Need info on Banjo and Hurricane burners

[llazy_llama]

Howdy folks. I'm looking to accumulate some knowledge about Banjo and Hurricane burners. I've not used either, but I need to put some info together so I can compile a list of pros and cons to both. This info will be compiled, formatted, and added to the https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/vs-pro-con-analysis-109318/ sticky.

Thanks in advance.

Edited for clarification: If you have a Banjo or a Hurricane, tell me what you like about it. Tell me what you don't like about it. Give me any additional information (BTU output, propane usage, ease of use, ease of customization, etc...) that you think may be relevant. Just tell me anything about it, no matter how silly it may seem (I think hurricane has a cooler name lulz!) and I'll do the legwork to sort out what's significant and what isn't.

 

[ClutchDude]

I'm sure there is a post about it somewhere...

I've got two banjo's on my rig.
CONS:

You need heat shields to protect your valves and blichmann bling. I had a high-temp hose melt last night because I didn't keep it over a heat shield.

I've got a post I'm writing up on how to make and attach a heat shield but it's not quite done yet.

The 30psi regulator, while nice, is hardly needed unless your making 20 gallon or something crazy batches.

PROS:
It's way powerful. As in, it'll bring a 5 gallon batch to boil very quickly.

Not as noisy as other burners, but this isn't a plus against the hurricane I think. I wouldn't know since I don't own one.

 

[malkore]

I have a KAB5 burner.

I like it alot. I believe mine has a 15psi regulator..no higher. So around 140,000 btu's.

My only complaint is its too much for my 9 gallon brewpot. Flames want to lick up the sides of the kettle, burning the handle on my ball valve and fogging the thermometer.

It also boils too rapidly even with the regulator dialed down as low as it can go...so I get a lot of evaporation loss and boilovers (even with Fermcap drops added) are a battle.

A wider kettle would be ideal. I think the KAB5 is great for keggle owners.

 

[Hugh_Jass]

I just purchased a KA-4 from Brewmaster's warehouse.

+ = It brought 13 gallon of wort to boil in less than 20 min. It's smokin'

- = It drinks the propane like a BMC drunk on a pay day Friday .

 

[Brew-boy]

I have the Banjo and 30PSI and I love this thing. Powerful and does not make a lot of noise. It will heat 10 gallons of water very quickly. I bought just the burner and made my own stand.

Cons: Hard to mount with the 4 holes on the side. Picture was made before adding wind shields.

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[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I am so glad you are doing this llama! I have searched a number of times, and there really isn't any good info on this comparison.

One thing I would really like to know: Are the hurricane and the Banjo the same casting?

I really like the stand for the Banjo, but would rather have the hurricanes power and psi. I hope someone can chime in about both...

 

[Displaced MassHole]

I've got two hurricane burners that SWMBO got for me from NB. As far as the burner itself it doesn't look like there's any difference between banjo/hurricane. There is however a price difference when you get it with the stand.

From NB.com

Hurricane Burner with stand: $98.99 Without the stand $33.99

Banjo Burner with stand: 77.99 Without the stand $39.99

I'm not sure of the reason behind the w/out stand price difference

I do however LOVE my two hurricanes, that I run off a single 20psi regulator. I use one for the HLT and one for the BK. They almost never run at the same time so I've never had a problem with only using a 20psi regulator.

I've never measured the amount of time it takes to get the runnings from my MLT boiling, but it IS much faster than with my old 55k btu turkey fryer burner.

 

[ClutchDude]

The banjo can spit out 210k BTUs @ up to a max 30psi

The hurricane, which has a max 10psi, can generate 60k BTUs.

 

[anemic]

If you wouldn't mind adding to the data collection: what are the performance values, by comparison to the banjo & the hurricane, of the standard issue turkey fryer burner?

 

[llazy_llama]

Standard turkey fryers vary greatly from brand to brand. Mine doesn't even list it's BTU output (and is a piece of crap that is unsuitable for brewing without some modifications).

There are just too many variables with turkey fryers to lump them all together, so I figure we'll just stick to the two most popular burners.

 

[samc]

I bought the Hurricane simply because I will be able to run it off propane or with a drilled out valve (Williams Brewing) I can hook it up to the NG line. Gives easy options for taking it with you to brew or moving.

I assume you could do the same with the Banjo but it would require a few extra brain cells of thought to get it done. Such as knowing what size to drill out the orifice. The guy welding my stand has the burner so I have yet to use it other than a quick fire up to make sure it worked with NG.

 

[Brew-boy]

Damn last year I bought the Banjo 210k off of Amazon for $25 plus free shipping. I love mine it is a beast with the 30 psi regulator.

 

[anemic]

I bought the Hurricane simply because I will be able to run it off propane or with a drilled out valve (Williams Brewing) I can hook it up to the NG line. Gives easy options for taking it with you to brew or moving.

I assume you could do the same with the Banjo but it would require a few extra brain cells of thought to get it done. Such as knowing what size to drill out the orifice. The guy welding my stand has the burner so I have yet to use it other than a quick fire up to make sure it worked with NG.

sam,

I am interested in hearing your feedback on the performance of the Hurricane on NG. I am using NG as well. I did well in terms of boil time with NO orifice but I blackened the kettle (easily cleaned) so I drilled the orifice and did alright/okay (would fall off the boil with the lid opened for long), so I may open up the orifice a tad more, but for $25 it would be nice to have some idea what to expect. I hate to just throw money at it. Thanks.

 

[Tonedef131]

My trusty $20 turkey fryer that has given me years of service is going to be retired this weekend as I just bought a Hurricane burner. The last time I did a ten gallon batch it was starting to lean and I just don't trust it anymore. After doing a bit of research I went with the Hurricane because it still has more power than my old one and I like the idea of a quiet efficient burner. The main reason was that I am super sick of filling propane tanks and want to go natural gas. What kind of performance are you guys getting out of your NG Hurricane burners as compared to when running propane?

 

[samc]

Sorry for late response anemic, did not notice your post. Tonedef not so late response.

My Hurricane burners work very well on NG. If I open the modified ball valve/orifice all the way the flame has a bit more orange then you would want. If you back it off slightly then everything is mostly blue and has no trouble keeping a raging boil of 14 gallons of wort. I have to back the valve down or I would boil away too much wort. Can't give you orifice sizing because your piping and pressure are most likely different than mine. Just drill till you get it to work correctly. Not a bad idea to order an extra valve/orifice combo just in case. I found the drilled out one from Williams brewing to be slightly too large for my set up.

I also just finished drilling out my BBQ grill valves and now am free of propane. I have a back up set of valves for that as well so I could go back to propane if I move at some point.

 

[sharpstick]

i have a bayou classic SP-1 jet burner, $35 used on ebay.
20 psi reg, 185kbtu.
single orifice pointed upward through a steel cylinder with a movable round baffle over the pipe to diffuse the flame somewhat.
roars like a jet taking off.
has a round frame that is exactly the size of my keggle, making it difficult to safely rest on top without some modification.
one time the flow dropped to a trickle. someone pointed out that the regulator can shut down if the flow is too great. solution was to open tank valve first, then regulator knob. (i think that was the solution. i can't find that thread right now)
i wrap aluminum foil around it as a windshield and fasten with clothespins.
pros: high power, low cost.
cons: prone to central hot spot, hard to safely hold keggle.