Outdoor burners?

CornyKegs 728
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I use the Bayou Classic Banjo in the garage and out in the driveway and love it. The thing is a beast.
 
TheZymurgist said:
This is a great burner, and the stand is large enough to fit a keggle easily. You can find them much cheaper than that, though. I picked mine up for just under $80 shipped.
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Absolutely correct. We did not pay this much either. I just googled to find a quick link of the burner. Not as a great deal. Sorry.;)
 
+1 for the Blichman Burner. Although the burner is more expensive than others, it has a couple of things going for it.

1) It's Stainless Steel. This thing will last for ever.
2) The gap between the burner and the pot is fairly small and the wind screen comes almost all the way to the pot (about a 1 inch gap). I don't have to worry about wind and loosing BTU's out the sides.
 
:off:

Even though I'm happy with my SQ-14, could one switch out the manifold for a different one? Seems the burner on the Blichmann is the same as on the Banjo Burner (or is it the Hurricane?). People rave about the Blichmann, so could I use the Banjo's manifold on my SQ's frame and have a (theoretically) better burner? Has anyone ever done that?
 
I have the SQ-14, it provides plenty of heat. Only downside is that I cannot get the fuel/air mixture to the point where it doesn't leave a lot of soot on the bottom of the kettle. I have played with the air inlet and tried many settings. When there is nothing sitting on the burner, the flames are deep blue with just a little yellow on the tips. But when I put a kettle on it, the flames turn more yellow, as less air is getting to the flame.
 
My HLT is on my original turkey fryer. I plan to replace it because it is slow. I have my boil kettle on an SP10 and it is a bit loud at full throttle but as soon as the boil starts I turn it down, almost off. I may look into the SQ-14 since it is about the same price as the SP10. I would like a Blichmann but they are WAY out of my budget.
 
+1 Blichmann. I wanted to brew 10 gal batches so I got the Blichmann, Bling, Shiny, My Precious, Bling Bling, Floor Burner with Leg extensions and a Natural Gas Conversion kit. Say goodbye to proPAIN refills? Turkey Fryer Bayou Classic worked fine for 5 gal batches and I owned it already to fry turkeys, so it was great. But now my Bling Bling Burner makes my wort boil faster & I am setup for a top tier stand when I want to.
 
Someone please explain why the Blichmann is better than a Bayou Classic KAB6. They use the exact same banjo burner, but the Bayou Classic is at least $50 cheaper. The only difference I can see is the Blichmann name and the fact that it's shiny.
 
Just got the latest catalogue from Northern Brewer, and they are now offering a burner at $39.99 that looks pretty good. Called the "Dark Star Burner," they claim that it heated 5 gallons of water from 67°F to boiling in 17 minutes, while using only 0.8 pounds of propane. It is a "torch"-style burner, and is able to support a boil kettle up to 10 gallons in capacity.

glenn514:mug:
 
glenn514 said:
Just got the latest catalogue from Northern Brewer, and they are now offering a burner at $39.99 that looks pretty good. Called the "Dark Star Burner," they claim that it heated 5 gallons of water from 67°F to boiling in 17 minutes, while using only 0.8 pounds of propane. It is a "torch"-style burner, and is able to support a boil kettle up to 10 gallons in capacity.

glenn514:mug:
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That does look promising. And it's rated 54000BTU/hr., the same as the Bayou Classic.
 
TheZymurgist said:
Someone please explain why the Blichmann is better than a Bayou Classic KAB6. They use the exact same banjo burner, but the Bayou Classic is at least $50 cheaper. The only difference I can see is the Blichmann name and the fact that it's shiny.
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Blichmann vs BC KAB6
You can find the output data and propane fuel usage on to the Blichmann Website.. Yeah the data is from Blichmann but I don't think that anyone is disputing the numbers.

Beyond having higher output and being more efficient: the Blichmann won't rust, has pot stops to keep kettle on burner, does better in wind, optional leg extensions make it the perfect height to drain straight into carboy, if you decide to you can convert to NG, you can put it on the Top Tier Standard and yes it is shiny and looks great, and will never rust.

IMO If you can afford a Blichmann, go with it. I have brewed for years on a Bayou Turkey Burner, it will work for you just fine too.

Side Note: When you fire up your BC banjo for the 1st time make sure its outside and not in garage with door open. You have to burn off the paint on the banjo. You get fumes and smoke.
 
I have also read where some folks say the KAB6 has too much distance between the burner and the kettle. Folks wind up hacking and re-welding the bars to be closer to the burner, more like the Blichmann. So, unless you have the tools and skillset to do that yourself it's probably cheaper to just buy the Blichmann.

I was going to buy the KAB6 myself but went ahead and spent the extra cash for the Blichann. Man am I glad I did; that thing kicks some "Bling, Bling" arse! :)

Plus it truly "sips" propane!
 
Nagorg said:
I have also read where some folks say the KAB6 has too much distance between the burner and the kettle. Folks wind up hacking and re-welding the bars to be closer to the burner, more like the Blichmann. So, unless you have the tools and skillset to do that yourself it's probably cheaper to just buy the Blichmann.

I was going to buy the KAB6 myself but went ahead and spent the extra cash for the Blichann. Man am I glad I did; that thing kicks some "Bling, Bling" arse! :)

Plus it truly "sips" propane!
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+1 on this. I did the hack job on my kab6 and with the extra hardware and time spent, should have just got the blichman. To be clear though its only when using a keggle. With a flat bottom kettle the kab6 is fine out of the box. With a keggle I don't think it can be too close. Mine is all the way up and wow, I barely have to turn the flame up, prob 25%, to get a killer boil. I am working on a strut built Brutus 10 rig now and I plan on mounting kab6 burners pretty much flush with the top bar.
 
I just use a good old crawfish burner. Boils crawfish and beer equally well. And it sounds like a rocket is taking off.

SP1.jpg
 
TheZymurgist said:
Someone please explain why the Blichmann is better than a Bayou Classic KAB6. They use the exact same banjo burner, but the Bayou Classic is at least $50 cheaper. The only difference I can see is the Blichmann name and the fact that it's shiny.
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Dude, everything by Blichmann is overpriced. Summary judgment; case closed.
 
Folks seem to over-think the whole burner thing. It is possibly the simplest piece of gear a brewer will ever own.
 
I bought the banjo burner sp1 its $38 on amazon. It get 15 gallon batches boiling quick. the only problem I have with it, is its noise when running on high not bad once the wort is boiling though.
 
out of all the things we all buy for home brewing...$150 could be one of the least expenses we have. The more I look at the burner and the design, 50 more for something like that isn't bad at all.
 
Genuine said:
out of all the things we all buy for home brewing...$150 could be one of the least expenses we have. The more I look at the burner and the design, 50 more for something like that isn't bad at all.
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It all adds up! Ever look at a bank statement thinking how the hell did the balance drop that much??
 
Also, think about if you will be using a Keggle at all as well in the future. While most of these burners will work fine for Kettles, all of the 14" burners don't work well with a Keggle as well. You need a 15" +one to make sure it's more stable. For example the SQ14, is 16", where the SP10 and a lot of others are 14". Just another thought.
 
I still love my three SQ14's! I have two tanks but have gone through 8 batches and still have propane to burn. One tank for BK and one for HLT and MT. In the end all that matters is that you are happy with your choice.
 
I got the turkey fryer kit that Target sells. Burner and a nice 7 gallon pot for a cool $50. I've now got a 15 gallon kettle and use the old 7 gallon for heating the sparge water, but the 7g worked just fine for several extract and AG batches. No issues getting the bigger pot boiling either.

That being said, as soon as I can I am getting the Blickmann. The old burner is rusty as hell from boilovers and life outdoors, and bypassing the built in timer is a pain in the ass too (yes you only need to do it once, but that's too much). The stainless steel construction and kettle supports on the Blickmann are wonderful things, plus it will pay for itself over time with less propane use.
 
Erbe said:
Any one know anything about these?

http://www.homebrewing.org/2-Burner-System-18-w-Banjo-Burner-Stands-65000-BTU_p_3908.html
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Interesting. The ad doesn't state whether the 65,000 BTU rating is for each burner, or both combined. If the latter (which I suspect), then that 32,500 per burner would a bit anemic for anything beyond small batches. The ad also claims "the power of our 18" burner, multiplied by 2". The 18" burner it links to is 220,000 BTU! There's some funny math on that ad.

By contrast, the Bayou burners are around 54,000 BTU.
 
I was at my local farm supply store and they had a bunch of stuff on clearance. As I was looking I saw a Camp Chef Explorer two burner stove. They had this on clearance for $64.99! They had had it for two years and wanted to get rid of it. I was on that like flies on poop. Brewed a five gallon batch yesterday and down beat my turkey fryer to pieces. My eight gallon kettle fit perfectly and heated to boiling in no time. It seemed to be very efficient on gas and the feel of the weight of the propane bottle after the boil, I think I can at least a couple of more brew days out of it. I am one happy beer guy!

1376931953_zpsda490bf3.gif
 
I love my Blichmann, its very quiet uses less fuel and really gets boiling fast.
 

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