blackish/grey residue on my stainless steel stock pot

I noticed when cleaining out my stock pot that after it dried, it looked really dull, so it rinsed it again and wiped it out with a paper towel and on the towel was a residue that was greyish/black. I am concerned now that i might be getting some metallic flavors in any beer i make using that pot. Has anyonw ever run into this?

Here is the rundown in case it helps:

stainless steel stock pot, 20 qt, economy style from midwest products. I used a no-rinse cleaner on it that came in a cleaning kit, LD Carlson brand. I ran out of that and have used PBW the last couple of times to clean it.

Let me know what you think.

You sure it isn't aluminum?

have you ever used bleach on it? that corrodes stainless- or kahuna could be correct and its actually alluminum.

it says stainless on the box and on the website i got it from. I am thinking now of going all grain and am researching aluminum turkey fryers, any recommendations?

comj49 said:

I am thinking now of going all grain and am researching aluminum turkey fryers, any recommendations?

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I dont even use deodorant that has aluminum in it because of increased exposure to a heavy metal that is already, to a degree, in the air you breath, the soils you plant in, the plants you harvest, the foods you eat, etc. Everything in moderation....

Use stainless.

comj49 said:

any recommendations?

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Yes...Yes I do...How'd you know?

DOUBLE CHECK to make sure your turkey fryer doesn't come with a timer....it's a piece of crap that causes you to have to reset it every 18 minutes or so....or your boil stops......then you get to re-light.

Also...PLENTY of debate on the Aluminum vs. Stainless issue....I use Aluminum, because it got me into AG on the budget I had...as far as the exposure...if you take care of it properly...it's going to oxidize and put on a nice layer of protection for you and your beer.

I've got a keggle now, although It'll be a while before I get to use it.

i have both and i deffinitly like stainless better. I rigged a keggle and thats pretty much all ill ever need. Stainless is easy and you dont have to worry as much about denting or cleaning and you can leave it out. Either way walmart sells the turkey friers with 7.5 gal pot for 40 bucks. Go that route-its how i started and it works fine. Just make sure you either season it in the oven or boil in it for 15 minutes.

This is cleaning after you brewed with it? If so might it possibly be beer-stone? Just residue from brewing that builds up (minerals proteins etc.) If it is actually stainless scrub it with some barkeepers friend and it will shine again. If it is aluminum or you are not sure I suppose BKF would not be a good idea.

How have you used the pot? Is it possible to post a picture of it?

I agree with Zymurgrafi, use barkeepers friend. It is only a few dollars at wal mart, and puts the strongarm on stainless. It is actually the best product for cleaning stainless IMHO.

Zymurgrafi said:

This is cleaning after you brewed with it? If so might it possibly be beer-stone? Just residue from brewing that builds up (minerals proteins etc.) If it is actually stainless scrub it with some barkeepers friend and it will shine again. If it is aluminum or you are not sure I suppose BKF would not be a good idea.

How have you used the pot? Is it possible to post a picture of it?

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I typically scrub with just water, sometimes use cleaner, right after i brew. I use cleaner and scrub really well the day I brew. It is only recently it has built up this residue though. I will try to get some of the barkeepers friend and see if that helps. I have a couple of batches bottle conditioning now that will tell me if the pot has transferred any metallic flavors, i'll update in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the replys.