. I have a 10 gallon SS brew kettle that is wider than tall. My propane burner was purchased at a garage sale for $3. This weekend was the first time I have used either the burner or the kettle. I had to switch to a burner with such a big pot. Before, I was using the stove and 2 5 gallon kettles.

It probably took 30-45 minutes to bring 6 gallons of wort to a boil at full flame and the lid had to be on to maintain boiling. My next purchase will be a wort chiller, so I need to make this burner work for a while.

Is the boil time for my burner normal? If not, what can I do to modify my burner to get more btu’s?

16

Sooner, I assume that you are brewing either extract or extract and partial mash. If that is the case and you have a small older lower BTU burner and you are starting with cold water from the tap, I’d say it should take you that long. You say you can’t keep a boil with out a lid so your burner needs to be replaced as soon as you can. A Banjo or any of the Bayou Classics available would cut that time in half and you will maintain a rolling boil with ease.

17

You shouldn’t boil with the lid on. It’s fine to put the lid on to help bring the wort to a boil quicker but once it gets close, you need to remove the lid so that you can boil off DMS in your wort. You will also have one mean boilover if you bring the wort to a boil with the lid on!

Speaking of burners, I have a Bayou Classic 10 psi turkey burner and a Bayou Classic Banjo 30 psi burner. I used the smaller burner for 8 yrs for 5 gal batches. When I went to 10 gal batches, I got the larger burner. I can bring the larger batch to temp in half the time it used to take with the smaller burner for 5 gal. Not scientific by any means, just a simple observation. But as others have said, you can use either and it’ll work but it’s really a day and night difference.