While many see Memorial Day weekend as the start of grilling season, warmer weather here in the Hudson Valley means that many of us are already firing up our propane grills with some regularity.
There are so many advantages that grilling with propane offers. One big one is time. On a busy weeknight, you can turn on the propane grill and it’s ready in minutes. You can have many dishes on the table before a charcoal grill is ready to grill! And when dinner is done, you simply turn the grill and propane supply valve off. You don’t have to deal with messy ashes as you do with charcoal. When you’re hosting a cookout, the ease and convenience of propane allows you to spend more time with your guests and less time tending to clean up thereafter.
Because propane is so clean-burning, it lets you enjoy the flavor of your foods, especially delicate ones like fish or vegetables.
However—to enjoy all these benefits, you’ll need to start with a propane cylinder.
Need a fill-up today? You can bring your propane cylinders to Depew Energy’s offices, located at 5182 Route 9W in Newburgh, NY for our cylinder refill and exchange service!
Did you know that much like your home’s propane tank, a propane cylinder is not filled to the brim? That’s not a rip-off. That’s for safety.
Propane is a liquid. Like other liquids, it expands in the heat, and the expansion rate of propane is 17 times that of water. If your propane cylinder is filled all the way, there is no room for the propane to expand, creating a potentially dangerous situation.
Your propane cylinder is usually filled to 80% full to give the propane room for expansion. On average, a propane cylinder filled to 80% gets about four gallons of propane.
The best way to know how much propane is in your cylinder is by investing in an external propane cylinder gauge. These are affordable and can be found at your local home improvement store or online.
There are three kinds of external gauges:
An easy way to do it if you don’t have an external gauge is to use water. Fill a small bucket with warm to hot tap water and pour that water down the side of the tank. Run your hand along that side and feel for a cool spot. The top of the cool spot is the fill level of the tank. The liquid propane in the cylinder absorbs the heat from the water, making it cooler.
Don’t let running out of propane ruin your cookout! Contact us to learn more about our propane cylinder refill and exchange service and how we can get you a fresh, full cylinder—or many more—today!