Propane Burner for Melting

[terryt]

Hi:

I am looking at a King Kooker Propane Cooker With Cast Iron Pot — 54,000 BTU Burner, Model# 1650 for melting lead. Does anyone have experience with this model?
If so how must weight do you think it will hold?

Will a Ducth Oven say weather it is cast Iron or Steel?

Thanks,

Terryt

[milprileb]

https://www.pelicansky.com/productdetail.aspx?id=99&cat=65

THis works for me. I bought right one time and glad of it. I think it goes 150,000 BTU but a call to the maker can answer that fully.

I like this unit beyond its performance because its rock steady and holds my 6 qt Dutch Oven solidly.

I am sure the experts can comment about King Kooker and other options for you to make a great decision.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I got a Turkey fryer from Lowes on sale for $29.95

Believe me the brand name on these things has little to do with their performance.

Just find the most inexpensive one you can and fire it up. Just so it has a strong tripod stand under it to hold the weight! Remember a Dutch oven full of lead is probably going to weigh 100+ lbs.

I had to straddle the burner ring on mine with 2 peices of 1" CRS bar stock to hold my plumbers pot which wasn't big enough to completely span the burner ring, but a Dutch oven would easily make it.

Keep in mind, this isn't the type of thing you're going to use every day, in fact I've used mine exactly once. and I smelted 10 5 gal cans of WW into 450 lbs of Muffin pan ingots in one 5 hour session. I have lead ready for alot of boolits!

Previously I had used a Coleman stove to smelt one can of WW in 8 hours!

The high production rate was well worth the $30 for the cooker. And I have it now if it is needed for other chores.

The good news is, if you don't contaminate the aluminum pot you can still cook lobsters, clams, crabs, or turkeys, which is something you'll probably do more oftern than smelting lead.

The whole idea is to accumulate a bunch of lead and spend one day processing it into what ever you want, as opposed to firing it up for 1 hour to do a small batch. not to say yo can't do that too, but dealing with the mess once in a longer time is better than dealing with it many times.

My .02

Randy

[Big Boomer]

A while back I purchased from Bayou Classic something-or-other a cooker. Total cost with shipping was about $ 125 or so but it is one whopper of a heater. You can really melt a bunch of lead with one of these things. 'Tuck (as in Kentuck)

[KohlerK91]

I too picked up a turkey cooker from the flea market for $15 bucks. If you go this route just make sure it is sturdy enough to hold the amount of lead you plan to smelt.

[terryt]

Hi:

I want to thanks all of you for your help.

Terryt

[FAsmus]

Terry;

I bought a propane cooker many years ago.

I cut the legs off it and set it on my bench where I use it regularly for all phases of casting from rendering down WW & scrap lead to precision casting of my "Match" grade bullets.

For runs of light bullets - those weighing around 200 grains or so - I use a 10 pound Lyman pot. This item is too small for the support iron of the burner so I simply modified a big coffee can to hold it securely. ~ Just cut it's height down to match the pot and a hole for the pot to fit into the top of the can. The can will burn out after a year or so of use - but they are free!

For heavy bullets - those weighing 400 grains or more I use a 20 pound pot. The method for supporting the pot is the same as the 10 pounder but you have to use one of those great big cans you see used for sending people Christmas goodies.

The large 6-quart Dutch Oven (mine holds 95 pounds of alloy) is plenty big enough that it doesn't need any extra support but the heat is something terrible. To shield myself from it I built a shield from old scrap sheet metal.

In use the burner will eventually get enough lead splashed into it that you will need to disassemble it for cleaning. Also, any lead that gets over the edge of your pot or spilled for any reason will go down to whatever your bench is made of. Mine is made of slate so there is no problem. If the bench is wooden you should protect it with a piece of 1/8 aluminum.

Good afternoon,
Forrest

[376Steyr]

Just remember that lead is 10 times denser than water, so 6 quarts lead = 60 quarts water = 15 gallons water = 125 lb. If your cooker looks flimsy, have somebody about that weight stand on it and rock it a little. If the cooker collapses under them, be glad you didn't find that out with a pot of molten lead.

[390ish]

I have the King Kooker. Got it through WalMart online. Works great.

[Southron Sanders]

Also keep in mind that some of the propane cookers can get lead so hot, it might emit noxious fumes!

Be careful!

[LabGuy]

Not very probable with a boiling point of 3180 °F

[Ole]

One good way to test your burner setup for sturdiness is to stand on it and move around a little.

Reasoning is if it holds a 200lb man without buckling, you should be OK with a pot full of lead.

[cajun shooter]

A lot of confusion comes about when persons go to purchase outside propane burners and it's all about BTU's. Here in Louisiana where we started the frying turkey and boiling crawfish fads it is not hard to buy one.
We do two types of outdoor cooking and that is where the confusion starts. We fry fish,shrimp,oysters and cook jambalaya which uses the low output pressure regulator. These will be in the 25,000-50,000 BTU range for most pots.
When we boil crabs, crawfish and fry turkey this requires a high out regulator and burner. It's best to buy them as a set. This will put out 150,000 or more of btu and get the job done quick. The pots that are used for this are in the 100 QT class and require that power. This is the best burner and Regulator to purchase, the high power one. You will find that lead melts at a very low temp and may be done on a small gas stove but to finish fast with a lot of production then the high ones are the answer. I have went into local stores here and see them sitting side by side and wondering how many people buy the wrong model.

[JSnover]

Hi:

I am looking at a King Kooker Propane Cooker With Cast Iron Pot — 54,000 BTU Burner, Model# 1650 for melting lead. Does anyone have experience with this model?
If so how must weight do you think it will hold?

Will a Ducth Oven say weather it is cast Iron or Steel?

Thanks,

Terryt

I got that one a few years ago and it works fine. It supports an 8 qt dutch oven filled with molten lead, no problem.
Cast iron or steel, either will work.

[DoubleAdobe]

propane

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A lot of confusion comes about when persons go to purchase outside propane burners and it's all about BTU's. Here in Louisiana where we started the frying turkey and boiling crawfish fads it is not hard to buy one.
We do two types of outdoor cooking and that is where the confusion starts. We fry fish,shrimp,oysters and cook jambalaya which uses the low output pressure regulator. These will be in the 25,000-50,000 BTU range for most pots.
When we boil crabs, crawfish and fry turkey this requires a high out regulator and burner. It's best to buy them as a set. This will put out 150,000 or more of btu and get the job done quick. The pots that are used for this are in the 100 QT class and require that power. This is the best burner and Regulator to purchase, the high power one. You will find that lead melts at a very low temp and may be done on a small gas stove but to finish fast with a lot of production then the high ones are the answer. I have went into local stores here and see them sitting side by side and wondering how many people buy the wrong model.

That's some good information there, Cajun Shooter.