Heating the boiler with gas

[PalCabral]

Hiya guys.

Up to now I have only used electric heated elements in my boiler for all my distillations but I am planning to switch to gas for my upcoming fruit distillations (apple and mirabelle plums). Although I plan to clear the wash before distilling, I am sure there will be solids in there, and I just don't think it's wise to run this on elements.

The problem is that I have no experience using gas or open flame when distilling and very little experience in general with gas. The boiler can handle gas but I fear the bottom will get really hot, and I may scorch anyway. I'm also unsure how hard I can run on open flame. I am grateful for any tips on how to operate the gas burner during the distillation and what I can do to prevent scorching the bottom of the boiler. Any other tips regarding using gas would be great too - for example how much gas I need to run, say, 5-6 hours of distillation.

I was thinking of getting a diffuser plate to spread the heat better but the bottom of the boiler has a lip(?) around the edges making the bottom plate sit 3cm up from the lowest part. Most diffuser plates are quite thin and wouldn't be high enough to touch the bottom plate. So the flames will hit the bottom plate when running.