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List Price: $69.95
Sale Price: $49.97
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I had a Bayou Classic propane burner bookmarked here for over a year before I finally decided to purchase, and at the last minute I switched over to this Brinkmann burner. What few reviews there were were positive, and the extra features looked worthwhile, for the same price. By contrast, I'd been seeing several negative reviews about the Bayou Classic burner.
When it arrived, there was some assembly required. When I say that, I mean the kind of "some assembly required" that parents dread on the night before Christmas. It was in tiny pieces that needed to be assembled. No problem, I'm a handy guy. After 30 minutes, it was all together, although I noticed that some of the pre-drilled holes didn't exactly match the threads on the screws and needed some force to get tightened. That was my first indication of this product's quality. Time to fire it up.
I bought the unit for brewing beer, not for frying turkeys, which is a good thing because the manual prominently states that this unit is NOT for frying turkeys. Interesting, since the Amazon description definitely calls it a turkey fryer. But no problem, this is for brewing beer. Up until now, I'd been brewing on the stove top and this was my first outdoor burner with enough power to heat the batch up in a reasonable time. If I'd had more experience with these types of units, I would have noticed that the fact that the flame was totally yellow no matter what the airflow setting was at was not a good thing. My beautiful stainless steel pots ended up covered up with a layer of black soot that got everywhere and took forever to scrub off. I was pretty disappointed, and spent some time researching the problem on the Internet before I realized that the yellow flames were a sign of a bad air/propane mix. No amount of adjusting the air intake vents would reduce the bonfire-like yellow flames.
I called the customer support number only to find that they answer the phone between 8 and 5 in the Central Time Zone, Monday through Friday. I had to wait until during the week in order to get some help. When I took time from work to call their customer support number, I found that their customer support number consisted of an answering machine, where you leave your name and number, and they'll call back when they can. Like they couldn't leave the answering machine on during the weekends? Customer support called me back 4 hours later and a bored-sounding guy told me to check the air hose for leaks with soapy water and call him back. I told him it was brand new, but he wouldn't help me until I put soapy water on the hose to check it for leaks. I called back later in the week and told him there were no leaks in the hose and he said I should send an email to their customer support center with a copy of my receipt and request a new regulator assembly. I did, and after a week and a half of no response, I called and left another message on the answering machine. I didn't get a callback that day, but the next day I got an email that my part had been shipped. Five days later, I got the replacement regulator. I connected it, fired it up, big yellow flames. I connected the new regulator to a friend's burner and it produced the desired blue flames. I tried sending another email to the email address, but it bounced back as undeliverable. Another round with the answering machine. The bored-sounding guy called me back and told me that I needed to take a coat hanger and clean out the burner assembly because it might be clogged. I repeated that it did this right out of the box and it never worked.
Finally he said he'd send a replacement burner. The only thing is the part is backordered and they don't know when they'll get one.
As I write this, it is almost February. I first received this unit last October. I have never been able to use it, and the bored-sounding guy already informed me that there was no hope of them just sending me a replacement unit. As of the time of this writing, I still have not received a working part.
If I could do it all over again, I would not have purchased this unit.
Update: March 6, 2013. Not a peep from the company. I still don't have a burner that works.
Update: April 16, 2013. I finally called the company again. Got a call back the next day. They say the part is still on order and they should have some in stock by the end of the month. They say they don't carry this type of burner any more. I still don't have a burner that works.
Update: August, 2013. Received the replacement part in the mail. Installed it and it works like it was supposed to. My overall experience with the product and the company are so negative that I will strongly recommend against purchasing this product and other products that the Brinkmann makes.
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I purchased this burner and got the next day $3.99 shipping through prime so I could brew a batch quickly...not disappointed at all!
The assembly was easy and quick. It is sturdy and man...does it kick out some heat. I didn't need to push it all the way for my purposes. I used about 1/2 power and had 8 gallons of hose water boiling in 24 minutes! That was with a lid on.
When it came time to boil my wort, it worked great. I didn't time it, but it was quickly up to boiling, and I had about 7.5 gallons going. It could easily handle more, I just don't have a pot big enough to test it.
The great part is that there is room to grow with this burner. I have a 9 gallon pot that is pretty wide, and I have the adjustable base set to the narrowest setting. I could get a 15 to 20 gallon pot on top of this burner very safely. It is rock solid and can handle a lot of weight.
The wind baffles work well, too. It was a relatively windy day, and I was able to adjust the baffles with tilt to keep the wind from affecting the flame too much.
I can't tell how much propane it is using up yet, as I have only one batch under my belt, but my calculations tell me that at 105,000 BTU, you will burn through a standard 20 lb. propane tank in 4 hours. As I said, I was probably going half power on the first batch, since I was getting used to the burner...so I plan on 6 to 8 hours of burn time per tank. Time will tell. This should be plenty for a couple of batches, so I am planning on spending about 10 dollars on propane per batch.
I would highly recommend this burner...no complaints whatsoever.
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I brew beer and since my electric stove was sorely lacking in power, I purchased this cooker. I'm glad to say that I am VERY happy with my purchase! I broke it in with 5 gallons of water in an uncovered 40 quart heavy aluminum stock pot and it brought the temperature from 72F to boiling in only 19 minutes with the convection zone in the center of the pot, demonstrating an even heating from the burner. This was only at about 75% of maximum power since I didn't want to push it too hard out of the box, but I did turn it all the way up for the last minute or so and I can attest that this cooker can get frighteningly (but safely) hot. The ample heat shielding under the burner and the raised platform ensured there was little risk of damaging my deck while it was on, though it didn't hurt to have large a stone paver underneath it to be sure.
It's well packed, putting it together is pretty simple and the instructions are reasonably clear. A regular size Phillips head screwdriver and a small adjustable wrench to attach the burner to the frame are the only tools required. Construction only took about 20 minutes from start to finish using an electric screwdriver and socket wrench and I thankfully didn't need to make any interpretations as far as the instructions were concerned.
Before using it to make anything, however, I would suggest doing a "break in" run with a large pot of water as I did since the paint will burn off from the cast-iron spiders under the pot and the 3 clamps along the sides. Any brand or model cooker will do this, so that statement is in no way a reflection of this unit's quality.
Overall I am very pleased with the quality of this product, its insane BTU output and ease of construction at a price I couldn't touch anywhere else. If you are looking for an outdoor propane cooker for brewing, large shellfish boils or any other application, I can assure you will be as thrilled as I am with this product.
Honest reviews on Brinkmann 815-4005-S Outdoor Cooker Stand
I have not used the burner yet. I hope it works for Turkey frying as that is what I bought it for. However, the box it comes in has a large red warning across it "this appliance is not for frying turkeys" and the instructions warn it is not for turkey frying and not to use more than 10qts of oil for frying. This warning is counter to the advertisement about frying and I don't know if it is true or just an attempt to avoid liability for turkey frying fires but whichever it is, you've been warned.
UPDATE: I deep fried a turkey and the burner worked Great. Now, I am not suggesting you use this burner to deep fry a turkey. However, I used it to deep fry a 24 pound turkey on a cold day with over 4 gallons of oil and it brought the oil up to temperature fast and the controls were precise enough that I turned the flame down and it maintained the temperature with ease and much better than the burner I replaced.
I moved me review from 2 stars to 3. 3 Because it does work great as for turkey frying but not 4 or 5 because the warning is clear, don't fry a turkey.
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We bought this to host a fish fry for Labor Day at our house because frying inside sucks (whole house smells like grease for a week). Four legs are stable. Cooking surface worked great with my stainless 16qt stock pot. heat control is pretty darn good. Lighting is easy... cooking is easy... the little arms that keep the pot from sliding off are a nice touch.
1 star off because of the cheesy mounts for the heat shields. They mount with a single hole, so they are free to shift and spin. If they fall off, I will just buy a small bolt/but and locktite them on. 2 mounting points for the shields woudl have been better, but that is not a real complaint.
For the money I spent on it, she will serve our fish frying and crayfish boiling needs very well!
