15 replies to this topic

[macbrak]

I have a square bayou burner that has been a champ and replaced a similar one that also lived a good life but I may have abandoned it too soon.

The burner has been running crappy lately. It still heats fine but has been leaving black soot on the bottom of the kettle for a couple batches. I was on the fence about getting a new one and using this as a secondary. I decided to try and and clean out the holes with a finishing nail. Should have done this a while ago. This morning its kicking so hard it can blow out its flame and I need to ratchet it back with the air vent thingy.

 

I love it when a plan comes together.

[Big Nake]

I had the round Bayou Cooker and it went south one day when I had a kettle of wort to boil. Picked up the square one and it's working fine but I know one day it will croak. I have *NO* concept of how to service one so where do you clean it?

[macbrak]

I just poked a finishing nail through all the holes in the top and knocked out the crap out the vent. I think I tried to clean the previous one chemically but that just caused more issues. 

[Bklmt2000]

I have a Bayou classic SP10 burner and several months ago, i noticed a lot of orange flame without much blue.  Inspecting the burner, i saw a lot of rust/crap built up around the burner holes.

 

On the bottom of the burner is a screw that holds the burner to the frame and this same scew holds the burner head (2 pieces) into a single piece.

 

I was able to take the burner apart ; i washed both pieces w/ CLR and scraped off the rust w/ some heavy-grit sandpaper.  Rinsed everything well, dried off the water, and reassembled.

 

No more orange flames. 

[Big Nake]

Bookmarked. Cheers gentlemen.

[BrewDaddy]

Also check the throat of the inlet tube..onboard of the nozzle. Mine wouldn't burn worth a crap when I got it. Finally just happened to look inside out of frustration. The neck was almost totally plugged with whatever media they had used for the casting. Couple of good pokes with a long screwdriver and it was flame on.

[neddles]

This is timely. Mine put a thick coat of soot on my kettle last night. I think I'll pull it apart and brush it good.

[gnef]

This is definitely good information. I haven't done any sort of maintenance on my burners. I also haven't brewed in months, but hopefully I'll get some time to check over the burners and do a batch soon!

[Darterboy]

I have a square bayou burner that has been a champ and replaced a similar one that also lived a good life but I may have abandoned it too soon.

The burner has been running crappy lately. It still heats fine but has been leaving black soot on the bottom of the kettle for a couple batches. I was on the fence about getting a new one and using this as a secondary. I decided to try and and clean out the holes with a finishing nail. Should have done this a while ago. This morning its kicking so hard it can blow out its flame and I need to ratchet it back with the air vent thingy.

 

I love it when a plan comes together.

Do this to mine about once a year. One additional step: once their clean, coat 'em good with Crisco and put them in a hot oven for a couple of hours. Essentially you're seasoning them like cast-iron cookware. They turn black and shiny get rusty again much slower.

[darkmagneto]

Last brew session I noticed a TON of black junk all over the bottom of my kettle.  I also notice that the burner took forever to get the wort up to a boil  I just took apart my burner and cleaned it out.  HOLY COW it is way more powerful!  I was very surprised to see all of the rust and junk stuck in there.  Thanks for posting this!!!!

[MyaCullen]

Last brew session I noticed a TON of black junk all over the bottom of my kettle.  I also notice that the burner took forever to get the wort up to a boil  I just took apart my burner and cleaned it out.  HOLY COW it is way more powerful!  I was very surprised to see all of the rust and junk stuck in there.  Thanks for posting this!!!!

a sideways piece of rust flake in the venturi can really screw you up

[denny]

The CLR idea is great.  I'm gonna give that a try!

[Bklmt2000]

The CLR idea is great.  I'm gonna give that a try!

Please let me know how it works out for you.

[cavman]

Thought this was the PH by the title.

[neddles]

Took mine apart yesterday. The rust was prolific and I had a hard time getting the pieces separated. I thought I had some CLR going into it but I didn't and didn't want to make a trip to town. As an alternative I mixed 50/50 white vinegar and warm water and soaked the cast iron parts for several hours. Followed that up with a brass brush and another hour of soaking and more brass brushing. After that rinsed with water and  soaked it in a baking soda solution for a few minutes and rinsed again. Then into a 200F convection oven to dry it out. Coated with cooking oil (Darterboy-style) and back into the oven at 450F with convection for 2 hours. Well seasoned now and the flames are pure blue. 

[denny]

Damn, I'm jealous!  I'm gonna get mine cleaned!