Decided to Upgrade from my Bayou Classic SS10

[Epos7]

I started brewing beer last summer and knew I wanted a propane burner without a paint coating. I brewed a couple of times with my friend, and the toxic smell of whatever paint they use burning off was enough to convince me I wanted none of that.

Enter the SS10 - stainless simple propane burner. I didn't think a propane burner was something I needed to splurge on, so I bought what I thought was a reasonable product to meet my only requirement of no burning paint.

I was wrong.

The SS10 is kind of a piece of crap. I returned my first unit because the burner element wasn't centered, and wasn't pointing straight up. The replacement was identical - this is just how they come.

I struggled with the SS10 for the last nine months. It gets the job done, but goes through a whole lot of propane doing it. Brewing five gallon batches, I can get through 2-3 batches before I run out of propane, and I need to have a second tank on hand for that third batch because I'm liable to run out mid-boil. It takes a long time to hit mash temperatures, a long time to hit boil, and struggles to maintain a vigorous boil. My issue with my last 3-4 batches has been not boiling off enough wort.

In the interest of speeding up my brew day, and saving on propane, I ordered a Blichmann HellFire. It was a little bit of a snap decision though, and I typically do more research before making a purchase. Should I have considered the Anvil and Edelmetal burners as well?

 

[day_trippr]

Nah. You're good. You picked the best of the entire lot, enjoy it...

Cheers!

 

[Epos7]

Whelp, looks like I saved myself some time researching

 

[Epos7]

I received my Blichmann Hellfire today. Initial impressions are that it's very sturdy. The burner element is way bigger than the one on my SS10, is centered, and points straight up

When I was putting it together I did notice a couple of quality control issues I wouldn't expect on something this price. There is a brass nut Blichmann refers to as the 'brass propane orifice fitting' which holds the air damper in place. The hole that is tapped for this fitting should be tapped perpendicular to the air damper, but it's tapped at quite an angle. Hopefully it doesn't affect performance, but it seems like a QC issue that was missed.

Secondly, when the retaining bars are installed, they protrude slightly above the surface the kettle is intended to sit on. The result is that rather than resting on the nice wide legs, the kettle is perched on the narrow retaining bars, and doesn't sit flat. It rocks back and forth. I tried pushing the retaining bars down while tightening the nuts, but they're sitting as low as they can.

I think I'll contact Blichmann about these issues and see what kind of response I get. The threads for the nut don't bother me as long as they don't affect performance. That nut is responsible for directing the flow of propane into the burner element. I'm fairly certain it was designed to direct the flow straight in. Being at an angle, it's possible that more propane will reach one side of the burner than the other. The kettle rocking back and forth is annoying. Worst case I can shave the retaining bars down with a grinding wheel.

 

[ChelisHubby]

I would suggest That the pot could be warped, I would also consider that when you fill the pot with water that the rocking should be eliminated. Now if the legs are not true then the problem is a tougher fix.

 

[user 204491]

I too made a very similar switch and am a very happy brewer!

I had a King Kooker cart where the banjo element ended up rusting and replaced it with a Bayou BG10 burner.

To be fair, I never really had any complaints with the King Kooker cart or the Bayour burner, I was just looking for something really powerful for my new brew rig to help speed up the brewing process some.

I double checked, and my Hellfire does not have either of the issues you describe.

I've not yet fired mine up, but I'm very excited to!

 

[Epos7]

I would suggest That the pot could be warped, I would also consider that when you fill the pot with water that the rocking should be eliminated. Now if the legs are not true then the problem is a tougher fix.

Nah, the kettle isn't warped. It sits nice and flat on the legs without the
retaining bars installed. As I outlined in my post, it's the retaining bars that cause it to rock. I suppose I could just use it without the retaining bars.

 

[Epos7]

I too made a very similar switch and am a very happy brewer!

I had a King Kooker cart where the banjo element ended up rusting and replaced it with a Bayou BG10 burner.

To be fair, I never really had any complaints with the King Kooker cart or the Bayour burner, I was just looking for something really powerful for my new brew rig to help speed up the brewing process some.

I double checked, and my Hellfire does not have either of the issues you describe.

I've not yet fired mine up, but I'm very excited to!

Sweet! It looks like a nice burner. I'm not surprised yours has no issues, I seem to be unusually unlucky when it comes to receiving products with defects :smack:

 

[Epos7]

I just fired up the burner for the first time, and I'm wondering if the poor thread tapping of the 'brass propane orifice fitting' could be causing some performance issues. The only way I can keep the flames blue is to have the regulator open about 5%, and the damper all the way open. If I go past 5% on the regulator, or try to close the damper at all, I get a mess of orange flames that comes about a quarter of the way up my kettle.

 

[Epos7]

Here is the flame with the regulator about 5% of the way open, and the damper half way open.

In the manual Blichmann says to start with the damper 1/3 of the way open, and they provide a picture as an example. In their example picture, the damper is 2/3 of the way open, so I'm not sure if the 1/3 open was a typo or if the picture was in error.

 

[Epos7]

55 minutes to heat 8.2 gallons of water from room temp to 154.5F - significantly slower than my Bayou Classic. I'm sure the Blichmann would be faster if I could turn the regulator past 5%, but I just can't without engulfing my kettle in flames.