I do see your point about the accessories.. I haven't seen any evidence to show blichmanns false bottom performs better than other options. Mine has worked very well for my application but everyones application and implementation varies.
"Best" is relative and really depends on application and circumstances that very from person to person.
The OP already has the different kettles. and based upon size and features and cleanup practices there are good reasons one should be used over another.
But to embellish upon the other reasons you gave for the blichmann being superior for those who dont already have the thier equipment. My point is how do you practically define and justify "best" when these things like the kettle cracking/ breaking or the handles falling off have often been given for these reasons for years here to justify buying the heavier kettles when no one has actually reported this ever happening as far as Ive seen? When you have to exaggerate the extent of the reality of the situation to justify it then is it a real advantage?
If I made beer with blichmann or bayou kettles the procedure would be the same and the beer would come out the same and neither kettle would be more damaged or worn out after that... The differences beyond that is a trade off because I could spend a few hundred or a couple thousand to do so.. and with those differences I could take my chances and bang up and replace a bayou kettle or two and still come out ahead. and that is a very real and practical advantage that the bayou and other lower cost options have over the expensive stuff thats often overlooked as well as the much lower upgrade costs later. What good is a $300 kettle if your afraid to drill a hole in it to improve your workflow? yet I hear excuses like that very often. again different needs and priorities for different people and the outcome is the same so..
Soap box time.
It reminds me a bit of "monster" brand home theater cables.. in the home theater equipment forums... People would spend hundreds more for things like oxygen free speaker wire and $100 hdmi cables with the piece of mind of knowing its the "best" over a $6 hdmi cable thinking it would give them better picture quality when in truth, with digital cables it either works or doesnt, The only picture degradation you can get from a digital hdmi cable was red sparkes that would show up if you used too long of a cable (happens with some 25ft+ unshielded cables).. Otherwise that extra $94 is completely unjustified in the work of normal 3-8ft hdmi cables. But the monster cables are thicker so they wont get damaged as easily right? in the real world application the extra weight is just not actually needed to perform the job and will never really be appreciated... Thats my point.
In this situation, There is more money to be made for places like best buy if they peddle an hdmi cable that costs 8 bucks to manufacture for $100 retail vs a cable that cost $2 to manufacture for $6 and thats the all too often a large reason your see all the marketing hype and false advertising for the expensive options. (Its more about whats best for retailers than the consumer) and someone has to pay extra for the marketing.. It usually doesnt come out of the larger profits of the manufacturer and retailers.
Lab testing was later done comparing these different monster cables against cheaper options and proved that one did not have any real world performance advantage whatsoever and the monitoring equipment of human subjects could not tell the difference. Eventually even places like Bestbuy started carrying more reasonable options (still priced 3 times more than anywhere else)
When you drink a homebrew, can you tell what brand of equipment it was made with? when you break it down to bottle x or homebrew cost 3 times more than bottle Y to brew and is an equally good quality product then which equipment is "Best" isnt so clear.
For these same reasons youll find more GM vehicles on our street than Mercedes..
