Inexpensive Fryer on Woot?

tools.woot.com has a turkey fryer setup today.  It’s seems to be a good, not OMG!!! good, but a good price, from what I can tell.  My question is this: Should I go for this burner?  I’ve been wanting a Blichmann floor burner for a little while.  I haven’t gotten one partially because I’m poor, partially because my gas stove just barely gets to a boil, and partially because there are a couple things I want more.

I’ve heard the Blichmann burners are worth the money.  I’m just wondering if I should jump on the burner on woot, since it’s a deal (I’ll need a second burner at some point anyway.  I doubt that I’ll want to haul sparge water from the house for very long).  Currently though, there are a couple things I want more than a floor burner.  What do you guys think?  I’m just worried this is a better deal than I realize, and I should jump on it, then I can start boiling on a fryer earlier, and I’ll have my second burner when I get a Blichmann.  Thanks guys.

8 gallon pot may be small if you are allgraining.  also im not 100% sure on the design of the burner stand.  i look at it and get an image of an accordion about to fold down as small as it can be.

I wouldn’t be too worried about the stand design.  It looks like 1/4" bent steel which will more than handle the weight.

The 8 gallon pot would be tight for all grain brewing but people have said they get away with it.  I would be concerned about upgrading to a larger pot later because of the raised ring on the stand.  You would be limited to finding large capacity, narrow and tall pots if you wanted to upgrade.

Overall, it’s a pretty good deal for extract brewers who want to move outside.

Paul

I started AG brewing with a turkey fryer setup with a 7.5 gal. pot.  It limited me to partial boils, which affected my efficiency, but made great beer.  Bit of a hassle, but no major issues.  When I got a bigger kettle, I started using the 7.5 gal. to heat water in, and still use it for that to this day.

I still do all grain on my 7.5 gallon turkey fryer (not this exact one, but pretty close). I run off usually 6.5 gallons into the fryer pot, and then put about 1.5-2 gallons on the stove. I try to bring them both to a boil, and then mix them after I lose enough volume. My next purchase will be a 15g pot and Top Tier burner so I can do full boils, and then I will use the turkey fryer for heating boil/sparge water.