New Burner

Looking for a better burner. Is there much difference between the edelmatall bru burner and the blinchman burner? I currently use the older model dark star and I’m getting impatient with it.

Never had the blichman, but I do have the Edelmetall and I love it. Just brewed my first 11 gallon batch with it and it performed very well. My entire all-grain brew day (including measuring grains, measuring hops, and doing some field modifications to my equipment) was 5 and 1/2 hours from start to finish with it. of course, the pretty copper trim got discolored from cranking it up, but I’m not worried about that, the copper is there for durability, not so it stays pretty, IMHO.

They’re pretty much the same burner, but wrapped in a slightly different frame. They’ll both kick butt compared to your old burner!

K thanks, I was leaning towards the edelmatell just because I like the copper look. Will be purchasing soon.

Question for the owners of the edelmetall burner. It has copper parts. At first the are all beautiful looking but do they tarnish quickly and become ugly looking? Or are they coated with some protection to keep them looking beautiful?

They discolor up around the burner. Most of the legs look ok, but the rest discolors from the heat. A lot of the reviews I read complain about that, but the way the copper cladding is done on it, it enhances durability. You could clean it off with copper polish or barkeepers friend, but I don’t worry so much about looks, I’d rather have function. From the looks of the burner, I’d say it will last a LONG time. It’s a very sturdy piece of equipment. I’m sure the Blitchman discolors up around the top, it just doesn’t have the pretty copper cladding to discolor though.

Just got the edelmatell for xmas. Can’t wait to bust it out once spring comes. Was really getting sick of that sooty, crappy-ass darkstar. Get what you pay for i guess.

OK, let’s talk about the soot. DOes the Ed or the blich make the bottom of the pot all black and sooty after a boil?

Not at all - that’s one of the main benefits of this style of burner. They are much cleaner burning, and as such, much more efficient. You’ll find your propane tank lasting a bit longer with them.

Amen. I need a new burner :smile:

I got mine for Christmas as well, but I didn’t bother to wait for spring. If it’s above 40* and I have time and an empty fermenter, I’m brewing. Stand out there in my Carhartt with a cigar and beer.

@in_the_basement

No soot. Everything is nice and clean on the kettle side of things, and I had that burner cranking pretty good recently.

I have had the Blichmann burner for about 2 years and love it. No soot on the kettle at all and it’s super efficient. I do 5 gal batches and use it for heating strike, sparge, and boil I usually get about 5-7 brews out of a 20lb propane tank. Whichever route you go, I highly recommend spending the extra and getting the leg extensions. It makes it much easier to use gravity for things like draining and using pumps for things like transfer and whirlpooling.

Waiting for spring? I brewed this past weekend at 15 below, luckily there wasn’t much wind so it wasn’t too unpleasant. :slight_smile:

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I have an old style Dark Star,I replaced the burner with a Bayou Classic sq 14 burner,just the burner part. I had to cut v notch in the wind shield of the Dark Star so th arm of sq 14 would fit, I used the Dark Star hose and reg, cost me less than $30 on Amazon. No more soot. I don’t think it’s as powerful as the Ed or Blich but does a good job on my 5 gal batchs.

Waiting for the outside faucets to unfreeze is more accurate…suppose i could do a no-chill batch if I really needed to, but I’m a pretty diligent brewer Mar-Nov so I’m sitting on 60 gallons or so, should be enough to get me through another Chicago winter. I use winter for making mead and blending/bottling all the sour stuff I’ve got sitting around in various carboys. Will still fire up the smoker when its 10 below though…

Does any of those burners have the adjustable air plate? Propane shouldn’t burn dirty like that. I have one of the old high pressure burners our host sold a long time ago and it is going strong! I do have to adjust the air plate as I turn up the heat, and just opposite as I idle it down… Sneezles61

Oh crap, just an addendum, maybe the burner had the wrong sized orfice installed… Sneezles61

I know the Edelmetall has an adjustable air plate. And a needle valve in addition to the regulator.

The dark star has an adjustable air plate but it won’t stop it sooting up the bottom of your pot. I even removed mine to get more air through but it made no difference. In my opinion it was a complete waste of money. I swapped over to the Edelmetall and I love it.

Forgot to mention, you can clean copper with Starsan.

There’s a reason they give them away for free all the time.

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