3 Ring Burner

[quincy]

I know this subject has been done to death, and I have serched and read a "thousand" previous threads, but I need to put my mind at rest before the final purchase.

Here's my dilemma:

I have been doing extracts and can get 5 litres or so to boil fine but as soon as I ramp it up beyond that the kitchen stove just doesn't cut it.

So time to get a burner.

I will only be boiling about 10 litres (my pot is only 15 litres) but dont want to limit it there as I hope to move on to AG soon.

I can get a three ring burner for $49 and a HP Regulator and hose for $25 (any particular specs I need to be aware of with the reg?).

Price is OK but will this kind of burner give me a nice rolling boil on 25 odd litres?

I know the famous nasa burner is all the go, but I feel that would be overkill for my little 15 litre pot

SWMBO is working today, so the window of oppotunity for a sneaky trip up the road is diminishing as we speak

Over to the guru's

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

 

[Linz]

I use a 3 ring on 30lt and get a good rolling boil. It takes time to get there. You need to shield it from wind and I use a lid on the boiler to get it to the boil and then remove it. It seems to get to the boil quicker with the lid.

 

[sluggerdog]

The thing is, will you be upgrading your system in the future? If so and you go for 30 litre boils you will want something more powerful.

I'd get the nasa now and this way you will have it if you decide to upgrade.

NASA = 15 mins for a full rolling boil on 30+ litres.

 

[vlbaby]

I can get a three ring burner for $49 and a HP Regulator and hose for $25 (any particular specs I need to be aware of with the reg?).

[post="86747"][/post]​

Is it HP reg or a LP reg your supposed to use. I have one of these burners with a LP reg, and i havent used it yet because the flame is so small i dont think it will boil much more than 10L. Maybe its supposed to use a HP?

vlbaby.

 

[quincy]

Sorry - just realised it's a low pressure reg not high pressure

Linz - are u using a low or high pressure reg?

Slugger - yeah, a nasa is still an option later I'll just use the three ring for my HLT.

Cheers

 

[Guest Lurker]

Not what you want to hear but...get the NASA now. Seriously. Not that much more expensive than a 3 or 4 ring, way better, saves a huge amount of time sitting around watching pots coming (or not) to boil, building windshields, etc etc and can be controlled for a smaller pot.

 

[Gough]

G'day Quincy,

I use a 3 ring Burner with an adjustable regulator. I boil 30-32 litres each brew. I have no trouble whatsoever getting a roiling boil, and quite quickly, and I am brewing outside. I start heating while sparging using just the smallest of the three rings initially, ramping it up as the kettle fills. From sparges end to rolling boil takes 10-15 minutes max. Once boiling I turn the largest of the three rings completely off. IMHO a 3 ring will do you fine. NASA burners sound great, but I'm happy with what I'm using and will only change once I'm boiling a lot more wort than 30 litres. The key is the adjustab;e regulator though. Without it a standard reg takes a L-O-N-G time... Here's a few pics of the boil including the pretty full on 'break' I had that day so you can see it is quite a strong boil, even with just the two rings:






Hope that helps,

Shawn.

 

[Linz]

Not that much more expensive than a 3 or 4 ring,

[post="86758"][/post]​

Quincy,

Im using the stock BBQ reg, so LP I suppose

GL,

Where did you get ripped for a 3 ring????...

Mine was $35 from a disposal store....

All the mail on the NASA's state its near $100 with reg and burner.....Yes the NASA is a better option, but when the minister/cash is calling the shots......

 

[quincy]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Gough - It seems the trick is in the type of reg. Can you post the brand/model number etc of your adjustable reg? Or a pic maybe

Cheers

 

[Jazman]

i have a 3 ring too on hlt and used it before i got me nasa i say get the nasa it saves time..
the ring with and adjustble regualator works fine and it just takes a while to get ot hot break but is easy to control with 2 rings on after that but u must have a blue flame not a yellow one or then u get a lot of soot..

My advice Get a nasa its worth it

 

[Gough]

Agreed the NASA is better, but the three ring does work.

Quincy, there isn't a lot of info listed on my reg, but the brand is 'reca' and I got it from my local camping shop. Makes all the difference The wind shield in the pics is a piece of scrap from a Hancock-Speedway metal shop here in Newcastle. Cost a whole $3 and bends pretty nicely around the kettle.

Shawn.

 

[Wortgames]

I don't think I'd be happy with a 3-ring burner for larger brews. My 4-ring burner and standard reg is a good speed for my 50L batches but I plan to get a NASA burner soon to speed things up a bit. I reckon a 3-ring will be too slow for larger batches, but it looks like maybe the reg is the key.

 

[Guest Lurker]

GL,

Where did you get ripped for a 3 ring????...

Mine was $35 from a disposal store....

All the mail on the NASA's state its near $100 with reg and burner.....Yes the NASA is a better option, but when the minister/cash is calling the shots......

[post="86763"][/post]​

Hi Linz

I also paid $35 for my three ring without any hose or reg, and when the cast iron crumbled after 10 brews I bought the Nasa burner with stand for $49 which to me is not a lot more for the burner. Considering I bought an ordinary reg plus hose for the three ring, then a bigger reg and longer hose when the first was too slow, the $50 for a 2 m hose and reg for the NASA was also a similar outlay for fittings.

 

[Borret]

The thing is, will you be upgrading your system in the future? If so and you go for 30 litre boils you will want something more powerful.

I'd get the nasa now and this way you will have it if you decide to upgrade.

NASA = 15 mins for a full rolling boil on 30+ litres.

[post="86750"][/post]​

Is that 15 mins from ambient temp or is that from sparge temp?

Borret

 

[sluggerdog]

Borret, that's from sparge temp. ambient would be a while longer

 

[Borret]

Slugger, I though that would be the case. You are not really that far in front of my 2 ring low pressure burner (ex deep fryer burner and I played with the jets). 15-20 mins to boil from about 55 deg (no heating during sparge, less if I do) I turn off the outer ring for a gentle rolling boil too. I use no heat shields.
I feel in all the HP hyp that it's not really comparing apples for apples. Although they are operating on much higher pressure they don't neccesarily burn that much more gas than a well setup low pressure burner. The jet's they are running are inevitably much smaller which mean that the gas is a higher velocity(hence the noise )and more localised but the volume getting through isn't that much greater. As far as times they don't seem that much further in front. Gough's figures above show that too.
I feel if you can get a low pressure ring setup well then they are more than adequate for the job of boiling 30-40 L of wort and don't add any noticable length to your brew session. They also have the advantage of not dealing with HP gas lines and are very adjustable. I'm also not saying there's anything wrong with the NASA but it's just how much you want to gadget up your brewday or keep it simple. Both ways work.

That said I may change my mind down the track

On the same note my I run my HLT off a little 2 ring burner (primus brand) and it lift's the 40L of water at over a deg a minute and will boil it. (that was on a cold winter night too)

So shoot me down guy's and tell me I'm wrong but that's my 2c on the topic.

March pumps ahoy

Your not a real brewer till....... you make beer, plain and simple.

Borret

 

[timmy]

Here is my "old faithful" burner.

I rescued it from a rusting graveyard on the back of my old man's farm out in Bathurst.
He acquired it back in the '50's from an old hot water service he decomissioned years ago.

Anyway i dug it up, machined a new jet, fitted an air intake valve (which has since been removed) and threw an oldd bbq reg to it.

It will happliy bring 35l to a rolling boil (thanks to the modified jet) from sparge in about 35 mins with a lid on the kettle. It will last me until i build my new frame. as far as gas goes, it doesn't use much at all.

 

[Linz]

when the cast iron crumbled after 10 brews

[post="86791"][/post]​

Shoot ,

Do I have something to look forward to?????

Anyone else's ring burner crumble??? mine just rumbles from time to time. :blink:

 

[Wortgames]

Not a common thing as far as I'm aware. Mine's lasted for years and we used to use them in the scouts, they were bordering on antique.

Cast iron is pretty tough, but I suppose if it had a fracture it would show up fairly soon.

 

[quincy]

Just to give an update.

Decided to give in to the force and buy a nasa burner.
I have rang Globe Imports and they have run out of stock and are looking at least a 2 month lead time.
So, rang G&G to find they had also run out of stock. They source the nasa from Globe, so same story there.
Rang Gameco in Sydney and spoke to their rep who was on the road so didn't know prices etc. Also, he didn't quite understand what a turkey burner was and my desciption was probably a bit vague. He will send pictures etc tomorrow but I have a feeling they don't actually stock them We'll see.

I seem to have three options left:

1. Try to get a nasa from somewhere but it seems that may prove difficult.
2. 4 ring burner. Advantage is that these use a LP reg. $94 with stand included.
3. Mongolian. Have some disadvantages re sooting on low heat etc but they also use a LP reg. $85 no stand.

Decisions, decisions.

Cheers