"I've got one. I use it exclusively because of the small place I have. It is great!
Pro's: Reduced heat (longer cook time) does allow for better control of small batches. You don't have it all shooting out at once. Lower heat does make for better 'shining, so I've heard.
Con's: Takes up to 30 minutes for a gallon batch to start coming out. I wish they made two heat elements, to where both were on up to 150º or so, then one shuts off for better control. Also, I recommend you get a length of copper wire, (about 10 or 12 gauge electrical is fine), strip it, and loop it into a circle about 4 inches in diameter. Toss this into the mash before cooking. Without it, you'll experience the lid popping up enough to spew vapor, even without blockage of any kind in the worm. It can get violent and messy, the biggest shame is lost finished product.
The problem with the long cook time is that I want to go do other things while it's heating up, and I'm sometimes not there to throw away the heads. Yeah, I can combine stripping runs and do a final run, but I prefer tossing the heads on every run. Also, you have to wait at least a half hour before pulling the lid off or it's too hot to work with. 5 or 6 gallons of mash all of a sudden turn into an all-day event
I like it, though. On a 10-point scale I'd take 2 points off for the cook time, 2 point off for waiting between runs, but give 1 point back for quality, and 1 point for it being portable and easy to use & store. 8/10.
I've never operated a real still, so I can't compare it to the ""real thing"" but if they made this in a 3 gallon model, I would sell this one and get the 3 gallon model just to save time between heat up and cool down between runs."
