Burning Desire

[Michael]

I got told off for making a mess of the stove last weekend whilst brewing. To add to this, some good folks recommended that I get a burner before buying a chiller. (My wife would agree now. :) )

This leads me to questions about burners. Whilst searching other threads, I noticed the ones for Bunnings, and beerbelly.co.au, and even the rambo burner at brewcraft. However, I am unsure which is the best purchase for the money.

Assuming that I do not have a whole lot of cash to throw around, which would you suggest I go with? Remember that i would need to purchase the whole lot, regulator, tank, and burner.

Cheers!

[James P]

Bunnings is a good start they have a three ring circus, with tight rope and clown car.

(Three ring burner, regulator with 1.5m hose, 9kg gas bottle set you back about $150 ~ 200)

[denimglen]

I'd price up something from beerbelly or craftbrewer, if it's only worth a few extra bucks I'd go for that option.

I'm using a four ring burner and I reckon it's pretty shit to be honest.

[Simon David kelly]

The volume of liquid you want to heat will have a big affect on which burner will be better for you ... more liquid, the longer it takes to heat ...

I have a single fat "turkey burner" which takes about an hour to get 28 liters up from 12 to 75 degrees ... a 30+ mongolian burner will do it a darn sight quicker, but they are quite pricey ...

Mine was $50 aus + $80 shipping, which was the burner, stand, hose and regulator. Gas bottle is $50 from the warehouse.

Mongolian http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=6976
The one I got http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=1_2_4&pr... (It does say it puts out a lot of heat, but the flame does ride up out of burner head and has blown out on me twice [dangerous])

[JoKing]

You can get the "Cray Cooker" from the warehouse (which includes a 28L pot) That burner is pretty cool. You dont neet all that much heat... and if you were like me, you'd go for an electric element. They are cheaper than burners... and you never need to get gas.

There are 2 minor issues with your setup though: You'd need to get a "Cake Stand" for your bag to sit on so that you dont have any extra weight on the element. You'll need to cut a 1" hole in the side of your pot (which is a real bitch - I can assure you... It's stainless)

If you do go electric... you only need 2 - 3kW. I use 2kW for a 30L boil - no problems with my beer - I promise! It only takes 20mins to get up to boil... and the boil rolls quite happily.

[Michael]

Have you noticed whether he warehouse has these now? I head of these cray faish boilers, and could not find one a few weeks ago at the warehouse.

What section would it be in? Camping?

Once again, thank you!

[denimglen]

... and if you were like me, you'd go for an electric element. They are cheaper than burners... and you never need to get gas.

Oh come on, there's something sexy about gas and you know it ;-)

I used electric for ages, and it was good. As well as what Joking mentioned you may need to fabricate your immersion chiller around your element.

On getting gas - I'm only getting gas about every 4 months or so, and that's brewing once a fortnight.

Actually now that I think about it, it's probably not that much more expensive to buy one of those electric urns from craftbrewer than it is for a pot + burner, is that an option?

[James P]

$250 for a 40 litre urn on Tardme.

[Mike Neilson]

Electric Kicks arse, Flames cool if your addiction is Pyromania!! But my addiction is alcaholism so I like mine electric.

[Reviled]

"You'd need to get a "Cake Stand" for your bag to sit on so that you dont have any extra weight on the element"

Or just roll the bag a bit so it sits an inch or two from the bottom and tie it to the outside of the pot - I did this for my first 5 or 6 brews before I got a 'cake stand' type thing and it worked perfectly!

And yeah, those cray cookers are a good deal!!

[Karle]

Try the BBQ Factory, they've often got some good and affordable burners.

[Dale]

I got http://www.kiwicamping.co.nz/kiwi_camping.cfm?product_id=938&pa... for $69 delivered. Its just a cast burner so doesn't look the best but works well for me. Good ventilation needed....

[Michael]

I need to pretty much stick with gas since I travel quite a bit, and never know whether I will be in a country that does 120v or 240v.

Do you find that this burner can get a good rolling boil on ~38L?