4-ring Burner Setup... Any Good?

[trevc]

Hello everyone

I wanted to get your opinions on the 4-ring style cast-iron burners.

I've picked one up at BBQ's Galore today, and it came with a standard low pressure reg.

A few observations:

- It doesn't seem to have much grunt at all, even with full gas and 4 rings going full.
- The wind on my balcony (15th floor) often blows out parts of the burner, it even gusted up once and the flame started flashing back through the feeder tubes (f'ing scary, I panicked and cut the gas really quick). Cutting the gas quickly made a bit of smoke for a short while, not good for the neighbours at all. Body corp rules say we're not allowed any LPG BBQ's, etc. I don't need to attract attention to myself
- The instructions say to ONLY use low-pressure regulators. I suspect a medium adjustable reg (the red beerbelly ones) would help a lot, but there's so many warnings in the instructions against it.

Right now I'm trying to decide between:
1) Returning the burner and reg, buying an italian spiral and medium reg through beerbelly
2) Using a medium reg with the 4-ring

How many of you guys use the 4-ringers with higher pressure regulators?

Thanks for any advice, and apologies if this has been covered before.

 

[trevc]

Here's the exact same model I have:

 

[paul]

On some regs you can unscrew the plug on top of them and the turn the valve inside to increase the flow a little. Then you can increase the holes in the burner to flow more gas.

 

[trevc]

On some regs you can unscrew the plug on top of them and the turn the valve inside to increase the flow a little. Then you can increase the holes in the burner to flow more gas.

Really? Sounds a bit dodgy. I wasn't impressed with how the wind caused a flashback. Flame that close to the gas line is scary. Right now I'm leaning more towards ditching it for an Italian + medium reg.

 

[PostModern]

I have a reg med pressure reg on a three ring and it's got heaps of heat. An extra ring would be brilliant. Go the reg, clean out the holes with a drill bit and whoosh!

 

[trevc]

I have a reg med pressure reg on a three ring and it's got heaps of heat. An extra ring would be brilliant. Go the reg, clean out the holes with a drill bit and whoosh!

Interesting. Do you think the medium reg. would help alleviate the wind problem? I'd prefer to have a burner that didn't require any drilling

 

[matti]

I had a 3 ring burner which doubled as a camping cooker on trips.
Always had trouble with it on windy days even when i try to shield it.
I invested in a Rambo burner with high pressure regulator.

 

[trevc]

I had a 3 ring burner which doubled as a camping cooker on trips.
Always had trouble with it on windy days even when i try to shield it.
I invested in a Rambo burner with high pressure regulator.

Rambo/Turkey burners look the most fun, but they'd definitely get me evicted

 

[matti]

Rambo/Turkey burners look the most fun, but they'd definitely get me evicted

I don't particular like my neighbours So if i manage to annoy them at 7 am Sunday morning I be really pleased with my self.

I can see the problem though living in a flat.
is those Italian spiral burners any quieter??

 

[twowhits]

I have two of the 4 ring burners - one just the rings, the other exactly the same as the pic, with the stand.

I use one of the adjustable LPG regs as shown on beerbelly's site. This drives both burners at the same time. I usually do 50 - 70 L batches (boiler and HLT), have done 100L and last week did a 50L and 20 L batch at the same time - second boil happening in the HLT.

I run this from a 45kg bottle but have done it from a 9kg bottle when the big one ran out. Only have all 4 rings going at once to bring the pots up to the boil and then cut it back to the 2nd and 3rd ring on about reg setting 2 or 3.

I would suggest that you set yourself up a wind shield as well. A little wind has a huge impact on heating efficiency I have found.

Regards

Andrew

 

[trevc]

Thanks for the info.

I'm thinking wind will be one of my biggest concerns, and something I didn't consider at all. The 15th always has some wind, and right now it's enough to blow out the 4 ring almost completely, or cause scary flame flashes shooting out the air intakes.

Do you guys think an Italian on adjustable reg would be better? Perhaps if there's more gas going out, it'll stay lit and be more stable? I hope I can sort out an option that works up here!

Building a wind shield would not be easy in this case.

 

[pablo_h]

I'd get a adjustable medium regulator from beerbelly or gryphon and try it with you burner. You'll need the regulator even if you upgrade the burner anyway, so you might as well try it with that burner.
Making a heatshield is easy, any nonflammable material such as sheetmetal will do the job. There's a lot of nonflammable cloths and sheeting (asbestos type sheets similar to the old super6 fencing) made for welding trades that can be used too.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

ive got a three ring burner i bought from mitre 10 and also go an adjustable regulator from there it works well for me


edit: KHB using BYB computer

 

[trevc]

Thanks for the info.

I'm very close to ditching the 4-ring and low press reg. I'll be trying to get an Italian spiral + med reg ASAP, but will chat to Wayne first about the wind issue.

My theory is that the spiral will stand up to wind a bit better, since it's more of a compromise between the really wide 4-ring, and something smaller with higher gas output. The 4 ring has so many little gas holes, all spread out.

 

[Kai]

I would try the adjustable reg on the 4-ring before you buy another burner. My experience is that strong winds will indeed affect it, but a wind shield doesn't have to be more complicated than a couple sheets of metal propped up on the sides of the burner. Also my 4-ring + reg provided more than enough grunt to boil on three rings... on a windy day just turn off the 4th ring and jack the pressure up on the inside three, you'll get a more stable flame that way

 

[trevc]

I just took it back for a refund after coming to the following conclusions...

- It seems there's a lot more people on here using the spirals and the red (beerbelly) regulator. There's plenty of very positive reviews
- I can also use the spiral burner with my smaller 45L pot, so there's more possibilities down the line for different configurations
- The spiral comes with a stand, which will make it easier to use with my HLT (more height, I'm using heavy concrete blocks too).
- It looks nicer

I was too impatient, and shouldn't have listened to the sales guy who believed the 4-ring with standard reg would handle anything. There's not even close to enough gas going to it with the low pressure regulator.

Hopefully I'll have everything organised for AG before next weekend!

 

[Kai]

Fair point on the pot dimensions, I use my 4-ring with a wide 60L pot and on a still day with the burner fully cranked and the reg set to 11 the flames still lick up the side of the pot a little.

As for shop attendants, you rarely get one who understands exactly how much grunt you need to brew up a batch at home. BBQ regs never cut the mustard imho.

 

[shawnheiderich]

I just need to say that I am quite happy with my 4 ring and LP regulator (standard) boils up my 40 l (pre boil) within 20 minutes... I am not on the 15th floor though. Grab a wind shield and see how you go..

Shawn

 

[afromaiko]

I just need to say that I am quite happy with my 4 ring and LP regulator (standard) boils up my 40 l (pre boil) within 20 minutes... I am not on the 15th floor though. Grab a wind shield and see how you go..

Shawn

Ditto, I'd like a new burner but I can't fault my 4-ring at the moment. I use it in the garage so no problem with it being windy, although I did use to live on the 6th floor of a high-rise and that was pretty crazy out on the balcony so I reckon you'll need something pretty full on up there. I don't use a wind shield and use a standard BBQ regulator but it's 3.5 kg/hr so at the higher end of the range. Gets my 50 litre pot up to the boil in a reasonable time and maintains it easily on only 2-rings. I've done single batches and psuedo double batches up to about 40-45 litres with it.

 

[trevc]

From my research so far, it sounds like the Spiral + Medium (red) adjustable reg running full open will counter the winds. Anyone with this burner care to comment?
If all else fails, I'll just run the rambo with HP reg. and barricade the door for when the police/fire department show up.