Burners
Moderator: slothrob
Burner BTUs
Go for the highest BTU rating you can find. We started boiling 15 gal this past fall and found the time to get up to temp almost trippled. I think the burner we are using was rated @ 135,000-140,000 BTU. Would not want to attempt it with anything smaller.
Indoor Use
Its my understanding that "turkey fryer" burners can only be used outdoors due to CO produced by incomplete combustion. Is this true?? I brew in my kitchen and would hate the thought of lugging a brewpot w/ 13+ gallons of wort out to the porch. I have a 135KBTU burner from my turkey fryer but I am still heating the wort by spanning all four of my stovetop burners. How do all of you out there use your turkey fryer burners??
Indoor use
We have been using a propane burner in the basement for more than 2 yrs now with no ill effects. Both winter and summer. I do crack a window once in a while in the winter.
Numbers for Consideration
Let me throw some #s out for your consideration. A BTU is the thermal energy required to heat 1 pound of fluid by 1F. So how many BTUs do you need if you want to bring 10 gals of water to a boil from 50F? If you want to do it in 30 minutes, you need about 25K BTU; 50K BTU for a 15 minute boil; 100K BTU for a 7-8 minute boil, etc. I can share the equation with you if you like. Please note these #s are for water. I don't know the specific heat of wort, which would alter the numbers slightly. However, it gives you a ball park figure.
So what does it mean in practical terms? As Doggone said, don't settle on a low power burner, ie. 30K BTU. Since this is a max. rating, you'd have to have the power cranked just to boil water in 30 minutes. If it were me, I'd get the most power available. This way you have plenty of headroom. I use a Bayou Classic (150K BTU?) to do 10-13 gal. batches. I've been pleased with it. Don't skimp, the cost difference isn't that much--you'll be miles ahead on the aggravation you save.
Hope it helps, cheers!
----
Bill
So what does it mean in practical terms? As Doggone said, don't settle on a low power burner, ie. 30K BTU. Since this is a max. rating, you'd have to have the power cranked just to boil water in 30 minutes. If it were me, I'd get the most power available. This way you have plenty of headroom. I use a Bayou Classic (150K BTU?) to do 10-13 gal. batches. I've been pleased with it. Don't skimp, the cost difference isn't that much--you'll be miles ahead on the aggravation you save.
Hope it helps, cheers!
----
Bill
Sounds good
thanks bill, that is some good info. I just wasn't sure what kind of output was needed for a 10gal+ batch, but now I'll go looking for a burner in the 150-200K range.
Thanks
Chris
Thanks
Chris