Too close of a call for my liking.

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Beer_Maker

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New turkey fryer didn't hold up to the weight of 16 gallons of water.

Luckily I had just started heating my strike water or I'd be at the hospital right now.

Any suggestions on a new beefier burner set up?

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Banjo Burner. Don't cut corners on price when it comes to beer equipment. You will only end up buying twice or getting hurt. Also a really nice one is Blichmann. Save up and do it right.
 
I don't and didn't. Well, I didn't intentionally. It's what they had and I thought it was similar to the one I had before. This one had different legs on it.

Grouperdude, the legs on the tall one look like they are the same material and thickness of the one that fails me today. Do you do ten gallon batches on it?
 
Well, you have a perfectly good burner casting and regulator there. Just figure out a way to rig it up to a more worthy platform. You can make something with cut up bedframes, a sturdy metal shelving unit, some UNIstrut, or similar.
 
Whoa, this was a big fear of mine when I had a 10 gallon batch on a cheap turkey fryer. While my old one did look a bit more sturdy then that flower pot you have there, I upgraded to a KAB6 banjo when I had a birthday present to fill. Its super overkill, I'm pretty sure it would laugh at a full 55gal drum, but its a piece of mind and one nice burner.

People should know about that burner, what's the model? Just looking at the way the legs are formed makes me uncomfortable.
 
Yeah, what Bobby_M said. You've got a good burner, regulator, windscreen and the whole thing could be retrofitted with heavier legs without much problem. If you know a local weldor, it could be fixed up easily - as beefy as you like. You can also bolt together something. Flat steel stock (what you had) isn't very strong at all in one direction - angle stock, square tube, strut, pipe, or rebar could be used.
 
Well that helps explain why so many get burned at Thanksgiving.......
Easy to beef it up as BobbyM said. But i'm all for the Blichman or the KAB6...have each.
 
$50 Bayou Classic burner or $150 Blichmann burner; both high quality that'll last you, though the Blichmann reportedly uses less propane and is quieter. Can't go wrong with either one IMO
 
Isn't the Blichmann burner a BC Banjo Burner in a fancy stainless frame? Never seen one anywhere but pictures online so...
 
Or even a stock pot range my man! Can be had for less than $400 on the web. The last heater you'll ever buy.
 
Perfect chance to upgrade!

That turkey fryer probably puts out 40K BTU's.
I got one that puts out 188K BTU's. They make hotter.
The hotter flame saves a lot of time getting water to the temp you want.
 
16 gallons, how tall is your pot? I figure 30" min. Since you are looking at 135 # or so of water I think any decent stand should hold up.
 
My Blichmann burners have had no issues handling my keggles. I've had 13-14 gallons of wort in the boil keggle already and the mash tun with 28.5# of grain (plus 39 qts of water) on one (with the leg extensions in fact).

As far as the Blichmann being the same as a Bayou burner... It might be the same burner element, but that's about all. Between the really well designed stainless housing (does a great job directing the heat, and protecting the flame), great hose and regulator, it's far superior. I originally had a Bayou KAB4 since it looked damned close to the Blichmann. I can tell you from experience, they don't perform the same. The Blichmann burner is a much better unit where it counts. I'm talking about time to get the water/wort to temp without using a metric asston of fuel to do it. I've seen other brewers use different burners too. Compared with the Blichmann they sound like a jet engine (or rocket motor) where the Blichmann is damned near silent. The other burners need to be turned up really high in order to get close to the same performance. Of course, they're also burning more fuel to get there. :eek:
 
Metal bed frames are strong!!!! If you have the tools available stop by a thrift shop and pick one up for cheap. Then cut, drill, and bolt together a frame for you burner. It will be strong enough to plant a mine on.

If you don't have the tools or time a cheap but worthy alternative is an SQ-14, will cost you $50 dollars at Amazon, and comes with the burner and hose/regulator. They are either rated to stand the weight of a 40 or 400 gallon brew pot. I don't remember. Either way, it' will (and in my case) easily support a 15 gallon keggle.
 
Personally I'd never put much more than 5 gallons of anything on a flat-stock made turkey fryer. This previous one even has a terrible engineering design to spread the legs when there it weight on it, not to mention the lack of strength of flat bar when used in length/width instead of its side.

I trust round stock to be sturdier. (and better engineering too).

Not affiliated to any of them, etc.

MC
 
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