I've brewed extract and mini mash so far but want to step up to AG and am thinking of trying BIAB. I will have to buy a larger pot and am looking at the 15.5 gal Bayou Classic pot, currently $116.45 on Amazon. Does anyone have experience with this pot or other Bayou Classic pots and if so are they good for brewing? As a whole they are quite a bit cheaper than Blichmann, Polarware, etc.
Also, I already have a 10gal Rubbermaid cooler. I can use the kettle to heat the water, whether I sparge or not, and put the bag of grains in the cooler to mash and then just transfer the wort to my boil kettle, right? Is this worth doing or should I just bypass the Rubbermaid cooler? I haven't used it but my inexperienced thinking tells me the mash would be more insulated in the Rubbermaid cooler and thus achieve a better mash, though I would not have direct heating capability if needed.