Boiling

I have always assumed, I think stupidly now, that when you guys mentioned partial boils you meant that you boiled the wort in 3 gal water, for example, and then added 2 gal of unboiled tap water.

You don't mean that do you?!?

I now have a boil pot that will hold roughly ten gallons, so would I be better off boiling the wort in a 5 gallon batch (for a 5 gallon brew) so that I boil everything at once?

I previously have boiled all my water, but what I did was boil 2 gallons and stick it in the fermenter, before boiling the wort in 3 gallons and adding that on top... I have never been sure what difference diluting the wort made and simply went by some recipe instructions I have.

Does anyone recommend investing in some kind of aeration device as the water will have less oxygen? For my current brew, which is in secondary, I just shook the fermenter for 10 mins before pitching the yeast and the gravity has come down from 1.045 to 1.008. Can anyone explain what benefits I might see by aerating the wort with some other device, eg aquariam pump?

Cheers

Your right about the partial boil.

If you are getting full attenuation in the required time you do not need any further aeration.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=20832&highlight=experiment

Your assumption about partial boils is correct, as well.

That's DEEP stuff. Anyway, I too have a question on full boils versus partials. If I'm still using kits and I go with a full boil with a kit that calls for a partial boil, I won't have the same outcome as that of a partial? I have read to expect the more hoppiness. I don't understand. Were talking water here, not syrup. I just don't see how you can extract more bittering from the bittering hop addition at the start of a boil with 3 gallons as opposed to 5.

anyone want to take a stab at this???