which propane burner

I've been reading past posts for about an hour now here, there, and everywhere and am not much closer to making a decision on what type of burner to get

i'll be brewing 5 and 10g batches using a converted keg as a kettle

any suggestions?

http://bayouclassicdepot.com/kab4_banjo_burner.htm
http://bayouclassicdepot.com/sq14_propane_burner.htm

I plan on building a brew stand from slotted angle steel - hopefully attach with burner to it perhaps...

or a non-propane option? (i wish i could find an easy electrical option since I'm not very handy)

thanks!

The top one will put out a lot of heat and get things moving very quickly, top notch burner. That being said I have two SQ14 (the second one) burners and they get a full 15 gallons boiling in my keggle in less than 20 minutes, so I don't imagine I would need something much more powerfull. If you are buying multiple burners, save the money and go with the cheaper sq 14 I got mine at home depot at the end of the summer sale for about 30 each.

I would say the opposite. I have the SQ14 and I hate it with my keggle. It works great with my 7.5 gal S/S turkey fryer, but that always gives me nerve-wracking boilovers. On the keggle, it's about 45 minutes to go from post-mash to boiling on a 5 gal batch, and about 100 minutes to go from post mash (say 159 ish) to boiling on a 10 gal batch. If I turn it up over 1/3 of the way, half the jets start to go out, and spew unlit propane into the room. I'm fairly disappointed in mine, and in fact holding off of 10 gallon batches (again!) until I get another new burner. I've heard NOTHING but praise for the Banjo Burner (KAB4)

Chriso, sounds like you need to adjust your air intake on the SQ14. I can turn mine almost all the way up and don't have a problem with the jets going out. The air intake is where the flexible hose from the propane tank connects to the burner. You need to turn light the burner and then adjust it until you get all blue flames with just the tips being orange/yellow. When you get the air/propane mixture right, it will also stop the SQ14 from sounding like a jet is taking off. Mine is almost silent.

My air shutter is all the way open. Adjusting closed and back open makes no difference in flame quality. I've entertained the idea that I got a bad unit -- I've got at least 6-7 jets that "just don't quite work right". I get blue flame. I just get sh!tty blue flame that tries to extinguish itself at anything over about 33% throttle. Makes for a long ramp to boil.

you may have either a bad regulator or some liquid (water or wort) inside the burner. Normally one would assume these get pushed out, by the gas, but this isn't always the case.

With reagards to the SQ14 they are usually sold with a 10PSI regulator, I know some people on here have gotten ones with a 5 psi regulator (these have a rubber hose instead of a ss braid) could this be your problem. Additionally if you need a LOT of heat out of an SQ 14 you can order 20 PSI Regulators from Banjo and turn that thing into a jet engine.

Mine came with a 10psi, and I have a spare 10psi attached to my old turkey fryer. This weekend I will try switching the regulator to see if it's just one acting "weirder" than the other.

I haven't looked into the liquid possibility yet, but I have some felt pipe cleaners somewhere, and I'll bring the burner into work and blast it with some compressed air.

Donasay said:

... That being said I have two SQ14 (the second one) burners and they get a full 15 gallons boiling in my keggle in less than 20 minutes.

Click to expand...

It takes mine about an hour to go from tap temp to boiling (~15gal). I have adjusted the air shutter and have what I think is a great flame (turned it until flame turned completely blue, then backed off a hair so the tips have the faintest hint of yellow/orange flame), but I dunno how you are getting 15gal to boil in <20 minutes!

At any rate, mine does boil and does so vigorously once boil is reached, I have to turn the flame down considerably.