For Those Of You Who Cook With Gas

[deanodeano]

I was using an old turkey fryer burner that was failing. I recently upgraded to this 100,000 BTU flamethrower for only $40! Made by a company called Concord. Reduced the time to bring up my my cooking and distilling temps by at least 50%. Highly recommend it. It's available on Amazon

Untitled.png (30.9 KiB) Viewed 2451 times

[squigglefunk]

ah yes, there's many good cheap choices out there

i got this one for 49 on amazon

it holds a 35 gallon pot full of water no prob and puts out as many BTUs as a 20lb propane tank can handle.

[zach]

ah yes, there's many good cheap choices out there

i got this one for 49 on amazon

it holds a 35 gallon pot full of water no prob and puts out as many BTUs as a 20lb propane tank can handle.

I've got the same burner. It works well in the summer with a 20 lb tank, but now with lower outdoor temps, the tank ices up. I need to adjust the regulator frequently when the tank level is below 20% .

I am tempted to get a 100 lb tank for better performance and fewer trips to the store.

[Twisted Brick]

I still/mash on my back patio and went with NG on this burner from Tejas Smokers. I love the quick disconnect set-up and convenience of no LPG tanks. The steel sides and back make it hella strong and add wind-shielding. The table top fits the skirt of a 15.5 keg perfectly so very little heat gets lost. Flame is controllable from tiny simmer to full blast, which also makes for fantastic stir-fry.

[deanodeano]

@Twisted

I never thought to look the natural gas options. I have an outside NG connection on the back of my house. I agree the propane tanks are a PITA. I will have to see how long of a NG hose I can find with a regulator on it.. I like to keep the still a significant distance from the house.

[Bee]

Does it adjust down low enough for slow spirit runs?

[NorthWoodsAb]

@Twisted

I never thought to look the natural gas options. I have an outside NG connection on the back of my house. I agree the propane tanks are a PITA. I will have to see how long of a NG hose I can find with a regulator on it.. I like to keep the still a significant distance from the house.

You may have to change orifice going from C3 to Nat Gas. Way more convenient than packing tanks around.

[zach]

@Twisted

I never thought to look the natural gas options. I have an outside NG connection on the back of my house. I agree the propane tanks are a PITA. I will have to see how long of a NG hose I can find with a regulator on it.. I like to keep the still a significant distance from the house.

I've converted propane grills to gas in the past. You don't need use a regulator for gas. Gas is already at low pressure after the meter section going into your house. You will need to remove the propane regulator and then replace the orifice on the air mixer.

Propane is a denser gas and has smaller orifices than natural gas for the same capacity.

[Twisted Brick]

@Twisted

I never thought to look the natural gas options. I have an outside NG connection on the back of my house. I agree the propane tanks are a PITA. I will have to see how long of a NG hose I can find with a regulator on it.. I like to keep the still a significant distance from the house.

Amazon has NG hoses 25' in length so you should be able to find something. I ordered a low-pressure burner with the stand, so like Zach mentioned, there is no regulator. I just use the air shutter on the burner itself to adjust the flame. The lowest 'simmer' setting runs clean and consistent, so reducing the flame during spirit runs is a piece of cake.

Just know that a NG burner will put out less heat than a LPG burner will. I used to think I should have bought a higher BTU-rated burner but have since learned to linger on distillation warm-ups (to develop esters) so no biggie. The cost of NG to conduct any kind of distillation run is so negligible I get to treat myself to a special bottle of well-aged commercial spirit every now and then.

https://tejassmokers.com/LP-Natural-Gas-QD-Hoses/33

https://tejassmokers.com/Low-Pressure-Burners/543

[Bee]

How well does a keg sit on it?

[Twisted Brick]

How well does a keg sit on it?

Rock solid, like a piece of granite. After each mash is converted, I horse a full (warm, not hot) keg off the burner onto a dolly and the burner frame doesn't torque or twist, just stays firmly planted on my patio bricks. I'm not sure how well that would work if the base was dirt, though.

[shadylane]

Natural gas isn't available here. If it was, I'd be using it.
Due to economics and availability, almost everything on the farm is electric except for the shop heater and forge. I have a 300 gallon propane tank and a backup generator for just in case.
Sometimes LP is used in the still shed when Bubba brings over his copper pot.
For distilling a regulator is used so the heat is controllable and constant.

The forge runs off 150psi "depends on tank temp" and a blower.
Need I say big time is an understatement when Ya want metal melting temps.

[deanodeano]

Does it adjust down low enough for slow spirit runs?

Mine has no problem throttling down on the spirit run.

[deanodeano]

How well does a keg sit on it?

Keg sits fine on the one I have as well,

[deanodeano]

@Twisted

I never thought to look the natural gas options. I have an outside NG connection on the back of my house. I agree the propane tanks are a PITA. I will have to see how long of a NG hose I can find with a regulator on it.. I like to keep the still a significant distance from the house.

I've converted propane grills to gas in the past. You don't need use a regulator for gas. Gas is already at low pressure after the meter section going into your house. You will need to remove the propane regulator and then replace the orifice on the air mixer.

Propane is a denser gas and has smaller orifices than natural gas for the same capacity.

Since the units are relatively inexpensive, I will just buy one equipped for natural gas and keep my propane burner for other purposes.

[Setsumi]

ah yes, there's many good cheap choices out there

i got this one for 49 on amazon

it holds a 35 gallon pot full of water no prob and puts out as many BTUs as a 20lb propane tank can handle.

I've got the same burner. It works well in the summer with a 20 lb tank, but now with lower outdoor temps, the tank ices up. I need to adjust the regulator frequently when the tank level is below 20% .

I am tempted to get a 100 lb tank for better performance and fewer trips to the store.

Put your tank in a bucket with some water to keep it from freezing.

[acfixer69]

ah yes, there's many good cheap choices out there

i got this one for 49 on amazon

it holds a 35 gallon pot full of water no prob and puts out as many BTUs as a 20lb propane tank can handle.

I've got the same burner. It works well in the summer with a 20 lb tank, but now with lower outdoor temps, the tank ices up. I need to adjust the regulator frequently when the tank level is below 20% .

I am tempted to get a 100 lb tank for better performance and fewer trips to the store.

Put your tank in a bucket with some water to keep it from freezing.

Worm bucket would work.

[fiery creations]

I've been using that burner for about a year. It works great. 30 pounds of grain and 13 gallons of water and it feels incredibly sturdy. I sure paid more than 45 bucks though. Lucky you.

[Saltbush Bill]

Put your tank in a bucket with some water to keep it from freezing.

Worm bucket would work.

Even in this subtropical climate I have always put my propane / LPG bottle in a tub of water to stop it freezing up when I'm running the flame hard.

[zach]

Put your tank in a bucket with some water to keep it from freezing.

I did defrost the tank with 120 F condenser water several times during the last spirit run. The tank needed a defrost every 15 minutes. Below 20% I use the depleted tank for my smoker, and get a new tank.

[Bryan1]

Years ago I made my own small BD burner and it's still going today for heatup I run about 5 psi and drop it down to 3 psi for the run. Now I did find when I ran the sweet mash of the Gladfield Peat malt even after dropping the psi the puke made it's way to the third plate so I had to back it right off and just set the pressure so I got a fast drip to toothpick stream going. The plates took turns at loading and got around 4.5 litres @65% for aging and this stuff is going to be nice as the peat came thru nicely.

now with my BD burner I do find I can get 3 full runs out of a 9kg gas bottle and when it does start to ice up it is a good indicator of whats left.

Cheers Bryan