Propane burner & fittings recommendation for the UK

[Do_you_realise]

Hey,

I'm looking into going all-grain (BIAB) and after finally picking up a decent sized kettle (50L) I'm increasingly tempted to pick up a propane burner and tank setup to speed up the process. Boiling even 15L of water on our gas hob takes about an hour(!)

However I am jealous of our US friends because compared to their smorgasbord of options for propane burners/rings/etc, high/low pressure, and all that... the only one I ever see anywhere on Amazon/eBay/etc over here is this same shitty lightweight thing which gets terrible reviews everywhere:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LPG-Burner-Boil ... ane+burner

On top of that, I don't really know what I would need to pick up in terms of which kind of propane tank, what fittings, type of regulator, tubing, etc... and am struggling to find UK-specific information about this.

To get to the point: would anyone be able to recommend a decent propane burner please (10kW plus I think, as I also have a sneaky plan to also use it as a super hot wok burner), available in the UK, and perhaps also advise on the correct tank/regulator stuff? I'd like to get the whole package ordered in one shipment because I have a bad habit of missing bits and spreading over 2 or 3 different shipments, which can get expensive!

Thanks!

 

[bobsbeer]

As far as the tank goes, go to a local scrap yard where you will find they often have empty cylinders, which they either give away or sell for a few quid. Don't worry too much about size, as you can swap them for whatever full size you want. This will save you having to pay the deposit on a full tank from Calor Gas etc. I would get the biggest cylinder you can handle and store, although 2 smaller ones would be good as you will always have a spare full one. Get your cylinder first as the tanks have different connectors depending on size. For your purposes an adjustable regulator would be good as you can up the pressure and therefore heat.

 

[kev]

I've been using that propane burner for about 6 years. Done almost 100 batches on it with no problem. Also done several 50 litre batches.

Gets a full boil going in about 45 mins.

K

 

[Rwilts]

I need the same info -- Christmas list includes a burner (will have money and source myself) I have looked at Amazon and had intended to buy one of the black square ones.

 

[Aleman]

(I promised myself that I wasn't going to do this)

You need aither a 15 / 19 or 47 KG gas bottle these all have the same 3/4" Female POL fitting

Then go to Hamilton Gas Products and get yourself a and [url=]Burner

I have the 400mm Paella burner for my large kettle (150L!!) with the 50-150 Adjustable Reg, I have no issues in getting 110L to the boiling in around 30 minutes, but I have fitted a heat shroud which minimises heat loss and increase gas efficiency.

Note that once you get above ~8KW then the standard regs that supply up to 1Kg of gas per hour are no longer sufficient and you need one capable of supplying 4Kg/hr

 

[Do_you_realise]

(I promised myself that I wasn't going to do this)

You need aither a 15 / 19 or 47 KG gas bottle these all have the same 3/4" Female POL fitting

Then go to Hamilton Gas Products and get yourself a and [url=]Burner

I have the 400mm Paella burner for my large kettle (150L!!) with the 50-150 Adjustable Reg, I have no issues in getting 110L to the boiling in around 30 minutes, but I have fitted a heat shroud which minimises heat loss and increase gas efficiency.

Note that once you get above ~8KW then the standard regs that supply up to 1Kg of gas per hour are no longer sufficient and you need one capable of supplying 4Kg/hr

Brilliant - thanks for your help! Why did you promise yourself not to do it? :)

So if I was to pick up something like this (which would double up as a wok burner; I'd love to try some high heat wok cooking):

http://www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalog/c ... urner.html

It says it's 9.2kW output but also says "Operates at low pressure with Butane or Propane". Does the "low pressure" equate to 1kg of gas per hour? I think I'm confused about the difference between:

• "High pressure" / "low pressure" equipment[/*:m:10j9ecny]
• 1kg/4kg of gas per hour[/*:m:10j9ecny]
• "mbar" ratings[/*:m:10j9ecny]

Cheers

 

[Aleman]

Brilliant - thanks for your help! Why did you promise yourself not to do it? :)

Read the Sig Not saying that it applies to many, but it applies to enough on here that I really can't be bothered to post anymore!!

I think I'm confused about the difference between:

• "High pressure" / "low pressure" equipment[/*:m:2zgyg3t4]
• 1kg/4kg of gas per hour[/*:m:2zgyg3t4]
• "mbar" ratings[/*:m:2zgyg3t4]

High pressure equipment include things like the Bullfinch furnaces on the burner page (I had the Dual Unilow)these run at 1-4Bar, and at 2 bar my unilow would throw out 38KW!!.

Most gas equipment is low pressure and operate in the 20-350 millibar (mbar) range (~ 0.002 - 0.035 BAR) so much lower than high pressure. The benefit here is that it is generally safer than running at high pressure, and also that gas usage is much lower.

Usually an appliance is rated as to how much gas the reg needs to be able to pass in order to achieve the rated KW rating of the appliance, generally a reg that can pass 1Kg per hour is sufficient for an appliance up to around 8KW at either 30 or 50 mbar. Once you get above that then you need to look at higher capacity regulators. In order to get a 50mBar reg with a 4Kg/hr rating I had to go for the comap adjustable 50-150mBar which meant that I needed a POL pigtail to connect the reg to the cylinder

 

[Do_you_realise]

That makes much more sense, thanks.

I'll see whether I can find a local supplier of gas canisters but I'll probably end up sticking to online shops because of a lack of personal transport (which does make equipment shopping difficult) - I'd love to see what the already inexplicably angry bus drivers around here would say about me bringing compressed gas canisters onto the bus!

(Incidentally I was in Singapore once and they had a variety of normal warning signs on the metro trains, however they also had one very specific sign forbidding people from transporting gas canisters on the metro! Don't know who had once ran a lucrative gas smuggling racket via the public metro system but it made me chuckle nonetheless

Edit: Okay so apparently they've updated it so that the bit about compressed gas makes a bit more sense, but they've also added durian fruits. Bizarre stuff http://americanexpatchiangmai.com/wp-co ... rning1.jpg)

 

[wezil]

Get your cylinder first as the tanks have different connectors depending on size

No they don't!
They differ if their propane or butane and butane comes in two regulator sizes 20mm and Calor is 21mm (not counting that abomination that is patio gas)!http://www.calor.co.uk/help-and-adv...rs/gas-regulator-guide/butane-regulator-guide And butane would be rubbish for brewing (doesn't have as much calorific value as propane) If you want big fast burners try Bullfinch products (they worked great for heating pitch)

 

[BeerBloke]

I'd certainly support the use of a Uniflow hi-pressure reg and a Bullfinch single burner, or two.
I've used them on my home-kit (now pilot and 'special' brews kit) for about 15 years!

 

[wezil]

Yep, if they can survive a tarmac gang for years, they'll be fine for brewing!!
(oh, the taste of tarmac cooked bacon and eggs with burner cooked toast still lingers after all this time)!
Oh as an aside Darian fruits STINK!!!

 

[Vossy1]

:lol: ...Durian tastes nice though

 

[bobsbeer]

No they don't!
They differ if their propane or butane and butane comes in two regulator sizes 20mm and Calor is 21mm (not counting that abomination that is patio gas)

I think you have just contradicted yourself. Which uses a clip on regulator.

As for butane there is very little difference in calorific value. Liquid butane has a higher calorific value per litre than liquid propane. But the biggest difference for practical purposes is the temperature at which it is useable. Below about 5-10c butane does not become gaseous quickly enough. Or to be more specific the boiling point of butane is about -0.5c, whereas propane is -42c. So for all year round use, propane would be the gas of choice.

 

[Vossy1]

Might be relevant but kettle stove pressure even using a but/prop mix are pretty **** below 10 deg c, I usually switch over to a petrol stove come winter....talking of which, out of interest, do petrol type paella burners exist :hmm:

 

[bobsbeer]

Never seen one that big. I've only seen camping type ones which would be a bit small. But propane should be fine even at normal UK winter temps. Never failed in our caravan at minus 10c two years ago.

 

[wezil]

Hi, the butane (normally) uses a clip on regulator (but there are exceptions) and butane will freeze at a higher temp than propane (although both will freeze up, this happens more often when the appliance connected has a high flow rate, so lagging the bottles can help ). And yes they don't differ that much in calorific value, my mistake!

 

[surly_brewer]

I created an account specifically to thank you all who posted in this thread. I was pretty frustrated with the the same problem from the title post -- 7-8 KW junk burners everywhere, but no other solutions. Or so I thought -- I have now fixed this issue! Just need to get the Calor people to come by... :hmm:

Finally, I can use more than half the total volume of my 70 litre kettles. Bring on the 38 KW shenanigans.

 

[EG_Wanna_Be]

Hey guys!

Sorry to drag this one out of the deep, but this thread started answering some questions I have had as I need to move to brewing in my garage, and am looking at Propane for doing this.

I know very little about gas/propane in general, and am wondering if from reading between the lines, the following might be suitable for a 50L Stainless kettle/pot:

http://gasproducts.co.uk/50-150-mbar-clesse-propane-gas-regulator-brooder.html

http://gasproducts.co.uk/300mm-paella-gas-burner.html

I need a balance between price and quality, and hence I don't want to chuck my money at an Amazon Chinese junky burner, and following on from the posts in this thread, this might be a suitable setup.

Also, with the paella burners, can they go straight on the ground, or do they need to be lifted at all? Will they cause any problems for a concrete floor in a garage?

How about steam extraction? How are you guys tackling this? I can brew with the garage door open, but not sure if that would be sufficient in extracting steam from a 50L boil.

Cheers guys!