Turkey Fryer Question

[calderp]

Does anyone know what the BTU level on a cheapo grocery store fryer is? Some don't say what it is. Would one of them work for boiling around 13 gallons of wort in a converted keg? If not, does anyone know approximately how many BTUs I would need to get a good rolling boil with 13 gallons?

[Otis_The_Drunk]

I have a wally world Turkey fryer that I use and have gotten a 10 gallon batch to a rolling boil in 10 minutes... But you will see your propane tank frost up in the process.

Most of them are around 50,000 BTUs

[Chubber]

Originally posted by calderp
Would one of them work for boiling around 13 gallons of wort in a converted keg?

If you try to boil 13 gallons in a 15 gallon keg you will get the wort to boil, but you will loose a bunch to boil overs. It's better to have a hard boil than that extra 2 gallons of wort. Simmering wort doesn't really get you the protein extraction you want.

[calderp]

Yea, I kind of figured that would be a problem. I'm gonna keep a bag of ice on hand and keep a close eye on it, the reason I want to do 13gal is that I'm going to be kegging in a 15.5 gal keg and I don't want to have to water my wort down much. Basically, I'm gonna start with 12 or 13 gallons in the boil and then figure out what the maximum feasible amount is by trial and error.

[Chubber]

I would still make a high gravity 10 gallon boil and dilute to 15 as needed. If you are doing extract or assisting your gravity with extract, that should do it.

[hooky]

Chubber, do you have a problem with boils that large? I'm needing 13 gallons to get 11 in 2 buckets. I'm planning on a spray bottle and stirring the hell out of it. All of my 5 gallon batches have only come up a couple of inches in the keggle, then subsided with a squirt from the bottle.

[Chubber]

I have come close to boiling over many times and I only do 6 gallon batches. My pre-boil volume is usually around 8.5 to 9 gallons though. I can boil over 8.5 gallons if I am not watching closely, stirring, and managing the heat until the foam falls about 15 minutes into the boil.

[Mad Scientist]

I suffer a simialar situation with my burner and keggle, maybe it is just the amount of heat applied? My solution is to keep a good eye on it....

[corkybstewart]

I routinely collect and boil 13 gallons. Get a bottle of Foam Control from morebeer and don't worry about it. Or I like to get my wort boiling as fast as possible while batch sparging. The first runnings are boiling while the second"batch" sits. Most of the hot break is in the first runnings and boilovers don't happen with a half full keg pot.
It's harder to get fly sparged wort boiling early but it can be done.

[hooky]

I batch sparge, so I'll have to give the first running boil a try.

[BrewDog]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
I routinely collect and boil 13 gallons. Get a bottle of Foam Control from morebeer and don't worry about it. Or I like to get my wort boiling as fast as possible while batch sparging. The first runnings are boiling while the second"batch" sits. Most of the hot break is in the first runnings and boilovers don't happen with a half full keg pot.
It's harder to get fly sparged wort boiling early but it can be done.

You can get some great flavors doing this.

[Mill Rat]

Firrst wort hopping also seems to help minimize boilovers.