A little over year ago I purchased turkey fryer setup for $25 and got into this hobby. Just made the jump to AG and a new SS 10 gal. kettle. Still going stand-alone burner in the garage/shop (door open) and BIAB. I like the pot 10-14" off the floor. Time to upgrade the burner. What say you forum? What’s a good burner?
This is what I use.
I get it higher by cutting some steel fence posts to about 24", and bolting them to the frame. Works like a champ. The burner is wide and sturdy enough to hold a ginormous pot, including keggles.
I haven’t had a chance to brew with this yet (hopefully will this Saturday ) but I got this for Christmas and built the stand with 1 foot and 2 foot slotted angle iron from lowes and bolted it together. It took maybe 30 min to assemble and is rock solid. Burner is a kab4 bayou classic.
That’s a cool idea for a base.
If you have a large kettle I would consider widening the base to make sure it doesn’t get tippy on you. Maybe replace the 1’ pieces on the bottom with 2’ pieces? Each corner would extend out 1’ (ish) outside the base to give it more support side to side.
I tend to over build though, so it probably isn’t necessary. I knew a brewer who dumped 5 gal of boiling wort over on himself and am very leery about that type of thing. It took several years for him to heal.
Paul
When I got my new brew system I got the Blichman burner and love it, burns super clean, really quiet and sips propane. Brings my 20 gallon kettle up to mash temps in about 20-30 minutes. I’ve also heard good things about the newer EdelMetal (sp) and its a bit cheaper but super nice quality as well
It does??? I’ve always heard it guzzles it.
I have the Bayou Classic KAB6 banjo burner with the bigger foot print. Works great for me and haven 't had any issues with it:
What gal. and apporx. diameter is the kettle on the burner in the photo?
Also, how is that burner for turning down very low?
What’s the difference between the Bayou Classic Kab4 and the Kab6?
Edit: Nevermind, just found the answer. Same burner, Kab6 has a bigger base.
Frame size. The 6 is better with keggles as the legs extend past the keggle.
Interesting, not my experience at all, I got mine just a couple months ago so perhaps its been re-engineered
Can you turn it down super-low without it blowing out?
I think the bad experiences are folks that turn it way up. For best results, the flame should be blue and shouldn’t rise off of the nozzles.
Think of it like a car. I can get to where I am going faster driving 80 @ 3500 rpm, but I’ll get better fuel efficiency driving 70 @ 2700 rpm.
Not really sure, haven’t tried it. I suppose it would really depend on how windy it is;) I’ve got mine set up with a BrewEasy and TOP with its own solenoid and igniter now. I need heat, it turns on, when it gets to temp, it turns off.
Even before this set up I almost doubled the brew sessions off one tank from previous burner but that was 5 gallon batches, now doing 10’s
Agreed, lots of people really don’t know how to properly adjust/mix air to gas ratio for good blue flame and efficient use
I have the bayou classic and love it. You can turn it very low or very high. Not only can I get a blue flame but it can actually get clear sometimes so you have to hear it and feel the heat to know its on. The bottom of my kettle doesn’t have even a smidge of black.
Bite the bullet and get the Blichmann. It will be the last burner you will need, and it will be cheaper than buying two or three cheaper ones. And like duboman said, it burns super hot and clean, no soot. I find that it doesn’t burn any more propane than my old Bayou SQ14.
It would be easy to add support to the bottom. I have an 8 gal kettle and it sits inside the top corners of the burner. It’s rock solid. I may try to figure out something for the top like blichmann and endemetal use to hug the bottom edges of the kettle.
After 8 years with a Bayou Classic SQ14, I am upgrading to a blichmann. I considered others, but I find the blichmann to have more items in the pros column.
The SQ14 was great, just want something a little more efficient.
I’m glad to hear you’ve considered the risks. I’d hate to have not mentioned it and then hear somethngbad happened.
No good, or at least easily described, ideas on the ring. I’m sure you’ll come up with a good solution.
Paul