So, I've come across a nice cooler (VERY well insulated 48 qt. chest cooler) and a turkey fryer kettle. From what I've gathered, I can all-grain brew by slightly modifying the cooler and having at it. My question, though, is if there is a specific reason why people are talking about using the propane burner to heat the full 5gal kettle? Is it simply heat output? Can I accomplish the same thing (albeit a little slower) on my stovetop, or does keeping it outside of the boiling range for that long have negative repercussions?

Logic tells me that I should be able to get started sans burner (even if I did have the burner, I couldn't use it--apt complex is real anal about burning stuff outside your door), but I just wanted to verify before I bought up all the grains and had at it.

EDIT: If I do do an all-grain batch, I was wanting to do a New Moon/Honey Moon type belgian beer. Didn't notice any recipes offhand in the recipes section of the site, anybody got one they wouldn't mind sharing?

Yea, propane burner is all about output.

you can boil wort on the stove, but it'll take a LOT longer to reach a boil and the boil won't be as vigorous. Your end product should still be fine, though.

Maybe you can consider some sort of heat-stick powered brew kettle.

bmetbrew - if your stovetop is electric, it'll probably have problems bringing 6+ gallons of liquid to a boil and as you know, you typically you boil your entire batch volume. Also, make sure you figure out how you're going to move the hot liquid from your first runnings into another container (plastic fermentation bucket perhaps?), because you'll need to heat the sparge water in your kettle and put it in your mash tun. My suggestion is to think through the mechanics of it and see if you have all the equipment, if you think you do, try it, but keep some DME on hand just in case you have to dump some of the liquid.

...just my 2 cents worth....

I'm in the same boat, vis a vis using propane burners to boil large quantities of liquid outside my apartment. If the bottom of your kettle can span across two of the burners on your stovetop, that will help. I speak from experience.

I collect my first runnings in buckets, because I use a single kettle to heat and boil.

I have a gas stove, and I think that, if the wort is starting somewhere around 150-160 degrees, it shouldn't have too much problem getting up to a boil. I'll have to check and see if i can hit two burners with my kettle.

As for first runnings, etc. I should be good there, I have several large stock pots that I can use for sparge water.

So does my kettle need to hold at least 8 gal (read it somewheres after i posted this)? It doesn't seem like the turkey fryer kettle is quite that big.

yeah 8 gallons is about right on the low end you need enough to boil at least 6 gallons and have head space to prevent boil over..

The turkey fryer works fine, I used to use mine for boiling batches. Using your stove top you should be able to adjust the volume down just a little since you wont have as high of an evaporation rate. I say jump in and do a batch and then you will be able to see the process first hand and be able to make your own adjustments from there. You won't regret going AG.

You can definitely boil on the stovetop- pretty much any reasonable amount of wort- the issue is how long it'll take to reach a boil- even from 160F.

If you've got about 6 gallons, depending on your stove, pot, and other variables it could take an hour or 2 to reach the boil. The same could be done in 15 mins (+-) on a propane burner.

Look out for a boil over in your house, I've had some messy ones outdoors! But I always try to fill my kettle to the fullest, maybe keep it on the down low in your house.

I boil 7 gallons down to 5.5 gallons on my electric stove (my kettle covers 2 burners), and my brewdays are 4.5 hours start to finish. Basically, it depends on your setup. Give it a try and see how it works.

Even a really good residential stove has burners that max out at about 15k btu's. Check out Sportsmans guide, they have a reasonably priced camp stove that has 30k burners. The problem with most turker fryer burners is that they aren't very adjustable. They're made to push up to 150k btu's, but because they run on high pressure (5-10 psi) the flame gets really sooty if you try to cut it back much. A lot of brewers blow through propane like crazy because those burners are over fired for boiling water. I tried to use a low pressure (1/2 psi) regulator on my fry burner, but the flame was stinky and sooty. Ideally, a burner around 40-50k would be perfect for 5-7 gallon boils. My 30k burner does ok, and doesn't boil over unless the lid is on.

montigeau, true that!

After scraping the charred wort off your stove top once or twice, you'll be looking for other methods. Even if you don't get a massive boil over, something will make its way under the kettle and cause a mess.

Oven cleaner seems to work best, but it's far from perfect.

Also, somehow, brewing on a deck or in a garage is more manly than having to watch out for the doilies next to the stove in the kitchen. Let's face it, if you get in trouble for brewing in a common area in an apartment complex you'd have a good story to tell. Bribery with the finished product might also help.

Full Disclosure - I brewed in my kitchen for 7 years, but I ain't looking back now.

So apparently the turkey frying kettle I inherited is on the small size (6.37 gallons-i got this by measuring and convering cu in volume to gallons so it could be off)--I might be splitting my batch between two kettles until i can get my hands on a bigger pot. From what i've gathered this is possible as long as I proportionately split my hops and whatnot between the two kettles.

I know guys that do 20 gallon batches that way. Once you work out a system, you'll be fine.