How many BTUs should a burner be?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Fluffhorton, Sep 28, 2015.

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  1. Fluffhorton

    Fluffhorton Initiate (0) Oct 11, 2012 New York

    I found a burner on Craigslist, 170,000 BTU. I already have a burner (which I have no idea how many BTUs that puts out) but I've been wanting to pick up a spare one. What's the desired BTU output for a Homebrew propane burner
     
    #1 Fluffhorton, Sep 28, 2015
  2. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    It depends how big your kettle is. 55,000 btu is common for a 10 gallon kettle.
     
    #2 Brew_Betty, Sep 28, 2015
  3. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,097) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    170,000 is more than enough, assuming it is accurate and like many things it is mostly a marketing claim. but even still, if the burner is remotely close to 170K it is more than enough.

    keep in mind that it will likely sound like a Boeing and will suck quite a bit of propane, so there is a down side to massive burners.
    Cheers.
     
    #3 billandsuz, Sep 28, 2015
  4. mrjimcat

    mrjimcat Initiate (0) Nov 22, 2002 New York

    Yep, you can get a great boil with the big burner but you can also boil off an extra gallon or more and waste propane.
     
    #4 mrjimcat, Sep 28, 2015
  5. mikehartigan

    mikehartigan Maven (1,421) Apr 9, 2007 Illinois

    My 23 tip wok burner is a beast. I don't know how many BTUs it is - rumor has it that it's 100K. It's more than up to the task for a ten gallon batch. I suspect it could do twice that without breaking a sweat, but I can't confirm that. I'm considering plugging some of the jets on this one to help me control boil-overs. With a burner, overkill is better than underkill. In that context, 170K is definitely overkill. Keep in mind that there are about 440K BTU in a full 20 lb tank of propane, or about 330K in a typical 15 lb swap. That's about 2-3 hours with a 170K burner running at full bore, though it's unlikely you'll ever do that.
    My 100K burner doesn't suck even a whisp of propane :wink:
     
    #5 mikehartigan, Sep 29, 2015
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