propane indoors?????

[Fritz Eye]

I am looking to get a more "vigorous" boil for my extract recipes out of my 8 gallon brew pot as I do not get a full rolling boil unless I partially cover the top with the lid for 15 second on. I alternate beween 15 seconds partially covered and 15 seconds off to prevent boils overs and to allow the wort to evaporate a bit. Without doing this I just get barely beyond the foaming boil. Doc had mentioned that when he went from the kitchen stove to propane that his brewing really started to kick off.
I usually start out with 6.5 gallons and after a 60 minute boil am down to around 5.25 gallons with the hops soaking up much of the wort and through evaporation

I was thinking of getting one of those turkey frying set ups but imagine using proapne indoors could not be too healthy. Brewing out doors is not an option for me.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

[Geistbier]

Okay here is an option I hesitate to offer, but it worked really well for a member of our local brew club. He also had a problem with not a vigorous enough boil he went to the local home improvement store and bought a water heater element. He has an on off switch rigged to it, but a ceilfan variable power switch would probably work better. He strings it over the top of the brewpot with coat hangers so the whole thing looks as scary as hell. It seem to be very efficient, but safety is honestly a question we all had seeing the thing.

But I would trust it over using propane inside.

[Lufah]

I would take a look at building a heatstick...



http://brewing.schmidt-house.com/

I know there are a few sites out there with how-tos. That is just the one I know.

Travis

[NumbSkull]

Even a numbskull like me knows not to use propane indoors.

Mort

[breyton]

If you are hell bunt on using propane indoors, make sure you get hoses long enough to allow the tanks to be kept outside. You also will need to make sure you have sufficient exhaust ventalation and sufficient make up air.

Get yourself a CO monitor, fire extinguisher and dont take you eye off you brew session for a second.

I brewed in my basement for years witha propane set up, but never felt safe/comfortable during the entire session. My basement was connected to my garage, so getting make up air was not an issue, but CO, steam removal and fume exhasting were issues. I always remember getting headaches during boiling. Do your self a favor and brew in the garage or on the deck or build a shed. Dont do it in the house.

[Bugeater]

For God's sake, don't even think about using that turkey fryer burner indoors! Build yourself a couple of heatsticks like Lufah suggested. Here is the link to detailed illustrated instructions on how to build one. I have been using one in my HLT for over a year now. Would take two to get a good rolling boil in a reasonable time, but one will do it.

http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/heatstick.htm

Wayne
Bugeater Brewng Company

[im1dermike]

I was planning on using my propane burner in my garage. Will cracking a window be enough ventilation or will I need to have the garage door open as well?

[Bugeater]

You will need to have some cross ventilation to move the CO2 out. Your best bet will be to open the garage door a foot or so. Once you fire that puppy up you won't have any problem with it being too cold in the garage.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company