Simplest, least costly propane burner for #20 iron ladle pot?

[PBSmith]

I've got a turkey cooker that I use with a Dutch oven for rendering scrap lead. But this is too much furnace when it comes to ladle casting, which I do with a smaller #20 iron pot.

I'd like a single burner that I can hook up to my propane supply tank and keep the 20# iron pot running without making a blast furnace out of the garage.

Any thoughts? The little camp stoves look too flimsy for that much lead.

Flame, not watts.

[William Yanda]

Make your own frame, repurpose the side burner from a discarded propane barbecue grill and cast away.

[PBSmith]

Brilliant . . . real Yankee Ingenuity. Thanks.

[fastdadio]

This looks nice. I might get one myself.
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_15490_15490?cm_mmc=Bing-pla&utm_source=Bing_PLA&utm_medium=Sporting%20Goods%20%2B%20Toys%20%3E%20F ood%20Preparation%20%2B%20Processing&utm_campaign=Northern%20Tool%20and%20Equipment&utm_content=330973&cmpid=53403380&agid=3200075890&tgtid=pla-4576992032595456&prdid=330973&msclkid=4f3b1c67cd421a6ff5267d2c19f1edc9&gclid=4f3b1c67cd421a6ff5267d2c19f1edc9&gclsrc=3p.ds

[Mwilson0173]

I use a colman twin burner camping stove that works very well. Its not the best made but it's not terrible either. I'm in the process of building my own.

[Winger Ed.]

Put a plate with a 'pot' size hole in it on top, and sheet metal side panels around the base.
It'll cut your fuel consumption way down with the set up ya already have.

[oley55]

Put a plate with a 'pot' size hole in it on top, and sheet metal side panels around the base.
It'll cut your fuel consumption way down with the set up ya already have.

Or something like this? a repurposed Goodwill aluminum fry pan (3" deep) that fits perfectly on my propane fryer. Good thing about aluminum relatively easy to cut with a reciprocating saw.

[John Boy]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334157692825?hash=item4dcd59bf99:g:vBEAAOSw6n9hS~F F

[oley55]

I stumbled across this little 600 watt electric burner at a Goodwill store today. It was missing pieces but that little tightly wrapped burner coil kept staring back at me saying, "I'd be perfect with a small cast iron pot." Knowing the Lee 4 pound pot is 500 watts, I thought for $3.99 I'd take it home just to see.

The burner is exactly 4" which is a perfect mate for the little pot pictured. The smaller pot with the wider flat bottom heated the lead to just over 720, while the narrower bottomed larger pot never went over 690 degrees. Just to try it out, I processed 9 pounds of stick-on weights in the larger pot and it worked just fine.

No temp setting knob, just an on/off switch. During the 1.5 hours of putzing around the burner never cut out once, (unlike my Walmart hotplate that's always cutting off). So I pulled the bottom off to make sure it had a safety switch in there and it has one of those heat triggered flat button type gizmo cutout switches. While I had the bottom off, I went ahead and disassembled the whole thing so I could see how the coil was being supported (I was mildly concerned whether it would safely handle 9+ pounds of pot/molten lead). Good news the galvanized steel tray supporting the coil is drawn down snuggly into the steel shell and it is way more than sturdy enough.
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For me this thing will be perfect for smelting small batches of SOWW and/or pewter.

Depending on source/brand these things brand new with all of the pieces (handle, grate/pans) go for $20-$35. I just searched for "electric coal starter" and saw several similar little electric burner stoves.

Hey, it's not propane but...

[woody1]

My BBQ side burner set up. BBQ was going to the dump.

[dverna]

Make your own frame, repurpose the side burner from a discarded propane barbecue grill and cast away.

That is a very good idea.