I have and love the bayou classic sq14. $50 shipped from Amazon. I bought it 7 years ago and had a buddy add a wind shield about a year ago. My next burner, if I don’t switch to electric, will likely be a blichmann. So quite and they really do sip fuel.
I was initially going to do smaller batches on the stove but my wife is tolerant of the hobby and although I may love the smell of boiling wort, she may not share that feeling for too long!
A friend of mine who is a professional chef once told me “always use a bigger bowl than you think you need”. I think this applies to a lot of things in life, but even more so in this hobby. It never hurts to over engineer and plan ahead for those bigger batches you might be tempted into trying down the road. Cheers!
I actually ordered one of the SP10s last night. with amazon prime it was free two day shipping so a new burner for around 50 bucks. Yay! I had the SQ14 back in California and it was a great burner but I always wished I had a wind screen. I’ve got a flat bottom kettle so I don’t really need the square stand like keggle users do.
I’ve been using the same SQ14 burner for countless batches over the last six years. I think I paid $44 for it on a clearance sale in the fall. I’ve done everything from one to ten gallon batches (though I’ve got to tell you it takes a while to boil 10-12 gallons on a cold, sub-freezing, windy day). My next one will probably be a Blichmann, but not until this one goes. I would say without any reservations that it is a good value and a fine first burner.
Back in December I bought a turkey fryer kit online from Walmart. Has a really solidly built stand with a burner that looks exactly like the $100 Bayou model. Included a 30 qt. aluminum pot w/lid. $25 for the whole thing. Works great! I can’t find the listing again, but check out turkey fryers at Wallymart.
After doing some thinking i’m going to hold off on the burner for right now. I’m going to do a few stove batches on the order of 1.5 gal. (~1.2 gal. yield) to get my process down and then scale up.
When the time comes I will look into something worthwhile but for right now i’m going to concentrate on putting together my mini-mash tun for the stove (2 gal. stacker). For right now boiling and mashing in the kitchen will be the most convenient.
My shed is on it’s way out and when I replace it I am going to build on slab and attach an open structure with a roof so I can brew outside in any weather.
When I started brewing I got one SQ-10 bayou classic burners. May not be the greatest fit for brewing, (more on that later) but it’s one of those things that’s just good to have.
Living in MD, blue crabs are a summer favorite, and these cookers are great for steaming crabs. Like cooking Thai and other Asian foods? Woks work so much better on a really potent burner. Deep fried turkey? Still haven’t tried that one yet…
When I started brewing I did a few full volume extract kits, helped show me a few things I hadn’t considered before I switched to all grain BIAB. I’ve since gone electric, and haven’t looked back. No CO to worry about in my garage, and opens up a realm of possibilities for automation/control. I’m a full time engineering tech/EE student, and I’m steady drooling over ideas for control panel design. You may not have the space for an electric setup, but as a EE you’d probably get a kick out of it.
The best time to buy a turkey fryer is right before Thanksgiving when they go on sale (especially at sporting goods stores) or after Thanksgiving when stores put them on clearance (especially big box retailers and grocery stores) although I don’t know if it’s worth saving $20 to wait another eight or nine months to brew beer. Also check your local craigslist. You might be able to find a good deal on somebody spring cleaning their garage over the next month or two.
The Bayou products are all good quality but they are increasingly more expensive. I would not hesitate to pick up a different brand as long as you could find some reasonable reviews online.
Hm…after looking closer, they’re not the same burner. The SQ14 looks like a slightly smaller Banjo. The SP10 is a smaller burner. I used to have one, and I can’t imagine it would be that capable of boiling 13 gallons in a reasonable time.