This a great topic! Many have said that they wish they purchased the best they could afford from day one...
This seems like a good spot for this newb question-
What should I purchase? (& more importantly why)
Hellfire burner $150 (& stand)
Amcyl 15 gallon brew kettle w/ weldless thermometer & ball valve $190 (or other kettle?)
Total $340
Or
Bayou classic burner ~$60
10 gallon ss pot ~$60
Total $120
Im new to home brewing & want to move to all grain.
Ultimately I will want the ability to produce 10 gallon batches but have no need to do that today.
The cheap solution will be my next step but the better option will probably be my final kettle & burner..?
Worst case if I never get the hang of brewing all grain & only brew a few batches I should be able to sell the good stuff for $250? Right?
Where the cheap stuff will probably get $20 maybe $40? So the loss of $s will be comparable...?
Any advise & guidance for this newb would much appreciated. Thanks!
Part of the issue is sitting there 6 mos from now having "invested" $120 in equipment that now no longer meets your needs or wants, and having to set it aside or sell it at a great discount.
I would suggest that you consider a kettle with welded fittings and ditch anything that has "weldless" fittings. While some report success with the "weldless" fittings, I had a kettle with them and they never seemed to want to seal quite right. It's not as robust an approach for tapping into a kettle. Welded fittings does = pricier.
Also, it might be helpful to think of the cost as $220. You've already decided to do something, so you're already willing to spend $120. The difference is $220, not the $340 you note for the more expensive setup.
I have a Hellfire, bought the leg extensions, so I know that burner very well. It's pricey, yes, but it helps do something I've been working on, to wit:
Shorten my brew day!
I do Brew-in-a-Bag and I have to heat 7.25 gallons of strike water and then do a boil of 6.5 gallons or a bit more. It takes time to heat that up! I'm sure the Hellfire (140,000 BTU) saves me 30 minutes every brew day in speed, compared to my old 54,000 BTU burner. The thing is a beast.
As far as the height, unless you want be bending down to work w/ your kettle, you'll want the leg extensions. They're about $40 or $45 or something (can't recall exactly).
But no way would I want this thing on the ground w/o the leg extensions. I can rack/drain right from my kettle into a fermenter w/ the kettle on the Hellfire w/ leg extensions. I'd have to lift that kettle to a bench or table. No way.
Now, maybe you can build a small table or some such out of 2x4s or similar, put a fireproof material on the top (ceramic tile?) and that would work to hold the Hellfire. I considered that but again, the cost wasn't $45 for the leg extensions, it was what the cost of the table would be versus the leg extensions, since I was going to do *something* to elevate that burner.
In the end, it makes the burner plus leg extensions almost $200. That's hard to swallow at the beginning (believe me, I know). I used Christmas money plus cash raised by selling my old setup to get it and the Spike 10-gallon kettle I have now.
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If you wanted to sell these items, I'm going to guess you might get 60-70 percent of the kettle costs (I wouldn't be a potential customer because of the "weldless" fittings), and maybe 70-75 percent for the hellfire, depending on condition. Bayou Classic burner? $30-35.
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This is the burner I sold to upgrade to the Hellfire:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/King-Kooker-CS14-25-Portable-Propane-Outdoor-Camp-Stove-CS14/10661038
The nice thing is it already has legs and it will allow one to drain from the kettle. It is 54000 BTU. The BayouClassic is only...what...55,000 BTU? If that's wrong and it has higher BTUs, then probably the BayouClassic is a better deal.
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Anyway, some thoughts on this. I'm sure it just complicates things for you but those are some other considerations.