I made my first brew with my new Blichmann burner yesterday. I’m in the Chicago area and it was 30 deg.F and windy. I try to shield my burner with trash cans etc. Although, better than my turkey fryer burner I wasn’t excited with my new burners performance after brewing. Bugged me so much that after cleaning I set up the burner in my garage (opened the door a bit) and I got:
Without the wind I could really dial the flame in with the vent. I don’t like brewing in the garage because in the back of the house I can keep an eye on things and take care of other business plus I would like to go NG.
Has anyone built a wind break or shield for their boiler - maybe fold-up.
Or a card table. I also have a ring of roof flashing (probably 16 inches wide) that I can put around a single burner on the ground. I brew inside my garage with a service door and window open and that works best.
My brewstand has a built-in wind screen that surrounds the keggle/burner on 3 1/2 sides to create a “chimney effect” that I feel significantly reduces my propane usage.
I made a three sided frame with some scrap 2x4s & 1/2" plywood I had. I sit the open side of the frame downwind and stand the plywood against the three sides of the frame and clamp the plywood to the frame with c clamps. Then I put my burner inside of the frame work. It works great for me.
Man be careful using your burner in the garage. Like I have posted before, I worked for over 35 years in the gas dept. of a utility co. I have see first hand what carbon monoxide can do, It’s not to pleasant seeing people being carried out of a building in body bags from the effects of CO poisoning.
I have been pondering getting a metal garbage can or a barrel and cut the bottom out and have it to serve as a wind break and also as a chimney as was also mentioned.
I went to Home Depot and bought a roll of aluminum roof flashing. They have it in 6" 12" and 18" I believe. I think I got the 12" that is the height of my Bayou Classsic SQ14 burner. I then cut sections with tin snips and fastened it to the legs of the burner using ~3/16" bolts & nuts. So now the burner looks like a pyramid with a flat top. Sorry no pics. It works great as a wind shield and as someone else mentioned seems to channel the heat up better. Only downside (if you can call it that) is I have to put aluminum foil under it so it doesn’t burn the bench I brew on.
At Lowes, there are rolls (in different widths) of metallic insulation. I’m not sure what it’s called, but they are silver-colored and FLEXIBLE.
After trying to wrap sheet metal around my Bayou burner several times (quite awkward), I bought a roll of this stuff, cut it to length, and have been using it to great effect for about five years now.
I attach the ends with velcro. There have been 0 problems with this stuff.
[quote=“beermebeavis”]At Lowes, there are rolls (in different widths) of metallic insulation. I’m not sure what it’s called, but they are silver-colored and FLEXIBLE.
After trying to wrap sheet metal around my Bayou burner several times (quite awkward), I bought a roll of this stuff, cut it to length, and have been using it to great effect for about five years now.
I attach the ends with velcro. There have been 0 problems with this stuff.[/quote]
You may be thinking of Reflectix.
I use it to insulate my HLT and MLT. May also use it to insulate my newer BK. Just know that if it gets too hot, it will melt.
