Jet burner questions

[PSNCO]

I finally pulled out of the box my King Kooker cooking cart.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200405761_200405761

It has a 60Kbtu banjo burner and a 105k jet burner.

I've never used a jet burner for brewing. I have a 40qt Polar Ware kettle, 10 gal Tall Boy kettle from Northern Brewer and an economy 8 gallon kettle from Williams Brewing.

My concern is....Will the jet burner wreak havoc on those pots or am I better off with modifying the cart with a banjo burner?

Mark

 

[Black Island Brewer]

My first burner was a single jet burner with a diffusion plate over it. It was loud, inefficient and sooted up my pot. The heat is uneven. If you only used it for heating water, you'd be fine, but it's not great for boiling wort. On your stand, it you could swap the positions of the burners - put the jet up above and the banjo below, you could use the jet for the hot liquor tank -as long as you don't mind the noise, the soot, and the inefficiency.

 

[mredge73]

As long as the pot has water in it it will be fine.
You may have soot marks on the bottom but no damage to the pot.
Jet burners are primarily used for crawfish in Louisiana with inexpensive aluminum pots.
The biggest problem with jet burners is that they tend to blow out easily when you turn them down to maintain a boil. They aren't designed to simmer.

I used that burner for many years before switching to electric. I modified the spacing between the burners to allow for gravity feed for keggles but other that that it worked great.
Hard to complain about the jet burner, it gets to boil quickly and if you block the wind it will maintain well. This is how I had it setup:

Also, FYI the burner on top is not a banjo burner. It is just a cheap high pressure bayou burner common to turkey fryers.
Banjo burners are large round low pressure burners, they are much nicer but more expensive.

 

[PSNCO]

I kinda thought that those were the negatives of a jet burner, especially for the lower burner where I'll be boiling the wort.

Thinking of welding on this burner in place of the jet burner:

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/ba...ge-patio-stove-with-hose-guard/554BPHP17.html

And then adding to it some angle iron to raise it up to make it a 3 tier system and adding anotherturkey fryer burner for a HLT.

 

[mredge73]

I would give it a shot before cutting up your brand new king cooker setup. It isn't a bad setup despite the negatives.
This system works well as is for a 2 vessel setup, I would spend the extra money on a pump and RIMS instead of raising the height and adding an additional burner.
If you are determined to cut it up you should be able to add one of these for half the price and use the same regulator and needle valves that come with the king cooker:
http://www.agrisupply.com/cast-iron-burner/p/64494/

Also, if you are doing a 3 tier system you don't really need a burner under the mash tun.
Direct firing a loaded mash tun with high pressure burners will give you problems with scorched wort, burnt grains, and will denature your enzymes leading to incomplete conversion.
There are much better ways to regulate the mash temperature like a RIMS or HERMS system.