Best Economy Brewing Kettle

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malibuboats91

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I just got into brewing and had to borrow a kettle for my first batch. I'm not looking to buy a decent kettle. I have been looking around on amazon for one in the $20-30 range. Is it worth buying one in that range if I'm just getting into brewing? Any suggestions on what to get? Thanks in advance

Here is one I was looking at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018EAMKA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I also saw this at Walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Granite-Ware-21.5-Quart-Canner-With-Rack/10543332
 
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Pick up a 15 gallon keg and convert it to a brew kettle. You can find one on eBay for 30 dollars. It's not hard to do. It's thr perfect size for 10 to 13 gallon brew.
 
Pick up a 15 gallon keg and convert it to a brew kettle. You can find one on eBay for 30 dollars. It's not hard to do. It's thr perfect size for 10 to 13 gallon brew.

yeah thats a good suggestion for someone looking to get into stovetop/cheap brewing.
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either of those shown would would work and will do a realistic 3-4 gallon boil if your stove will. I'd lean towards the enamaled one with the canning rack as an easy way to keep steeping bags of the bottom.
 
If you have an addictive personality like most brewers do, you will soon wish you would have spent a little extra on a keg conversion and burner. A turkey fryer setup is a good option as well. Burner and kettle for 40ish$ at walmart isn't a bad deal and you can do full wort boils which is very beneficial provided you get a chiller of some sort
 
Aluminum is another option you can probably spend a bit less or get a bit of a larger pot for the same money. Here's an example: http://www.amazon.com/Imperial-MW1208-Aluminum-Quarts-Steamer/dp/B0072NBC00.

I have a 15G bayou classic that looks like that one that I'm still using as a boil kettle. When I first got into brewing I bought an 8 gallon stainless steel pot that is just chilling out in my garage unused now.

I'd almost recommend shooting straight for a larger kettle. 10-15 gallons. It's more pricy. No reason you couldn't start with a smaller pot of course. Depends on your personality and what you're interested in. I only did a few batches on my smaller pot before I decided I really wanted something larger so I kind of feel like it was a waste of money (I spent more than $25 though :) ). I had some boil over issues in the 8 gallon while doing full volume boils.
 
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If you can afford it, the bayou classic line is a solid investment. You can get a 10 gallon SS kettle for around $70. This gives you the option to continue to brew with extract, or if you decide to go to all grain it will be large enough for 5 gal batches.
 
yeah thats a good suggestion for someone looking to get into stovetop/cheap brewing.


He did not specify stove top or what. He is going to put the same amount into this as he would a stove top. When he out grows this, and he will, he will not have to reinvest into something else. Also if he decides he does not want it the converted kettle will fly off ebay.
 
Thanks for all the input! Right now I am using a electric glass top range to do my brewing. The keg conversion looks cool but I think I'd rather get a turkey fryer or kettle to use on our stove. I plan to continue using extract kits, but would I have a burning issue if I get a cheaper kettle?
 
I got a 4 gallon SS pot from Big Lots for $16, it worked great for extract kits.
Then I bought another one to do split boil All Grain batches on my stove, this also worked great and produced good beer. Then I bought a 15Gal Bayou Classic SS pot from Amazon for $120, works great out in the yard on propane but you will need a chiller for that. Like someone else was saying you will probably get addicted to brewing and go bigger later. :tank: Its OK though because I still use my smaller pots to collect wart.....
 
I have an 8g. aluminum from instawares.com that I purchased for $28 plus shipping. Under $40 total. Spike has some nice options there as well in aluminum. Just pre-boil water in the pot before your first use to get oxidized layer.
 
Be careful on weight limitations of glass top stoves. A coworker of mine broke the glass pane on her stove while canning a bunch of stuff. It was a very costly mistake!
Cheers!
 
Be careful on weight limitations of glass top stoves. A coworker of mine broke the glass pane on her stove while canning a bunch of stuff. It was a very costly mistake!
Cheers!

Wow that really sucks. Do you know how big of a pot she was using? I might just not use our glass top because that would be a expensive mistake
 
Wow that really sucks. Do you know how big of a pot she was using? I might just not use our glass top because that would be a expensive mistake

I have heard similiar tales. Using an expensive glass top range is a little risky for brewing anything more than a partial boil. I think the problem occurs not only due to weight, but when the bottom of the pot is oversized and overheats the glass top. Only speculating here, and likely you will be ok using 4-5 gallon pots, but for anything greater a propane burner or E-kettle is good insurance on saving SWMBO's stove.
 
wilserbrewer said:
I have heard similiar tales. Using an expensive glass top range is a little risky for brewing anything more than a partial boil. I think the problem occurs not only due to weight, but when the bottom of the pot is oversized and overheats the glass top. Only speculating here, and likely you will be ok using 4-5 gallon pots, but for anything greater a propane burner or E-kettle is good insurance on saving SWMBO's stove.

Crazy, I been brewing 2 burner full boil batches on my glass top all winter and never considered breakage...now more ammo to move outside on ten gal setup...!

To the OP, the mexican grocery stores by me have ten gallon aluminum tamale pots, with steamer rack and lid for $25 or so, might look there, at least get you goin...
 
I picked up a 6 gallon stainless kettle from sams club. The bottom is about an inch larger than the burner on my stove. Do you think this is okay or should I just get the 4 gallon?
 
I've boiled 6.5 gallons on my glass-top stove and it was fine. Granted not all stoves are constructed the same.
 
Now do any of you know if on a ceramic cooktop it's okay to use a pot that the bottom isn't completely flat? I actually ordered an aluminum 20 quart off of amazon before I found the SAMs club pot. It came today and is great quality but the bottom isn't totally flat. Attached is a picture of the amazon pot.

image-68143754.jpg
 

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