Paella vs large cast iron burner?

[Kev888]

By coincidence, I went to a chilli festival at the weekend and had the good fortune to see both types of burner in action, complete with a very helpful young woman, on one of the food stands

Both look good, but comparing like-for-like wrt power the cast burners looked more suitable for my modest sized pot, though I can definitely see why the larger/higher powered paella burners are liked by people with bigger diameter tanks. (Sadly I don't think cheerful young women are a standard option with either, though).

Cheers
Kev

[stu-le-brew]

Hi Kev,

with my setup I use a cast iron burner with a 100ltr pot (batch size usually approx 65ltrs), ages ago I bought a sheet of aluminium to make a shroud but have yet to do it. I am very happy with it and have to turn it down during the boil so I don't get to much boil off

just for your information there are two types of that cast iron burner one with three legs and the other with four, I have had both, but gave the three legged one away, I was concerned about 65ltrs of boiling wort on three legs

I would be reluctant to put a large vessel on one of those paella burners they are not very strong

[Kev888]

Great stuff, thanks

I settled on the large cast burner so thats really encouraging to hear. It arrived just the other day but I've not tested it yet (need to get some gas).

Yeah the paella burners definitely aren't as strong looking; I guess they are only intended for shallow pans. Conversely I was surprised by the solidity and size of the cast burner, the pictures on the web don't really convey that! I went for the version without a stand though so I'm not really taking advantage of it as perhaps I could have done, I'll have to make one.

Cheers
Kev

[hebbstar]

Hi

I went to get a spare gas bottle at the weekend. I asked how you can tell how much is left and on all bottles there is a metal disk with the bottles empty weight in pounds and ounces (?). Its usually stamped twice in to the metal disk which caused me a bit of head scratching at first. I weighed my 'nearly empty' bottle only to find there's still about a third left Nearly a costly early swap there !

So now I have a full spare and a bottle with a third left and 18 brews under its belt.

I didn't get that many brews when I boiled outside !

Cheers

Paul

[Kev888]

Yeah, I like spares, with CO2 cylinders and even with weighing them I find having a backup encourages me not to swap prematurely - for some reason I can never fully trust the scales; I don't suppose it would be as bad with propane due to the ease with which you can get hold of it, but even so.

I have since noticed some devices sold to caravan owners that supposedly let you find the level in propane cylinders, it looks like you hold them to the side of the cylinder. TBH between having a spare and being able to weigh them I don't think I'll bother, but in some situations it could be useful if they work properly.

Cheers
Kev

[Jonnyconga]

Kev 888 re co2 bottles. I live a fair way from my supplier too but I usually find that as long as there is a fair bit of head space in the keg I can get quite a few pints out of the keg before the pressure is too low. I use compensator taps so I can regulate the flow though.
I'm thinking about a new burner now after reading all that discussion.... I've got a 7.5kw burner with a homemade shroud - works well for my 37L pot - not sure it would cope with much bigger pot though.....

[Kev888]

Yeah, there is a bit of warning with CO2 before the beer become inaccessible, maybe it wouldn't be so bad these days after all. When I first started going to my supplier it involved taking time off work (to get there in their normal opening hours) - yet another silver lining to unemployment perhaps!

I can't say from experience but I'd guess there wouldn't be much difference between a 7.5kw burner and an 8.8kw one, after losses you'd probably end up gaining very little really. From what I've read the things that make the biggest differences are wind-shields, shrouds and the regulator. I can't speak for the 7.5kw burner, but the 8.8kw one is supposed to be run at 37mbar (I believe the higher pressure versions have smaller holes than the Hamilton ones), yet most people on here seem to run them on a 50mbar regulator, which presumably increases the power noticeably. Apparently throughput is another factor (some regulators can be too wussy to maintain the flow required of them) - I don't 'think' thats the limiting factor with standard regulators below 9kw but maybe it starts to play a roll if you increase the pressure/power.

Also I was reading on an Aussie forum (where they refer to things like the large Foker cast iron burner as 'Italian spiral' burners) that they clean out the holes with a drill bit. Usually just to clear out the paint & crud which can apparently accumulate as the burner is worn in, although some do enlarge them a bit which I'd guess is at their own risk. There was even a post by someone who used the burner at 'much' higher pressure than recommended and managed to make the concrete floor beneath the burner explode which seems a bit OTT in my opinion, but at least suggests the burners are quite robust to different pressures.

BUT all this is just from reading around trying to make my decision though; please don't think I'm any kind of authority, I've not even used my burner for a real brew yet!

Cheers
kev