Schmidty

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Is this pot overkill:
http://www.restaurantsupplyhouse.com/servlet/the-55/40-qt.-Medium-Weight/Detail

I want to start some AG brews but will only be doing 5 gallons, so essentially 6 gallons of pre-boil wort. The price is right and I don't really care that it's aluminum, but will this size pot have any adverse effects, other than storage .

Also if anyone has dealt with RestrauntSupplyHouse.com I'd like to hear how they were.

eschatz

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Pony the extra bread and go with the bigger pot. Thats what I've always heard. Everyone SWEARS by the 60qt. and for a couple dollars more, what the hell.
http://www.restaurantsupplyhouse.com/servlet/the-79/60-qt.-Heavy-Weight/Detail

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Yooper

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I think that 40 quart is actually a minimum size for full boils. You'll probably have 6.5-7 gallons preboil, more or less. I am stuck with a 32 quart, and it's not really big enough. I have to really watch for boil overs, and can't put all of the wort I'd like to have into it.

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TwoHeadsBrewing

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I don't think it's overkill at all, and it should be plenty for a 5 gallon boil. That 40qts is equal to 10 gallons, so you should be able to boil down quite a bit of wort. I currently use a 30 qt./7.5gal turkey fryer kettle and THAT is a bit small...I really have to watch closely for boilovers. 10 gallons would be a dream...and 15.5 gallon keggle even better .

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jfrizzell

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Dude, I ended up with about a 72 quart stainless steel drum for my kettle and I'm still doing 5 gallon batches so if that's not overkill, then 40 quart will be fine.

Seriously though, 40 quart would be about the minimum I'd consider for a pot.

stever

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63.00 shipped for that 60qt.. that's a pretty sweet deal.

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ShortSnoutBrewing

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Another vote for the 40qt being the MINIMUM you'll want for full boils. I often start with between 7 - 8 gallons and have to watch that thing like a hawk for boilovers.

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Schmidty

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Well thanks for the quick replies. I like the idea of the 60qt sauce pan but I only have a 12" burner so I'm not sure how the 4" of overhang on each side would affect stability and heating. I found dimensions listed as 20.1"w X 11"h, that would definitely speed up evaporation though, or one would think.

stever

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What burner do you have?

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Schmidty

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I have the one that came with this:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0043326517620a&navCount=1&podId=004332 6&parentId=cat21458&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&c mCat=MainCatcat21404-cat21410-cat21458&catalogCode=OG&rid=&parentType=index&inde xId=cat21458&hasJS=true.
It's the king kooker 55000 btu one. It's very similar to the picture although I believe mine has 4 legs.