2 or 6 gauge alum kettle?

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Talloak

Talloak

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thicker walls are better for mounting weldless fittings . On a side note why is the 6 mm pot lighter at10.10lb than the 4 mm at 10.38 lbs :confused:
 
Thicker is better, and that pot size is marginal for full boils. My 5.5 gallon batches start at 8 to 8.5 gallons.
 
sorry to hijack but is there a huge differance between a stock pot and a sauce pot?
 
I've got a 6mm (2 gauge?) 60 quart pot, and it's a beast. If I hadn't already made plans to drop it off the roof regularly, the 4mm would be fine.

Also, I'd check around on prices, instawares and waresdirect both have good prices.

Also, also, +1 on at least a 40 quart.

Brew on.
 
I'm honestly asking and not being a wise-guy... but... Why is thicker better?

If you have an extra $18 and just feel like getting a sturdier pot, then great, but I don't understand how thickness translates into any tangible benefit in making beer.

I have two 100qt alum. pots as my HLT and BK and then I have an 80 qt mounted inside a 120 qt and spray-foam insulated in between the two for my MT and all four pots are about as thin as you're going to get.

Like you guys are joking... we're not tossing these things off the roof so how heavy duty do you need it?

I don't think heat realistically transfers any more evenly throughout the pot with the heavier thickness... does it? I don't know. It doesn't seem to be a problem on my set-up.

I have a TON of weldless fittings on my pots (6 on my HLT, 2 in my MT and 5 on my BK) and I didn't have a problem getting any of them in nor have I had any problems with them since. As a matter of fact, the thin aluminum is really easy to drill out and then file down perfectly smooth.

I don't get any scorching at all and I'm using monster 32-tip jet burners plumbed off the natural gas in my house.

I've seen other threads where folks suggest getting as heavy a gauge as possible and I don't really understand why.
 
I agree CB, a thicker pot is more durable and will withstand more abuse. How abusive to you plan on being? It is also heavier and will be a bit more difficult to handle while cleaning, moving etc.

IMO the heavy duty pots are preferred for cooking dishes like chili or stews where you want a gentle heat for long periods of time. Or for a commercial kitchen application where the pots are used and abused every day being slammed around by everyone from the chef to the dishwasher. Some commercial / restaurant kitchens operate at near war zone conditions. For a homebrewer boiling wort, a medium thickness that provides a reasonable amount of durability is IMO absolutely fine.

I would avoid some of the "paper thin" turkey fryer pots, but even those will work if used within their limitations. I remember reading about a guy who accidentally dry fired a thin aluminum pot w/ a superduty burner and was left w/ a bottomless kettle. YMMV
 
wilserbrewer said:
I remember reading about a guy who accidentally dry fired a thin aluminum pot w/ a superduty burner and was left w/ a bottomless kettle. YMMV
Click to expand...

A friend of mine was boiling sap to make maple syrup on his uncle turkey fryer. Went to the store with it on, came back, didn't check on it for hours while playing in the woods. 6 hours later, all the water was gone out of the sap, huge hole in the bottom of the aluminum kettle, dried on/burned on sap all over the propane burner. Uncle didn't care.
 
Just got a call from Restaurant Supply House: Out of Stock for 30 days. Order canceled.

Do I want to upgrade to the heavy weight for an extra $22 she asks? I tell her, 'What do you think I am throwing things off the roof over here?' - she didn't know what I was talking about.

Looking at this now: http://www.instawares.com/stock-pot-aluminum-40.alsksp007.0.7.htm

Same price. No cover. Do I need a cover? Cover is $26. But if I buy cover, I get free shipping, so cover really only costs $14.
 
Instawares probably has hundreds of pots, maybe thousands , this looks like a good deal to get your total up to $50 for the free shipping. A $52 thermometer for 8 bucks!

Pocket Dial Thermometer 1.75'' SS, Thermometers - Kitchen

Oh, and don't tell me you already have a thermometer, you can always use one more just to check the other six.

pretty funny actually...your sig came true..." 'Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery' "
 
So, you are saying a cover is probably not necessary? The only time I would use it is to bring water to a boil more quickly. I know you are not supposed to cover the pot while boiling wort.
 
Cape Brewing said:
Like you guys are joking... we're not tossing these things off the roof so how heavy duty do you need it?

I've seen other threads where folks suggest getting as heavy a gauge as possible and I don't really understand why.
Click to expand...

Hey if I want to throw my pot across the driveway when I miss my OG I want a pot that can take it not no sissy little thin skinned POS .... You have to keep them in line or the next thing you know a few gallons of water/wort a go missing while your brewing.......


























:D:D
 
Thicker is Better....
And this is also true for aluminum pots:eek:
Seriously - you don't get the impression with a small pot because it is very structurally stable. Once you get a large cylinder full of water you realize that Aluminum is alot softer than steel and more maleable. I guarantee the pot will wind up taking more abuse than you think. Also you will want to add a weldless fitting one day and you will be much happier with a thicker wall.

And +1 on getting a lid.
 
giligson said:
Once you get a large cylinder full of water you realize that Aluminum is alot softer than steel and more maleable.
Click to expand...

I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk and argue but I don't get that. Aluminum is a hell of a lot softer than steel. So what? Are my 25 gallon pots going to suddenly collapse because they're full of water?

giligson said:
Also you will want to add a weldless fitting one day and you will be much happier with a thicker wall.
Click to expand...

like I was saying before... I have 13 weldless fittings in my pots and I've never had an issue. How does a thicker wall make you much happier?


... really don't mean it as snotty as it probably sounds but I don't understand it when some folks suggest you have to get thick heavy pots.
 
Cape Brewing said:
I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk and argue but I don't get that. Aluminum is a hell of a lot softer than steel. So what? Are my 25 gallon pots going to suddenly collapse because they're full of water?
Click to expand...
Not likely but if you get a cheap pot like my thin walled Turkey fryer then there can be considerable flex when you pick it up full. Some of the cheaper pots will not be designed to be moved while full. They will expect the be supported when loaded. But thats talking about a pretty cheap pot. Ofcourse mine is so cheap that it got a huge dent when I dropped it a couple feet empty.

Cape Brewing said:
like I was saying before... I have 13 weldless fittings in my pots and I've never had an issue. How does a thicker wall make you much happier?


... really don't mean it as snotty as it probably sounds but I don't understand it when some folks suggest you have to get thick heavy pots.
Click to expand...

A weldless bulkhead puts considerable stress on the pot at a weak point. Again if it is not abused then a reasonable thickness will work just fine, however a heavier pot will flex less.

Thicker pots do distribute the heat better. The metal transfers heat better than the liquid so the thick bottomed pot will have a more even heat across the bottom and even up the sides. However that is not usually a problem for a boil kettle as the wort flows easily and once boiling has considerable movement. For direct fired mash tuns however it can be an advantage.

I think for brewing as long as you get a good pot there is no real reason to go heavier. And even the cheap pots will work for some time as long as they are not abused.

Craig
 
I guess one thing that I'm not taking into consideration is weldless fittings being "soft plumbed" in and pulling on the pot's side wall.

My pots aren't turkey-fryer thin but they're certainly not heavy duty by any stretch.

Then again... they are sitting on a single teir system so with the exception of cleaning, they don't get banged around at all. Plus, my rig is all hard plumbed in so there really shouldn't be any stress on the pot's fitting (or at least none to get worried about).

Long story short I think the medium gauge pot that Talloak just got will serve him well.
 
OK agreed...thicker is better, but costs more. For the same price we would all probably take the thicker pot. I guess some of us just prefer the economy of a thinner pot and choose to live w/ the potential shortcummings whatever they may be, damage from abuse or misuse being one. I guess a thicker pot will last longer in theory, whether that is five days or five lifetimes falls upon the user.

I guess some feel that having a thicker pot is money well spent? I'm very pleased w/ my new 60 qt 1/8" thick for $43 bucks to my door, a heavy duty pot would probably be more than double that if you wanted the lid.
 
whoa whoa... I'm not ready to hop on the thicker pots are better bandwagon just yet! :p

My vote is for "once you get beyond paper-thin pots, you're fine. BUT, if you can get a thicker pot for the same money, great, do it. And if you don't mind spending a little more extra money for a thick pot so it just feels sturdier, awesome, it's your money. BUT... there's probably no real tangible difference to how it's going to make beer... unless you throw it off your roof during your process for some reason."

I'll vote that way for two reasons...

1) like I keep saying, mine are pretty thin and even if I had something soft plumbed in, I really can't see 'em dinging or warping the walls around the weldless fittings.

2) I think the only time the heat dissipation sitaution would be a problem is if you are direct firing a mashtun and I think if you're direct firing a mash tun with so much heat that the pot thickness would be a problem... you might want to rethink how you're heating your MT in the first place.
 
I too have the 43 $ 60 qt pot . But the OP showed 2 pots one for 43 and the other is 61 . For 18 $ I would buy the thicker pot . Just my way I suppose.
 
Ok Cape, try and live with this, thicker is better w/ regards to durability in the likelyhood that you have the desire to throw your pot off the roof, or drop your pot full of wort, or knock it off the brew table and have it land on the valve.

Agreed, you're gonna end up w/ the same beer at the end of the day. I'm w/ you on this one, I have no real desire to buy more pot than I need.
 

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