Wind Shield for Bayou Classic KAB6 burner

Finally found a good wind shield for my KAB6 burner. The last 3 batches of beer used up 10-12 lbs of propane and took just as long to heat as my old SQ14 burner. Yesterday I made a barley wine. I heated 15 gallons of water from 100F to 170F, and did a 90 minute boil. I only used 7 lbs of propane using an adjustable cake ring as a wind screen. It can be adjusted from 6.5" to 12.75" making it easy to fit between the legs of the stand and expand to cover the burner. The metal turned darker, and was glowing red hot, but didn't melt.

I bought mine from http://www.pastrychef.com/ADJUSTABLE-CAKE-RING_p_1185.html

Here is a picture taken after it was used:

Awesome! I love this burner but was looking for a solution for the wind shield being too low.

What kind of kettle are you using?

I'm using 3 converted kegs. They are very stable on the stand, even with 15 gallons of water.

I also forgot to mention that the cake ring bends easily. To light it I just pushed it in to expose a few holes from the burner.

Neat idea!

fusa said:

I'm using 3 converted kegs. They are very stable on the stand, even with 15 gallons of water.

I also forgot to mention that the cake ring bends easily. To light it I just pushed it in to expose a few holes from the burner.

Click to expand...

Nice! I use converted kegs as well (but a cooler mash tun).

You said it used to take you as long as your SQ14 to head up, what are the heating times like now? Always looking for ways to cut down on time in the brew day.

You really need a shield on those burners, not necessarily for wind but for heat loss. It's true that they eat up a TON of propane.

I didnt watch the heat times very close, but it did go from about 140F to boil much quicker than I expected.

I just nabbed one of these off of Amazon. Brewing a mild on Saturday!

Overnighted it because I bought it with a 1 micron filter that I need for Saturday. Didn't plan too well for a party I've got coming up. Need to prep 30 gallons for next Wednesday... :cross:

Thanks for posting this. I've been suspecting that the large gap on this burner greatly affects efficiency. This seems like a reasonably inexpensive solution to reducing the gap and hopefully will direct more heat towards the keggle. I also picked one up on Amazon. I'll give it a spin on my next brew day on Black Friday to see how it holds up!

The one on Amazon above is about 3/4" shorter. It will work ok, but I think the one that is 3 1/2" tall would be better. That leaves only 1/2" of space between the stand and the shield.

I saw that and decided to take the risk anyway. I'll know if that's actually true when I receive it. I checked Kaiser's actual site for adjustable cake rings and they only offered a single model in the deep cake style. So either the other source mentioned has a different, undocumented model or they're the same. Worst case, I'll just drill some holes and place some bolts further up on the default shroud so I can mount it higher up. I'll post back once I receive it so I can confirm if the model on Amazon is truly shorter.

How is this working out for you? Obviously stainless steel will not melt, but have you had any issues or concerns? Do you wish you maybe had one to fill in that last half an inch between the top and the stand?

I've got about 6 batches on mine and it's still holding up well, seems like it'll last a long time. I don't think the difference is "night and day" as far as propane use, but it does seem to help a little bit. I was expecting results like the OP, but I don't think the savings were that significant. I saw another style using ducting on here and thought about trying it out to compare, but I'm concerned about the galvanized aluminum that ducting is typically made out of.

7 lbs of propane for one batch seems excessive to me.

I easily brew FOUR, 11-gallon batches using my SQ14 and about 15 lbs of propane. I do 90 minute boils and heat my strike and sparge water on it too. My boils aren't raging but they are nice and rolling with plenty of heavy steam.

One thing I do though is I have a heat shield made from curved 24" sheets of tin that rides half way up the kettle walls, shields the burner from wind and channels any heat that escapes around the kettle into the kettle walls. I think this has something to do with my efficiency.

Jayhem said:

7 lbs of propane for one batch seems excessive to me.

I easily brew FOUR, 11-gallon batches using my SQ14 and about 15 lbs of propane. I do 90 minute boils and heat my strike and sparge water on it too. My boils aren't raging but they are nice and rolling with plenty of heavy steam.

One thing I do though is I have a heat shield made from curved 24" sheets of tin that rides half way up the kettle walls, shields the burner from wind and channels any heat that escapes around the kettle into the kettle walls. I think this has something to do with my efficiency.

Click to expand...

Keep in mind that the different burners make a world of difference. I guess the KAB4 is just a lot more inefficient. I have one too and usually only get 2 ten gallon batches out of a tank of propane.

That setup sounds like a good idea but I have my burner up on cement blocks so I can drain the kettle into the mash tun or the carboys using gravity.