Kegs With Bungs - Can They Be Plugged/Converted Into Brewpots/MLT/HLT

I came into more than a half dozen old stainless steel Sankeys, the olllld kind with bungs on the side.

My question, is there any proven safe and effective way to plug the bung so that I can convert three of these kegs for use in an all grain set up? I've heard of people welding plates the bungs but don't know anyone personally who has done that.

So how about it, any 100% effective way to do this? I'd like to convert these kegs and sell the rest but I'd feel like a jerk if I put all the time/work into converting these only to get blasted with boiling wort sometime down the line due to bung seal breaking. Or worse, someone that I sell one of these to gets a face full of boiling wort.

Thanks!

Sure you can weld the bung. For a MT or HLT, a rubber stopper driven in from the inside would likely hold forever?...or easier yet, for a MT or HLT, the wooden bung would be fine. I would think the even the wood bung would be sanitized by the boil. Best alternative is to weld em shut, but then again, "run what you got" works as well.

They work fine. I just use a silicone wine bung pushed in the from the inside out and haven't had a problem.

They are a little more awkward to work with and require you to add your own handles, but they work decently well.

Thanks for the replies. I'm surprised, I heard from a few people that that unless I had someone attach a steel plate with a sanitary weld then these older kegs with bungs on the side are pretty much useless for anything except fermenters.

I plan on doing 10 gallon boils at some point with these kegs, which would raise the liquid level well above where the bung is positioned on the side. Would a wood/silicon bung be sufficient to use as a brew pot even with that much liquid? There's no concerns with the bung being submerged in boiling wort for more than an hour?

And if that's the case then why does everyone seem to always use straight sided kegs? Just because of the handles at the top and there's no bung? These older Sankey's with bungs are so easy to come by, it'd seem like more people would use them in their setups

I have done a few 10 gallon batches (~12 gallons preboil on my system) with mine and have had no problems. If you put the bung in from the inside out, the liquid actually helps hold the bung in.

I would not use a wood bung for a boil kettle because of the possibility of infection coming from the wood and the difficulty in cleaning. Silicone, however, holds up to the heat and is easy to clean.

As to why people use straight sided kegs? Not sure there is one correct answer to that and I certainly can't speak for anyone. Looks is probably part of it. They are also less hassle since you don't have to add handles.

Personally, I have one of the older bung style, I have a coors style with it's slight barrel shape and a straight sided Bud style. They all work, they just fit my (in progress) brew rig slightly differently and that is nothing difficult to deal with.