Cutting the jacket off of a steam kettle?

How much trouble do you think cutting the jacket off of a steam kettle would be? Anyone? Thinking about trading for one and would like to use it as a direct fire kettle. And please don't reccommend flipping it to buy something else because I've already considered that option. Any other input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Just a layman's view here. I'm not a boiler maker.
Sounds fairly simple. You only have to cut around, below the weld, say 1-2 inches below? Then clean up the cut once the jacket is off.

Pay special attention to the area around the exit spout(s). This could be a potential weakness as that spout may depend on support from both the kettle and the jacket.

I would be careful and not cut too deep though, just cut the jacket metal. You may end up with 2 kettles that way. The jacket kettle being the shallow one.

There maybe (welded) baffles or supports between the jacket and kettle though. Maybe there are blueprints of these kettles floating around?

IslandLizard said:

There maybe (welded) baffles or supports between the jacket and kettle though. Maybe there are blueprints of these kettles floating around?

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I was wondering that myself. If nothing else, there may be a baffle/partition to allow for efficient flow of steam without short circuiting. Anyway, thanks for the reply.

What if you cut the current inside out? You could end up with two kettles or a kettle with a domed lid.

brewingmeister said:

What if you cut the current inside out? You could end up with two kettles or a kettle with a domed lid.

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I think that would be a bad idea. For one thing, the kettle is likely heavier gauge, which I would prefer to keep intact. Secondly, who knows what the inside of that jacket looks like, plus I would have to seal off one of the steam ports (in that hypothetical situation it would make sense to leave one of the ports for use as a kettle drain). I'd want to cut it from the outside for sure.

If it has a bottom drain I'd be worried about the heat damaging the plunger in a direct fired application as you describe.

As far as cutting it off, I'm sure you could. Unless the unit is completely DOA though, it seems like a waste of a good unit. Out of curiosity how big is the kettle, and what brand?

Fair enough, though I image the steel is the same throughout. Cutting a spot for the burner to heat on the bottom and then some vent holes around the top sounds like it should be feasible.

brewingmeister said:

Fair enough, though I image the steel is the same throughout. Cutting a spot for the burner to heat on the bottom and then some vent holes around the top sounds like it should be feasible.

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That's not a bad plan actually. Like a big keggle kind of. There is a bottom drain though, as it turns out, so I'd have to seal that up and punch a new hole for a drain. Sounds kind of sketchy I think?

BigRob. Yeah, it would be a waste of a good unit, unless I could use it, in which case I'd never get rid of it. It's a Groen 60 gallon. Used, late '80's probably. No steam source.

Using an adjustable burner and aiming the heat where you want it should get around overheating the bottom drain. So you could leave the drain in place.
Modifying something like this.




Edit: not familiar with the burner so I don't know if it will heat 60 gal.

Shouldn't be much baffles on the inside, cutting it will be a pain in the ass, and the drain valve is still going to have an issue if you aren't careful direct firing it. The plunger that actually seals is plastic, and it has to be replaced with regular operation, as it warps/distorts and ceases to seal properly. If you could find a way to mount a ball valve (big ass ball valve too) that might solve your issue.

The whole setup could be kind of slick if you set it up as a RIMS or HERMS mash tun. Then you have a built in hydraulic tilt feature that gives a lot of control over how fast you dump the spent grains.

Rather than cutting it to pieces...any way to install an electric element?

wilserbrewer said:

Rather than cutting it to pieces...any way to install an electric element?

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Yeah, that is an option. I'm still kind of holding off on going electic though. Budget's kind of tight and all. This trade wouldn't set me back much.

BigRob said:

Shouldn't be much baffles on the inside, cutting it will be a pain in the ass, and the drain valve is still going to have an issue if you aren't careful direct firing it. The plunger that actually seals is plastic, and it has to be replaced with regular operation, as it warps/distorts and ceases to seal properly. If you could find a way to mount a ball valve (big ass ball valve too) that might solve your issue.

The whole setup could be kind of slick if you set it up as a RIMS or HERMS mash tun. Then you have a built in hydraulic tilt feature that gives a lot of control over how fast you dump the spent grains.

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I've also been considering using it as a mash tun. Just wanted to spitball some thoughts on cutting the jacket. Ideally, I'd like to be able to boil in it without steam.

brewingmeister said:

...Cutting a spot for the burner to heat on the bottom and then some vent holes around the top sounds like it should be feasible.

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That sounds like a better option than removing the whole jacket. Plus the physical integrity of the kettle will stay more intact. And will look better too.

Cut a hole in the bottom of the jacket a few inches bigger in diameter than your burner then drill a bunch of 1/2" holes at the top of the jacket to vent the combustion gasses. This will form a "jacketed" tank that keeps the hot gasses in contact with the inner kettle wall and should improve heating time and use less fuel. No need to strip the whole jacket off.

Why not open the jacket, fill it with insulation, and use it as a mash-tun?

Ok, so we're at two votes for mash tun and three votes for small, vented hole at the bottom. Drain is questionable.

BBL_Brewer said:

Ok, so we're at two votes for mash tun and three votes for small, vented hole at the bottom. Drain is questionable.

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How about the vote for putting a 5500w element in it and pluggin er in?

wilserbrewer said:

How about the vote for putting a 5500w element in it and pluggin er in?

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My bad....one vote for that too.

They make good mash tuns and you can use the jacket to heat mash from HLT. (See my build)


To use as boil kettle and direct heat I would fill the jacket 1/3 of the way from bottom with distiller water. Attach an adjustable relief valve and pressure gauge on a tee at the return steam outlet usually the top one. On the inlet I would put a valve and a connector to match your plumbing (cam lock, quick connect)

I would set the relief valve at 12-15psi depending on kettle operating rating and you got a steam kettle.

Would be a minimal investment and worth a try. Watch jacket pressure and adjust heat accordingly.

In an emergency the relief valve should let go if not you could bleed the bottom valve Carefully and remove heat.

MaxOut said:

They make good mash tuns and you can use the jacket to heat mash from HLT. (See my build)


To use as boil kettle and direct heat I would fill the jacket 1/3 of the way from bottom with distiller water. Attach an adjustable relief valve and pressure gauge on a tee at the return steam outlet usually the top one. On the inlet I would put a valve and a connector to match your plumbing (cam lock, quick connect)

I would set the relief valve at 12-15psi depending on kettle operating rating and you got a steam kettle.

Would be a minimal investment and worth a try. Watch jacket pressure and adjust heat accordingly.

In an emergency the relief valve should let go if not you could bleed the bottom valve Carefully and remove heat.

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I thought about that too. I'd have to keep adding water though as steam escapes or it would go dry eventually. I'm also not sure how hard I could crank the heat with a set up like that and how long it would take to get to a boil. Thanks for the thoughts though. I'll have to pop in and check your progress, I remember posting in your thread when you first got started.

BBL_Brewer said:

I thought about that too. I'd have to keep adding water though as steam escapes or it would go dry eventually. I'm also not sure how hard I could crank the heat with a set up like that and how long it would take to get to a boil. Thanks for the thoughts though. I'll have to pop in and check your progress, I remember posting in your thread when you first got started.

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Ideally you would never loose steam as you would keep it below your set pressure. You may loose a little getting it dialed in. My steam boil kettle is filled with distiller water and has never had to refill (has a sight glass) the steam will heat fast as steam transfers heat really well and will distribute your heat much better with less chance of caramelization. I can get 45 gallons to a rolling boil in no time from mash out temps. Not sure what size steam fitting the kettle has your looking at but my mash tun had 1/2" and 3/4" fittings so is was relatively cheap to get it hooked up. Worth a try if the price is right on the kettle.

On another note curious to know how you propagate yeast for your 1bbl batches? Specifically the high gravity/ lagers. According to Mr.Malty the amount of yeast I need is off the chart. Thinking about converting a 5 gallon corney into a yeast brink and adding an agitator. This way I can propagate the yeast, decant and pump the yeast inline with the wort heading to the fermenter.

MaxOut said:

On another note curious to know how you propagate yeast for your 1bbl batches? Specifically the high gravity/ lagers. According to Mr.Malty the amount of yeast I need is off the chart. Thinking about converting a 5 gallon corney into a yeast brink and adding an agitator. This way I can propagate the yeast, decant and pump the yeast inline with the wort heading to the fermenter.

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I'll tell you, but it's probably not the option you're looking for. I'm still fermenting in buckets With that said I had two choices, either do a very large starter batch of beer to propagate the trillions of cells needed or, make a bunch of stir plates and deal with each starter individually. I chose option B. I made six stir plates that are all tied into the same power supply so that I can use them individually or simultaneously. This allows some flexibility and also gives me what I need to grow yeast and freeze it (which saves a ton of money on yeast, let me tell you). A big deciding factor in this for me was flexibility. I like to mix up different yeast strains on the same batch. Usually two or three different ones on any given brewday. I also brew with a freind quite often and this allows me to keep my starters seperate from his (his sanitiation leaves much to be desired). That said, sounds like you want to nail down a big batch with all the same yeast. The corney idea sounds cool, but you'll need some oxygen enrichment to go along with the agitation if you want the population to increase significantly. I don't see why you couldn't make that happen though. You have ports on the corny that you could infuse O2 with and either give it manual shots at given intervals or automate it with a solenoid valve or something. You've got your head on strait, so you'll get it figured out.

As for the steam kettle. Hmmm. Now you got me thinking about that agian, I had already made up my mind to scrap that plan. So basically, distilled water inside the sealed jacket with a pressure relief, a gauge and direct fire? Sounds like magic to me. So what, half hour tops to come to a boil for your 40 gallons at post mash temps? If so, that sounds sweet.

Thanks BBL_Brewer, I've been doing the same thing with multiple stir plates. Looking to consolidate into a single large starter. I was using buckets as well and still do for small batches. Trying to streamline brewing and cleaning processes to simplify things a little. I considered a carboy but the bottoms are not flat and was told by local brew shop guy they don't work well.

Good luck with the steam kettle decision. Keep an eye on eBay and local restaurant auction sites and you may find a all in one unit that is not direct steam. I've seen them go cheap in the 60-80 gallon range. The larger kettles are being abandoned by restaurants in favor of smaller ones in order to save space and are preparing foods on demand to keep fresh.

I get the impression you've already decided to do this, but steam kettles are extremely expensive. Sell it used to someone who can use it, and buy tons of custom equipment.

daksin said:

I get the impression you've already decided to do this, but steam kettles are extremely expensive. Sell it used to someone who can use it, and buy tons of custom equipment.

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See post #1

You will definitely want to use distilled water if you decide to go the ghetto steam kettle route. Probably want to give the entire jacket a solid descaling, before using it too. The jackets are usually rated to 50psi, and used at 15-25 PSI.

Should be easy enough to use a plug on the steam inlet and remove the steam trap on the drain and plug that up too. They use standard NPT sizes normally. Then it's just a matter of ensuring your pressure relief valve is working properly, and not set any higher than 15-25 psig. Bring it up to temp and vent the kettle a few times too, to remove all the air from the jacket.

Also, be very careful if you see a "Good Deal" on a 60-80 gallon electric steam kettle, frequently the elements are not possible to replace.