A burner and methods of using the burner. The burner utilizes bypass conduits to separate the combustion air that is passed to the primary combustion zone into two or more portions. The two portions are injected into the primary combustion zone at different points so as to reduce the flame temperature. A NOx reducing medium may be mixed with the combustion air in the bypass conduit. The NOx reducing medium may be flue gases from a combustion chamber having the primary combustion zone.