Burners, burners and more burners.... Yikes!

I'm in the market for a turkey fryer rig that I can also use for a Cajun crawfish/shrimp boil.

I have searched for and read all the pertinent threads and my head is spinning. There's ring burners, jet burners, high pressure, low pressure, 15 dollar target remote control burners, Bayou Classic burners, and on and on.... lol

I would love to have something like this:


http://www.bayouclassicdepot.com/product_338_detailed.htm




$158.95 with free shipping right now from Bayou Classic, but I suppose the 55,000 BTU output isn't that great, neither is the price compared to 15 dollar units. At least the frame including the pot is SS. Hopefully the SS pot is fairly thick. I like that this one will also accomodate any size pot.

Maybe I should just piece a package together and get a higher output burner? The free shipping is only on this package, though.

Comments? Suggestion?

This one is my next one.

"The Banjo"

I just bought one from a company called camp chef for about $65. It's got a 75,000 btu/hr rating, which is better. I haven't used it yet, will be using it for the first time tomorrow. A lot of people on this site recommend 200,000 btu/hr rating or better, but it seems like A LOT of power unless your doing a 10-gallon batch. I read a Q&A session with a brewmaster who questioned the need for 200,000 btu/hr burners in homebrewing when his commerical brewery uses only 10 times that (2,000,000 btu/hr). If you'd like, I'll let you know how my bad boy works after I juice it up tomorrow.

I got a cheapie ($30) from Cabela's. I don't recall what the BTU output is off the top of my head but it works quite nicely for extract boils. It doesn't take long get my wort to temp so I don't think I'd have to upgrade for all-grain, but who knows.

I subsequently ended up buying the turkey pot w/ accessories and as with most kits, it probably would have been cheaper in the long run to buy it all at once. So if you want to do a turkey at Thanksgiving next year (which I highly recommend) I'd go for the combo kit.

AHU

ORRELSE said:

This one is my next one.

"The Banjo"

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From the Bayou Classic website:


"This propane stove, with the 30 PSI regulator and the large round stove element, kicks out the minimum of 210,000 BTUs. This stove will boil a 120 quart stock pot full of water in no time! (Perfect for those Cajuns that want to play with the big boys!)"


That is a beauty!

brackbrew said:

I just bought one from a company called camp chef for about $65. It's got a 75,000 btu/hr rating, which is better. I haven't used it yet, will be using it for the first time tomorrow. A lot of people on this site recommend 200,000 btu/hr rating or better, but it seems like A LOT of power unless your doing a 10-gallon batch. I read a Q&A session with a brewmaster who questioned the need for 200,000 btu/hr burners in homebrewing when his commerical brewery uses only 10 times that (2,000,000 btu/hr). If you'd like, I'll let you know how my bad boy works after I juice it up tomorrow.

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I may go with the one I posted a pic of above, but I would like to hear how well yours works. Doing ten gallon batches is probably not going to be in my future, so I'm not sure I need a nuclear reactor just yet. If it turns out I do, having two burners in the future wouldn't be a bad thing. One for heating water and one for the boil.

I got this from Academy sports for 68$ and I'm very happy with it:

I'm not sure what the BTU rating is on mine, but its not 200K. It looks almost exactly like the one you found, but for a lot less. It's all stainless steel as well.
It does a great job on my extract kits. I can get 3 - 3 1/2 gallons boiling in 20 minutes. I think it is a 36 or 32 qt as well.

With that said, I also like Academy sports as well. They have good prices and the people at their store seem pretty knowledable. I think they are out of Austin as well.

AllHoppedUp said:

I got a cheapie ($30) from Cabela's. I don't recall what the BTU output is off the top of my head but it works quite nicely for extract boils. It doesn't take long get my wort to temp so I don't think I'd have to upgrade for all-grain, but who knows.

I subsequently ended up buying the turkey pot w/ accessories and as with most kits, it probably would have been cheaper in the long run to buy it all at once. So if you want to do a turkey at Thanksgiving next year (which I highly recommend) I'd go for the combo kit.

AHU

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Thanks for the input. The package I'm looking at above usually sells for 190 dollars. It's on sale, plus they are offering free shipping on it. If I didn't want to do turkeys and such, I would probably just get the Kick A Banjo and a SS pot from somewhere else.

I still don't know what I'm gonna do. Maybe I should have a brew or two and see if that helps...

joutlaw said:

I'm not sure what the BTU rating is on mine, but its not 200K. It looks almost exactly like the one you found, but for a lot less. It's all stainless steel as well.
It does a great job on my extract kits. I can get 3 - 3 1/2 gallons boiling in 20 minutes. I think it is a 36 or 32 qt as well.

With that said, I also like Academy sports as well. They have good prices and the people at their store seem pretty knowledable. I think they are out of Austin as well.

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They do look a LOT alike, don't they? I just wish Academy Sports had a better description of it on their website. I may have to make a run by their store.

What kind of quality is the SS pot that came with yours?

Edited to add: It's hard to tell from the picture, did yours come with a lid?

Yep it came with a burner, pot, lid, strainer, turkey holder with hook, and turkey injector. I think now they even come with a fish fry pot.

I have had great luck with it. I leave the burner out in the rain and it works great. No pitting or rusting on the stainless. I'm not sure of the guage, but it works well for making beer. I like my buddies converted keg kettle better, but this does a great job.

The main reason I got it was b/c everything was SS, excluding the burner. I can tell its easily adaptable to put another burner on as well if the need arises in the future.

I'd make the trip and check it out for sure.

I purchased this one off of ebay.Turkey fryer

200,000 btu burner seems like big time overkill. If you get your stuff set up while you wait for the mash water to heat then you don't have to wait on it at all. The wort is also nice and warm after coming out of the mash tun so it takes maybe 5 or 10 minutes to get it to a boil. I think I'd have some serious boilover problems with a 200,000 btu burner.. that hotbreak would come so fast.

By the way, northern brewer has a 200,000 burner for $64 but you'll need to come up with the stand and pot (pony keg anyone?). Here's what they have to say about it:
This burner has 20 jets, putting out 200,000 BTU. This has a diameter of 8", and the flame height is 6 to 8". Available in either natural gas or low pressure propane. A professional plumber should make the connections for you.

If you really want to go nuts they also have a 300,000 btu burner.. yes folks I said 300,000 btu. It's only $89.50... here's what they say:
To be perfectly honest, we've never hooked this burner up, but it is the same design as our popular 100,000 and 200,000 BTU burners, except with 32 jets. If you buy this, please send us some photographs when you get it fired up! This puts out an astonishing 300,000 BTU, so you will definitely need a professional to do some calculations and do the hook up for you. The diameter of this burner is 10.75".

You could attach that sucker to a pole, put your propane tank on your back and you'd have one hell of a flame thrower...

I'd be very curious to find out the quality of the SS pots that come with these kits. Home Depot sells one for $99 that would be a really good deal if that pot was pretty sturdy and had a thicker bottom. Something tells me they are of the flimsiest SS you can get, sides AND bottom, but I'd love to hear someone tell us that this were not true!

Okay, I just got home from Academy Sports. The 68 dollar all SS turkey fryer kit would work for homebrewing. The kettle is on the thin side (both bottom and sides), so I'm still looking around since I'm not even sure what kind of beer/ale I want to make next. It was made in China. No biggie, but I also want a bigger kettle than a 30 quart. I did walk out off there with a new rod and reel. Very nice bunch of people they have working there.


Passload, that guy selling those on eBay has good feedback, good prices, and has lots of other kits to choose from. The one you bought looks good. I'm still not sure exactly what I want, though.

Thanks for your help, everyone!

Lounge Lizard said:

I did walk out off there with a new rod and reel.

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Finally somebody wants to talk about something interesting. What kind of rod...what kind of reel? Where you going...what are you gonna catch? What have you caught lately...what got away?

El Pistolero said:

Finally somebody wants to talk about something interesting. What kind of rod...what kind of reel? Where you going...what are you gonna catch? What have you caught lately...what got away?

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Gosh, EP... wish I had some good recent fish stories to tell. I haven't been fishing in ages. Basically, it has been so warm here in Northern Baja Oklahoma, that I have had the urge to go fishing again. My hobbies and addictions run in cycles. There's just too dang many of them to do all at once. I'm burnt out on trying to learn how to play the guitar, so for now it is going to be beer and wine making and fishing.

All I picked up at Sports Academy is a packaged up Zebco rod and reel hanging on the wall. I have two or three tackle boxes full of all kinds of junk, but all my fishing poles (with the exception of cane poles) have all gotten busted up. No boat, so I'm going to be stuck on the bank either at Lake Grapevine or Joe Pool. If I had a boat, I would be heading to Lake Fork or Sam Rayburn.

I remember catching a barn door crappie on Lake Sam Rayburn in the past. It wasn't what most people call a barn door.... this sucker was HUGE!

I'll be happy with a couple of catfish or a sand bass or two when I make it out to the lake next week. If don't catch any fish, at least it will be an excuse to have abrew or two....