[flbrewer]

I don't have a good permanent solution yet for a brew stand. In the meantime I am going to use a heavy duty plastic storage shelf for gravity. What material can I place under the burner so the plastic doesn't melt? Wood? Tile?.

This is for the HLT phase only and may just be for the 10 gallon sized kettle (which would still be hot)may just keep the burner on the ground for all stages.

[Stevie]

The heat below my burner isn't too bad. I place it on cinder blocks to allow me to drain directly into the fermenter. Maybe some bricks with a large tile acting like a heat shield will suffice. One brick for each leg, tile on top to allow airflow beneath, burner on the bricks. Be very careful and make sure it is dead stable.

[flbrewer]

I may not bother w the burner. The strike and mash volume is pretty low. Maybe I'll just heat them separately and then I'll only need to lift 2-3 gallons up a few feet to gravity into the MT.

[Stevie]

The kettle alone will be fine, even with sparge temp water. You will loose a bit of heat in the transfer as well as to the cold kettle. You will have it down after a few runs.

[flbrewer]

I mean a hot kettle off the burner (HLT tank)

[kramerog]

Aluminum foil can be a very effective heat shield.  I think roofing tin would work better.  I use it roofing tin as a flame shield but the tin has to stay out of contact from the flames.