Insulating Cast Iron Burner

[Andy-t]

Hi Guys,

I have a 3 ring cast Iron camp burner that I am planning to use for my first BIAB (Been doing extracts & kegging for some time, just never made it AG). Trouble is, I live in a rented flat and was planning to do the boil out on the tiled veranda as I don't have any other options. Now, common sense & the likes of this post tell me that is not a great idea.

So the question is, what are the options for insulating under my burner to prevent any damage? I know the poster on that post talks of Firebricks, are these readily available from hardware stores? Are their any alternatives?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers

Andy

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

You want to lift it a fair way above the tiles as they will crack, a stack of bricks 4 high should do it, try a wire around them so they dont fall apart.
If able make a steel brew frame.
I cracked the concrete floor in the brew cave by having the 4 ring going on the floor, went with a bang, i was surprised.
Nev

 

[stux]

hot plate from a bbq?

but if you're planning on cubing your wort, then you should plan to have the base of the pot higher than the top of the cube...

also get a few m of silicon 1/2" hose from nev above, and the stainless steel jiggle siphon starter (check the biab section)

 

[jaypes]

Asbestos sheeting is great

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Asbestos sheeting is great

Real asbestos sheeting will explode ! Be there done that :unsure:
Nev

 

[sp0rk]

Make one of these like I did
the wheel was found on the side of the road, and i got the angle iron from the local metal dealers for $14 for 2 x 2 meter lengths
borrowed an arc welder from a mate and knocked it up in an hour or so

 

[jaypes]

Real asbestos sheeting will explode ! Be there done that :unsure:
Nev

Serious?

I have used it to insulate off concrete/flooring for welding plumbing fittings, never had a problem

 

[Andy-t]

Thanks Guys.

I had thought about a bbq hotplate but figures it would just heat up a bigger area and wouldn't be great at dispersing the heat. I hadn't even thought about the height for siphoning into NC cubes though - good tip.

Love the frame there sp0rk, will be keeping my eye out for road debris from now on. Hopefully I'll be able to find an obliging friend too without convincing myself I need a welder myself.. Yet again, what is one more bit of equipment to add to the ever growing list of recent purchases

 

[sp0rk]

It's just the right height to siphon off into a cube, too
I did have a skyhook and some pulleys set up to lift the bag out of the keggle, but i've gone a bit harder with my weight lifting over the last few months and now lifting the bag out is just like another weights session

 

[Diesel80]

Andy-t;

why not BOAB (Brew on a BBQ) as suggested? How big is the pot you are talking about?
BBQ are pretty stable and are built to take the heat. Do you have one on the verandah?

Otherwise I started out pretty much the same way as nev suggested. But i was sitting the pot on 2x cinder blocks and then the burner sat on about 4 pavers (2 wide x2 high). These were landscaping brick pavers.

Probably would go higher in your case with tiles below. Could be some air pockets under them depending on how thorough the tiler was.

Cheers,
D80

 

[Andy-t]

why not BOAB (Brew on a BBQ) as suggested? How big is the pot you are talking about?

As in place the entire thing on the bbq? Not sure why I didn't think of that, when it was suggested before I was imagining removing the grill plate and placing on the floor - Doh.

That could work, The pot I'll be using is only circa 20l so will be using NickJD's stovetop method anyway, at least until I source a bigger pot

Will need to check when I get home but sure that the 20l pot should fit (and be stable) on my 4 burner hooded bbq, and it ticks the height box.

Sweet, thanks D80 et all

 

[stux]

Andy-t;

why not BOAB (Brew on a BBQ) as suggested? How big is the pot you are talking about?
BBQ are pretty stable and are built to take the heat. Do you have one on the verandah?

Otherwise I started out pretty much the same way as nev suggested. But i was sitting the pot on 2x cinder blocks and then the burner sat on about 4 pavers (2 wide x2 high). These were landscaping brick pavers.

Probably would go higher in your case with tiles below. Could be some air pockets under them depending on how thorough the tiler was.

Cheers,
D80

I did my first BIAB on a BBQ.

The problem was I had a lot of trouble lifting the bag. Its one thing lifting it from waist heither... another thing entirely lifting it from shoulder height

but this was a 50L pot

 

[stux]

As in place the entire thing on the bbq? Not sure why I didn't think of that, when it was suggested before I was imagining removing the grill plate and placing on the floor - Doh.

That could work, The pot I'll be using is only circa 20l so will be using NickJD's stovetop method anyway, at least until I source a bigger pot

Will need to check when I get home but sure that the 20l pot should fit (and be stable) on my 4 burner hooded bbq, and it ticks the height box.

Sweet, thanks D80 et all

I did actually mean that...

You can just see an old hotplate between the bricks... circled in red. Prevents the plywood leveler from burning! bricks hold the burner up. Yeah... i need to learn to weld and make something out of metal



13.7KG grainbill, 98L pot, just pulled the bag...

next will dunk sparge the bag into 25L in my 50L pot

Total volume at knockout was about 78L

 

[roller997]

I found that by using a cement sheet over the tiles and a highly reflective stainless sheet on top of the cement sheet, I can bring 50 liters to a boil without any adverse effects on the tiles.
The tiles around the reflective sheet get hotter than tiles directly under the cement sheet / reflective sheet and even they haven't suffered any damage.
I use a 4 ring burner so it pumps out a fair bit of heat.

Cheers

Roller

 

[L_Power]

I use a concrete paver i bought from bunnings for a couple of dollars. Did first brew straight on the garage floor... Bad plan.

 

[Diesel80]

Wouldnt a concrete paver be as bad an idea as concrete itself?
A kilned brick landscape paver / pavers would be safer no?

Cheers,
D80

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Serious?

I have used it to insulate off concrete/flooring for welding plumbing fittings, never had a problem

In this day its probably not asbestos, more likely cement and cellulose fibre.
We use to throw asbestos sheets on a fire just for laughs, bang !
Nev