By Bob Difley
Stop buying those expensive LP gas canisters to fire up your gas barbecue. Not only is it a spendy proposition, it’s a major hassle running out halfway through cooking the Easter ham. Here’s an adaption that will save you time and money.
The heart and soul of the matter is an adapter that allows you to tie onto a standard LP cylinder, then route the LP to your barbecue regulator/gas control via a hose.
There are two approaches: The inexpensive approach ties directly to a freestanding LP gas canister. Add more money and a different adapter, a “T” style, allows you to tie onto the LP cylinder on your rig – drawing gas for both the rig and the barbecue simultaneously.
The cost of propane used will be cheaper than the LP gas canisters, and with the quick connect fitting it can be hooked up in seconds. You can leave it connected while you are camped and only need to pack it away when you move on.
Since I barbecue right next to my rig, I installed two bookshelf brackets above my propane tank so when I cook, I slip the extensions into the brackets and place a shelf on top. Voila! A place for holding utensils, tools, condiments, barbecue sauce, etc., right at hand.
Check out this simple, no frills adapter here. Or go the extra mile for the “T” style adapter.
You can find Bob Difley’s e-books on Amazon Kindle.
Related:
Propane: Do you know these safety basics?
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You may also byu the Flame King refillable cylinders now. They are the only ones DOT approved to be refilled. The adapters work great but sometimes the small bottle is all you need.
That is exactly what I did, got 3 of them and can refill, way safer(and legal) than refilling the disposable ones.
Hopefully without kicking off *that* whole discussion again, I’ve refilled my 20 or so 1# cylinders about 10-15 times EACH… only had one slow-leak in all that usage, and I just keep it connected to my shop torch to prevent that. You can do the math on savings, and the convenience of running a half dozen little LP devices at once if I want to. As for legality, there’s no possible way to check whether I refilled, so you’re afraid of a ghost there. What I DO advise is knowing what you’re doing and safe fill/transport/storage — but that applies equally to factory-filled bottles too. Do what makes sense to you, but my choice is clear.
Can these be filled at a propane refilling station?
NO they can’t legally fill the one pound bottles.
No, refill stations won’t do it for you, and it’s wouldn’t be worth it to them selling 30cents of propane at a time. I fill 20# for $7 and then refill the tiny bottles 20x myself with a $8 adapter.
Heck we’ve been using a little 5 pounder bottle now pertnear 40 years. Changed out the valve when the new safety ones were required and added a “T” so we could use both our 2 burner Coleman stove & our little Weber grill at the same time. Bottle will last us a whole season before we have to refill it. Have never messed with those little mini cylinders.
“Pertnear”. I love it! I grew up in Iowa with several beloved family members who used that term frequently. Thank you for reminding me of that. 🤠
Our Grand Design Reflection has a built-in secondary hook-up, on the curb side, near the entrance door step. You just plug in a 10-15 foot hose, and you are ready to go. We can use either our Blackstone or our small Weber grill very easily.
We rarely use the grill near the camper, usually we are on a day trip somewhere when we use it so the little bottles are just what we need.
Can you write an article on the pros and cons of refilling the small cylinders? There seems to be quite a bit of interest in the topic.
Thanks.
Even though our coach has a propane connection. Our BBQ runs on green Coleman canisters. This allows us to move it from our side patio to our rear patio without cumbersome hoses that require additional storage. We can also take it with us to group BBQ’s. Extra canisters take up far less room that propane hoses.