Heating A Pot Over Gas.

[zagadka]

I've modified my BBQ for brewing without having to buy new gas gear. I've removed a grille and cut the other grille in half. I've added a large piece of 1/4" plate and had holes cut and a divider welded underneath (See piccies). This effectively puts 2 strip burners under the large hole and 1 strip burner under the two smaller holes.


I left the heat spreader from the other grille under the large pot opening.


You can see the dividers in this design.

My question:
Is it better (heating efficiency) to have the large pot sitting say 10 mm off the hotplate so the heat can escape around the base or is it better to have the pot sitting directly on the plate forming a seal?

Cheers,

Tim.

 

[raven19]

The answer imo will be 'it depends'.

The blue flame is hotter than the yellow, so where does that hit? If you can get the pot to touch the blue flame that would be ideal.

Having it sitting flush down on the plater will help the heat build up more and not excape as easily.

Having it elevated slightly will let more oxygen into the area allowing the flame to burn hotter.

Assuming there is plenty of air flow underneath I would go flush on the plate personally.

Give it a test run?

2c.

 

[robbo5253]

I would think your best off getting rid of the heat spreader as the direct flame would be better?

Cheers

Robbo

 

[Adamt]

The heat spreader will be pointless if you have a decent stock pot - the thick base does the heat spreading.

 

[zagadka]

The blue flame is hotter than the yellow, so where does that hit? If you can get the pot to touch the blue flame that would be ideal.

Unfortunately these burners, being your standard strip burner, only put on a 15-20mm flame at full throttle. The hot plate sits approximately 150 mil off the top of the burner.

Give it a test run?

It works OK. I haven't boiled with it yet, only heated steeping water. I reckon that's the way to go though, time both methods. I'm sure I've got some scrap reo here that I can stick under the pot temporarily to give it 10 mil.

I would think your best off getting rid of the heat spreader as the direct flame would be better?

Yep, you're probably right.

 

[zagadka]

Just a quick follow-up:

It takes the same time (nearly to the minute) to boil 15L of tap water at 19 deg to boiling. 1 hour 5 mins.



What sort of boil times are people getting with Ring burners, Rambo burners, Mongolian burners and the like?


Cheers

 

[chappo1970]

Tap water (24C) to boiling in under 20mins with a rambo and med regulator. Oh and approx 60lt volume.

 

[zagadka]

Tap water (24C) to boiling in under 20mins with a rambo and med regulator. Oh and approx 60lt volume.

So my boil of 15L in 5 mins lol! :beerbang:

Found this thread - Very informative:
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=14799

This BBQ burner bit is not working. It's time for a new burner and a med or high vol reg I reckon!

 

[zagadka]

Tap water (24C) to boiling in under 20mins with a rambo and med regulator. Oh and approx 60lt volume.

Hey Chappo - is this what you have? http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=2839

If so, how do you regulate your temps? Straight On/Off or can you throttle it using the bottle valve?

Cheers.


EDIT:

Nevermind - I should look at the picture a bit closer! It's got it's own valve.

 

[HoppingMad]

Tim, Domasura (Beer Belly) did a thread where he went through all the different burners and the time they all took. The better ones did a boil in around 20-35 mins.

I have an Italian Spiral Burner and can heat 45 litres on a cold night from 8 degrees to 85 degrees in around 50 mins to an hour.

Guys here that have the nasa burners and rambos do it in much quicker time. If you have high pressure regulators that also makes a difference. Mine is medium to low hence the longer time. If I got an adjustable reg from Beerbelly I would be able to speed up this time.

Hopper.