BURCO 30ltr TEA-URN

EVENING ALL

my wife brought me a 30ltr burco tea urn, off e-bay which im planning on using as a mash tun. So i was wondering instead of insulating it would it be ok if i was to set the thermostat to 65 degrees and leave it on for the 90 minute mash.

cheers
DS

The theory is fine :thumb:
In practice it's a little different
The huge thermal inertia of the mash means that the element could heat the mash locally to over 100C before the thermostat registers a temperature raise
I would insulate it and use the heating element to raise your mash liquor to strike heat :thumb:

thanks TS,
i only asked cus this is the information i got off burcos web site.

To maintain the water at any other temperature, set the control knob to approximately one of the
following positions:
Approx temp Knob setting
37ºC (99ºF) 1
55ºC (131ºF) 2
68ºC (155ºF) 3
82ºC (180ºF) 4
100ºC (212ºF) 5/6

If it is necessary to keep the water at an exact temperature, use a thermometer to check this. Stir the water before taking the temperature and when the desired temperature has been reached, turn the control knob slowly to the left until a click from the thermostat is heard. The thermostat will cycle on and off to maintain the temperature.

I certainly wouldn't rely on the thermostat. I use a 27l Cygnet boiler (basically a smaller Burco) as a HLT and I know from experience that after mashing in and topping the boiler back up to the full mark with the dial set to '1' it goes from 50c to 84c in 90 minutes and I know that it wouldn't stop at that. It would never reach boiling (or a sustained boil at least) but even on its lowest setting the temperature continues to rise way beyond mashing temperatures. No doubt they're all different but I certainly wouldn't want to use mine as a mash tun.

Parva said:

I certainly wouldn't rely on the thermostat. I use a 27l Cygnet boiler (basically a smaller Burco) as a HLT and I know from experience that after mashing in and topping the boiler back up to the full mark with the dial set to '1' it goes from 50c to 84c in 90 minutes and I know that it wouldn't stop at that. It would never reach boiling (or a sustained boil at least) but even on its lowest setting the temperature continues to rise way beyond mashing temperatures. No doubt they're all different but I certainly wouldn't want to use mine as a mash tun.

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I've got one of those and mine has a simmerstat on it, not a thermostat. It will behave differently to a thermostat.

jamesb said:

I've got one of those and mine has a simmerstat on it, not a thermostat. It will behave differently to a thermostat.

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Could i ask what you use yours for James.

davesiv said:

jamesb said:

I've got one of those and mine has a simmerstat on it, not a thermostat. It will behave differently to a thermostat.

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Could i ask what you use yours for James.

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At the moment I use it as a copper.

james

in your honest opinion could it be used as a mash tun. if not im going to use it as a HLT.

davesiv said:

james
in your honest opinion could it be used as a mash tun. if not im going to use it as a HLT.

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I'd use it as a HLT rather than a mash tun. For a mash tun (as was said up there) you'll have problems with localised heating.

Same here I use my 30L as a HLT and nothing else. :thumb:

Thanks james and llannige.

looks like ill be going the 3 tier set up route, the burco as a HLT, asda cool box as the mash tun (ill just have to get round to finishing it off as i made one hell of a cock up when fitting the tap) and my electrum as my boiler.

What's the volume of the Electrim Boiler?

Use the largest one as the boiler and the smallest as the HLT as you can top-up the HLT and heat-up whilst mashing for 90mins. You'll need the volume for the first runnings + sparge water into the boiler.

I have a 25 ltr Electrim as my HLT and a 30 litre Cygnet Urn (although I think it may be 27 litre to max line)

If they're the same volume it doesn't matter.

:thumb:

Smod said:

What's the volume of the Electrim Boiler?

I have a 25 ltr Electrim as my HLT and a 30 litre Cygnet Urn (although I think it may be 27 litre to max line)

If they're the same volume it doesn't matter.

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my electrim is the same as yours smod 25ltr and the burco is 28.5 ltr up to tme max line.

At last ive got my 30 ltr burco cleaned up and decided on what im going to use it for. im going to use it as my boiler, at first i was worried that it would be capable of a rolling boil over 90 minutes so i decided to test it out and it works perfectly

MY NEW BOILER -


so now im going to use my electrim as a HLT

i found that the electrim was good but only having a single element it was difficult to maintaine a boil.

All ive got to do now is get my ASDA mash tun sorted out and ill be ready to go. The hardest thing is deciding on what my next AG is going to be.

Here's one from left field (or southern hemisphere at any rate :) )

I have a 40L Australian Urn and use it to make all my grain brews by using it as a hot liquor tun, a mash tun and a boiler as well. What you need is a polyester bag to fit the inside of the urn. Fill urn about 3/4 full with water and raise to a few degrees above mash temperature, fit the bag, mash in the grain to achieve mash temperature, wrap the urn in a duvet or old sleeping bag, you should only get about a degree drop per hour.

At the end of the mash, hoist the bag and drain it into the urn (a sky hook is handy for this )

After draining and squeezing bring to the boil and use the urn as the boiler.

It's called the brew in a bag method and very popular in Aus and catching on in the USA and has made some prize winning ales and lagers.

At the risk of cross-forum fornikation here's a link to a tutorial I presented on an Australian forum. A 30 L urn is quite feasible but you might be limited to 20 to 23L brews. Also note that our big Aussie urn maker is Birko, erm a bit of a take on the original UK company one would think :hmm:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=36094


Cheers
Michael

Edit: unfortunately it occurs to me that to see the pictures you would need to join the forum, not poaching members from here, but you should get the gist by reading the text, the pix were just for extra guidance.

Bribie said:

It's called the brew in a bag method and very popular in Aus and catching on in the USA and has made some prize winning ales and lagers.

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Thanks Bribie, but i used the BIAB method for my first 2 AG, i just wanted to move forward and get my self a 3 tier set up.

my new toy, mrs siv brought me a small fridge for bottle conditioning. but me thinks with a bit of work it will hold a king keg.


my HLT and BOILER and MASHTUN. Picture of the completed mash tun to follow when i finish work.

Gr8 missus :clap: