I used my new KAB6 banjo burner (Bayou Classic) yesterday and wanted to report a little information.
I brewed an AG batch, with a grain bill of 10.25lbs, boil duration 60 min, 7gal pre boil. I used the burner & a freshly filled 5 gal propane tank to heat all my mash & sparge water.
Before I started, the tank weighed 40.2lbs. After brewing, the tank weighed 31.4lbs, a difference of 8.8lbs or ~22%.
With that info, I suspect that I can get 3-4 batches from a fresh propane tank, if doing batches with similar grain bills. Larger grain bills or longer boils, both requiring larger volumes of water, would reduce the amount of batches per tank.
I use a flat bottomed 10 gal aluminum pot and I had NO problems using the burner out of the box. I considered modifying the burner before the 1st use (based on some other posts here) but don't feel it is necessary to do this for flat bottomed pots. It was a very calm day, so I didn't have any issues with wind for this brew session.
One brew day folly: As I was heating my 1.5 gals of mash-out water in my boil kettle, I went and stirred my mash. When I looked back to the kettle, the plastic sight glass (on my weldless fitting) had melted and water was now spewing out of the brass fitting. Wow. The power.
Note: This burner delivers an amazing amount of heat to the pot bottom and up the sides. With the small volume of mash-out water I was heating there wasn't enough liquid in my sight glass, so the plastic over heated and melted. Next time, boil small amounts of water in a different pot.
I also had my 1st boilover, due to underestimating the power of this burner. I looked away and over the top it came.
I found the stock 30psi fixed regulator was very adjustable in terms of reducing the heat up & down. I had no problems adjusting the boil to prevent additional boilovers.
When igniting the burner & dialing in the flame I noticed something. If the burner (when igniting) sounds like a loud jet-engine, its not running as efficiently as possible. When I was able to get it dialed right, it sounds like a aggressive "sshhh" sound - and it is actually much quieter than my old turkey fryer burner.. And probably appreciated by my neighbors.
All in all, the upgrade from a turkey fryer burner to this MONSTER is incredible. Without the issue with having to repair my kettle after the sightglass melt, I'd say this burner takes 30-45 minutes off of my brew day, which typically had been 4.5 hours.
I'm very happy with this purchase and if you're looking to upgrade your burner for any reason, I'd say this burner is an obvious choice.
I brewed an AG batch, with a grain bill of 10.25lbs, boil duration 60 min, 7gal pre boil. I used the burner & a freshly filled 5 gal propane tank to heat all my mash & sparge water.
Before I started, the tank weighed 40.2lbs. After brewing, the tank weighed 31.4lbs, a difference of 8.8lbs or ~22%.
With that info, I suspect that I can get 3-4 batches from a fresh propane tank, if doing batches with similar grain bills. Larger grain bills or longer boils, both requiring larger volumes of water, would reduce the amount of batches per tank.
I use a flat bottomed 10 gal aluminum pot and I had NO problems using the burner out of the box. I considered modifying the burner before the 1st use (based on some other posts here) but don't feel it is necessary to do this for flat bottomed pots. It was a very calm day, so I didn't have any issues with wind for this brew session.
One brew day folly: As I was heating my 1.5 gals of mash-out water in my boil kettle, I went and stirred my mash. When I looked back to the kettle, the plastic sight glass (on my weldless fitting) had melted and water was now spewing out of the brass fitting. Wow. The power.
Note: This burner delivers an amazing amount of heat to the pot bottom and up the sides. With the small volume of mash-out water I was heating there wasn't enough liquid in my sight glass, so the plastic over heated and melted. Next time, boil small amounts of water in a different pot.
I also had my 1st boilover, due to underestimating the power of this burner. I looked away and over the top it came.
I found the stock 30psi fixed regulator was very adjustable in terms of reducing the heat up & down. I had no problems adjusting the boil to prevent additional boilovers.
When igniting the burner & dialing in the flame I noticed something. If the burner (when igniting) sounds like a loud jet-engine, its not running as efficiently as possible. When I was able to get it dialed right, it sounds like a aggressive "sshhh" sound - and it is actually much quieter than my old turkey fryer burner.. And probably appreciated by my neighbors.
All in all, the upgrade from a turkey fryer burner to this MONSTER is incredible. Without the issue with having to repair my kettle after the sightglass melt, I'd say this burner takes 30-45 minutes off of my brew day, which typically had been 4.5 hours.
I'm very happy with this purchase and if you're looking to upgrade your burner for any reason, I'd say this burner is an obvious choice.