Brewing Master

Question:

Heat output –  more than your indoor stove, at least mine does.  I often cook on it during the summer, and it boils water faster than my indoor stove.  I also use it to boil my step up water during mash and it does a fine job on a gallon.  But like others point out, it has no where near the output of a cajun cooker. weight –  I’d prop it up somehow. Also your pot probably will not sit anywhere near centered on it.  So it will be inherintly unstable. Go with the cajun cooker, you’ll never regret it.  And you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it before.  (get a spare tank)

Response:

Go with the cajun cooker, you’ll never regret it.  And you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it before.  

Yep, having done just a couple of batches on the cajun cooker so far, I am wondering myself.  The only real downside I see so far is that it adds the "how likely are we to have nasty weather today" factor to the "can I brew today" equation. I intend to continue mashing in the kitchen though. (get a spare tank)

Yep, already done that. —

Response:

Good morning.  I’m planning to make a batch this weekend, but the missus has effectively banished me from the kitchen.  No one likes a boil-over, but it only took a week to chip off the malt-crust. Anyhow, I have your basic weekend warrior gas barbecue with a sideburner.  Anyone had good/bad experience boiling 3-4 gallons on one of these?  The local hardware store has the turkey cooker, but I’d rather just go with what I got.

Don’t (too much weight and not enough BTUs).  Do get the turkey cooker with long legs (saves your back) and a spare gas bottle.  Shop around and you might find one with the 30 qt pot which would be a useful addition to your brewing equipment. Bob Scott — Created & posted with Mozilla running on Linux.  Certified Microsoft virus free!

Response:

Hi, There is not much more to be said than John has said already. Cheers, Tom

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Good morning.  I’m planning to make a batch this weekend, but the missus has effectively banished me from the kitchen.  No one likes a boil-over, but it only took a week to chip off the malt-crust. Anyhow, I have your basic weekend warrior gas barbecue with a sideburner.  Anyone had good/bad experience boiling 3-4 gallons on one of these?  The local hardware store has the turkey cooker, but I’d rather just go with what I got. Thanks, The Lake Stevens Brewing Guild

Response:

Anyhow, I have your basic weekend warrior gas barbecue with a sideburner.  Anyone had good/bad experience boiling 3-4 gallons on one of these?  The local hardware store has the turkey cooker, but I’d rather just go with what I got.

No way.  The side burner on my grill took 10 minutes to bring two bottles of beer to a boil to boil brats.  Not near enough BTUs.  Get the cajun cooker, and another LP tank for those days that you run out of gas. Delta

Response:

I would have to agree with Delta on this one. Most BBQ grills use low pressure regulators and don’t have the output to do much more than warm things on the side burner. I know if I tried it on mine, I would have to take a break and go shave at least a couple of times before it would get that much water to a boil. Go with the high pressure burner and you will be forever glad that you did. HTH — Rich Bingham St Louis, Mo AKA 2fish on the RatChat www.home.earthlink.net/~ibrew4u

Response:

Good morning.  I’m planning to make a batch this weekend, but the missus has effectively banished me from the kitchen.  No one likes a boil-over, but it only took a week to chip off the malt-crust. Anyhow, I have your basic weekend warrior gas barbecue with a sideburner.  Anyone had good/bad experience boiling 3-4 gallons on one of these?  The local hardware store has the turkey cooker, but I’d rather just go with what I got. Thanks, The Lake Stevens Brewing Guild

Response:

Good morning.  I’m planning to make a batch this weekend, but the missus has effectively banished me from the kitchen.  No one likes a boil-over, but it only took a week to chip off the malt-crust. Anyhow, I have your basic weekend warrior gas barbecue with a sideburner.  Anyone had good/bad experience boiling 3-4 gallons on one of these?  The local hardware store has the turkey cooker, but I’d rather just go with what I got.

I don’t know the answers to these, but the two things I would look into are: 1) Does the BBQ put out enough heat to bring 3-4 gallons to a boil in a reasonable time?  What’s the BTU of the side burner on your model, does it say?  I’ve never used the side burner on my BBQ for anything before, so take this with a grain of salt, but I’ve heard that they’re not very powerful. 2) Will it take the weight of the pot (I assume you’re planning on using the side burner) without tipping the BBQ?  3-4 gallons of boiling hot liquid sitting on an unstable side burner would make me nervous. If it puts out enough heat and takes the weight of the pot, you should be fine using it.  BTW, what’s nice about most turkey burners is that they satisfy both points above very well. John. —                            *** John P. Kolesar ***            *** Head Administrator, Monty Python’s Flying Talker ***

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