Propane burner advice requested...

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Falchan

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I started brewing this past February, and have been very happy with the results thus far, but I have been cooking on the stove which takes a good deal of time and in the summer generates way too much heat and humidity in the house. I'm looking for a propane burner to cook my wort outdoors... any suggestions?
 
Got a bayou sp1 (?) off the shelf from home depot. Think it was $50. Looking back I'd grab the turkey fryer setup instead to get a bigger pot though.
 
+1 on turkey fryer, get one that doesn't have an auto temp shutoff, those don't work well for brewing.

Or, go for a banjo burner or Blich. with a big 10G pot- more $ but will last forever.
 
Cyclman said:
+1 on turkey fryer, get one that doesn't have an auto temp shutoff, those don't work well for brewing.

Or, go for a banjo burner or Blich. with a big 10G pot- more $ but will last forever.

Auto temp is a pain! My turkey fryer was a gift, so I can't complain. Easy fix with a few strips of duct tape to keep to valve open tho.

Only bad thing is the pot that comes with the fryer is almost to small. You can not walk away unless you want to risk a boil over.
 
The auto shut off is not a problem. You can go on YouTube and find the video on how to bypass it. It is real easy. Once it is bypassed you have a fail safe in case your flame goes out for some reason. you won't have propane leaking out if you walk away from you boil for a few minutes.
 
I have a Brinkmann turkey fryer for my HLT. It has a switch that is depressed when the pot is on it. There are two wires on spade type connectors. Just pull them off the switch and join the two ends together. I don't think what loucurr said is right. If the flame goes out the gas does not stop.

I also have a Bayou Classic SP10 for my boil kettle. It seems a lot hotter and faster than the turkey fryer. The Bayou Classic SQ14 is also popular.

Top of the line bling would be a Blichmann burner.
 
I started with a turkey fryer I got off of amazon. When I went to all grain 7-9 gallon boils the fryer just took to long to get to a full boil for me. I then regulated it to just a HLT. 6 boils later and the thermocouple quit on me. (the models with thermocouples and not just the switch will stop the gas flow.)
I now have a pair bayou sq14's

The turkey fryer is a good start but don't expect to use it long as "upgrading" seems to be a fun part of this hobby.
 
If you don't want to ever bother with upgrading, bite the bullet and get a Blichmann. I've done 3 batches on mine so far and it is a monster. Built like a tank as well.
 
Ordered the Propane burner/ Turkey Fryer 30 Qt. combo from Bass Pro Shop that someone posted about a couple weeks ago. Used it the 1st time a week ago. Love it!
No more partial boils on the stove(or full boils using 2 3G pots). Sa weeet!
 
Blichmann... game over.

It really is worth the extra money. I'd never buy anything else from them but with burners nobody comes close. Unless you want a jet burner. That's a different conversation.
 
+1 on the Blichmann. Powerful and quiet. The leg extensions are worth the extra bucks. I like being able to drain right into my carboy.
 
This ^^^

Between what I spent on the cheap turkey frier and the propane wasted by said turkey frier, I am quite sure that I would have saved quite a bit of money by buying the Blichmann from the start.
With the Blichmann, my brew day is at least a half hour shorter and the bottom of my kettle isn't covered in soot.
 
I have both a Blichman and a Bayou Classic SQ14. The Blichman is tops as a burner and stand but for making smaller batches the Bayou Classic SQ14 is a very good buy for around $50. Check on Amazon, I have seen these sell for $45-52 plus free shipping.
 
If you can I would go blichman all the way. I now have 2. If your like me and want to go from 5gl batches with a pot to a keggle setup the blichman has the leg arms that will fit a full size keg. If you have a level place to brew you won't have to stress about them tipping over. Its good peace of mind. There more money but its deffinetly an investment well worth it. Plus there a beast built to last for ever.
 
I have a old KAB 6 banjo burner, I found mine on craigslist $45, new $99 or less, Its a Beast, same burner as the KAB 4 but a stronger wider frame, the older ones have the bottom of the pot about 1 1/2" away from the burner and it works Great, very quiet, economical on fuel too, it will heat 14 gal of wort to a boil in less then 10 min and thats just over 1/2 throttle, to maintain a boil is just less than 1/4 throttle.

If money is a concern or If you ever want to do 10 gal batches or your going to mount it in a brew stand, I would highly recommend this burner, and its about 1/2 the cost of a Blichmann

I have used it on three 10 gal batches, 60 min boils, and still have propane in the 5 gal tank, I could not be happier, this burner works great and is super quiet.

Hope this helps

Cheers :mug:
 
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