Natural gas for seafood boil

I've heard that you don't fill your container with hot water before you are about to boil.

Since the hot water comes from the hot water tank, it is liable to have sediment and other things in it which affects the boiling point, raising it so that it is way hotter than it should be. Could be an old wives tale tho.

I had the same decision to make two years ago for my shop being built. My choice was a NG line extension from my house or a large bottle propane system. The price was close to the same. My plumber "who lost the job" recommended the propane bottle because the NG pressure to a typical home is in ounces and he was concerned about the lack of BTU's for boiling.

I went with the vertical 120-gallon propane tank with a 5# regulator with the propane company installing everything. The only problem is the lines can't be inside of a wall and the tank has to be a certain distance from a door or window. It has plenty of BTU's. I boil a lot of seafood and after a year it was at 40%. I called the company and they sent a truck to top it off.

Last year I installed a NG whole house generator and had to change out my residential meter to a larger 2# one. The generator runs off the 2# pressure but the house piping is regulated down to normal ounces pressure.

Looking back I would make the same decision today and go with the propane tank.

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I went with the vertical 120-gallon propane tank

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My aunt has a similar system at her house, but they don't have gas lines in their small town. She wanted it for a gas fireplace and to connect to a generator in case of emergencies. She calls them every fall to come top it off and it usually is still half full.

I don't eat boiled seafood, but have been frying turkeys and blackening fish on my natural gas burner for 15+ years with no issue, you can also get a burner with jets designed for natural gas methinks.

Another reason I like my home propane system, it is possible to be portable with the same burners by using the gas grill type bottles. I have three propane fueled burners, one for boiling, one for frying and a gas grill.

I have a two sack pot, can easily fry fairly large amounts food and cook a lot of hamburgers/hot dogs at one time. It comes in handy when feeding a crowd of people at the camp, neighbors/friends house, festivals, tailgating, fundraisers for schools and non profit organizations or the ball park.

I have used it at least 7 times in this manner over the last two years.

Natural gas works fine for boiling seafood...just a couple of things to remember:

- you'll need more than the normal .25# of pressure that your house runs on, so tell the gas company up front.

- you have to get a burner that is jetted for natural gas use, a propane burner puts too much air in the stream.

Have you ever seen the inside of cold water pipes? Full of junk.

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Hate that it does take twice as long to come to a boil

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You're thinking about it the wrong way. That is more time you have to drink beer.

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BTUs are BTUs no matter the fuel. I would go with natural gas for the convenience and most likely cost of fuel (dependent upon cost in your area)

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Well, potential BTUs are potential BTUs. There are other factors - like the pressure difference - that will affect what kind of equipment you will be able to use which may, in turn, affect such things as how long it takes to bring the water to boil. As long as the OP is willing to use equipment made for NG, and that satisfies his needs then no problem.

For example: for me, using natural gas would lead to duplication issues. I can't use my boiler with NG and would have to have separate boilers for on-site versus off-site boiling.