OK, I went and did it. I picked up an after Christmas turkey fryer and
a propane bottle. It cost me more for the full bottle of propane than
the cooker.

Now for the ins and outs.

The general rule I've seen from reading is one hour of boiling for one
inch of thickness left in the roughed out turning.

However, after that opinions seem to differ.

One place said leave the wood in the water until it cools.
One said take it out and set it aside.
One said take it out and put it in a paper bag

Also does the size of the tenon matter or should I boil for the
thickness of the sides or the tenon?

There seem to be no guidlines for how long to leave the rough turning
before you can finish turning it. I was thinking of measuring the
weight of the piece every week.