Finding 10g coolers in the middle of winter

I thought I might have some trouble finding a 10g cooler for an MLT conversion in the winter, but not being able to find one at all sucks. I went to multiple home depots, ronas, canadian tires and wal marts with no luck. You'd think someone, somewhere has a soccer game that needs a cooler full of gatorade in the middle of February.

Not all is lost though, I did find this

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow.../Master+Chef+Country+Cooker+Kit.jsp?locale=en

a 30qt (7.5g ?) turkey frier for $70 rated at 56,000 BTU's. Now that I'm TRYING to get my equipment together for all grain, this seems like a wise investment. This brings up a couple questions though:

1) Would a 7.5 gallon pot be sufficient for full boils considering I would be brewing 5 gallon batches?

2) Or would this larger version (36qt and 58,000 BTU's) be more appropriate?

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...0P/Aluminum+Turkey+Fryer,+36-qt.jsp?locale=en


From everything I've read on this website, it seems that full boils on the stove top are quite difficult, if they're even possible with the specific stove.

Thanks in advance for the help!

I do full boils with a 7.5 gallon kettle, it's only tough if you're planning to use a lot of whole leaf hops, but even then you just need to be cognizant of a possible boil over.

I got my 5 gallon mash cooler from the side of the highway. Must have fallen off a truck or something. It was a little banged up, but once I cleaned it up seemed to work fine!

I had a similar issue finding the cooler, ended up ordering from Walmart.com, site to store so shipping was eliminated. If you are set on DIY, that might be your best bet, otherwise NB has some nice cooler set ups. As for the pot, the advice I got was go bigger than you think, just to be safe, so I went to a 10 gallon pot. Just mt 2 cents.

I went to lowes in the winter.... All of the coolers were packed up on pallets stored 50 feet up on a storage rack.

I had the sales guy get a forklift and get them down for me, just to buy one cooler lol. Great service btw.

Rob,
I really like the fryer you found. It has a ring to prevent the pot from sliding while your stirring or adding ingredients. I guess it is a Canadian thing because the lower 48 doent seem to have them quite like that. Thanks for the link.
Bob

I'd go for the bigger fryer in a heartbeat. 7.5 is easily doable (and many, MANY folks do it - I did until I chanced upon a 12 gallon pot), but a 9 gallon pot gives you some advantages, most importantly vastly reduced boil-over chances. You can do a 7 gallon batch easily, 8 if you watch the pot. If it's only an extra $20, to me, it's a no-brainer considering how much a 9 gallon pot would cost separately. You might think you don't want to do more than 5 gallons. Most likely, you'll change your mind on that. So you might as well get as much as you can up front. Also, the bigger pot will likely have a thicker gauge to the metal, meaning more even heat distribution.

Likewise the cooler. I'd be very surprised if Wally World didn't have some square/rectangular coolers, even in the dead of winter. But I would go for more than 10 gallons. That's what I started out with, and I've completely outgrown it. I need 20 gallons to do some of the 10 gallon recipes I've hatched up in my twisted little noggin. And if you ever do decide to do batches >5gal, you'll appreciate the capability. Like I said before...might as well go bigger on the front end. But it doesn't have to be round. If you can't find one in a store, you can check CraigsList Toronto.

Rbeckett said:

Rob,
I really like the fryer you found. It has a ring to prevent the pot from sliding while your stirring or adding ingredients. I guess it is a Canadian thing because the lower 48 doent seem to have them quite like that. Thanks for the link.
Bob

Click to expand...

I recently saw one very much like that at Home Despot here in Knoxpatch. Here's a pic of one exactly like it from the Lowe's web site:

Got my Igloo 10 gallon last month online at Walmart for the lowest price available...under $40.

Best part was free shipping to the store for pick up.

Check sporting supply stores like Sports Authority, Dicks's, or whatever you might have up north!

I was just at home depot over the weekend and saw 10 gallon Rubbermaid coolers for $42 I was high up on the shelve and had to ask someone about it. It was in the lawn mower section of mine

Also $70 seems steep to me for a fryer with an aluminum pot. Walmart had a similar one for $34 I got mine at Cabelas for $29...just my two cents ...I guess the $70 is socialism at work JK

lowe's has them

http://www.lowes.com/pd_318834-1217...=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=cooler&facetInfo=

akimbo78 said:

lowe's has them

http://www.lowes.com/pd_318834-1217...=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=cooler&facetInfo=

Click to expand...

When I checked that link, in the related items section below the product info, one of the top results is a 3/8" ball valve. Think we're generating a lot of hits?

SilverZero said:

When I checked that link, in the related items section below the product info, one of the top results is a 3/8" ball valve. Think we're generating a lot of hits?

Click to expand...

i saw that too, and was trying to think of any other reason why someone would be looking at a ball valve and a cooler of that size. i couldn't come up with any other reason.

just bought my cooler at home depot last week. I used their website and checked which store had them in stock. You could also try asking around to family members to see if they have a cooler you could borrow or have and offer to buy them a new one when the warm weather gets here. As for your pot, I have an 8 gallon aluminum pot that so far I love. Aluminum is really easy to drill through to mount the spigot. I used a 7/8" spade bit and first used the tip of it and a hammer to punch an indentation and then went to drilling. it cut like butter. Putting the spigot on the cooler was even easier because you just remove the existing drain, just don't screw the ball valve on too tight. LAstly, I cut a hole in the top of my cooler and put a sprinkler head designed for a faucet in there so i have an "auto sparge" haven't used it yet but it looks like it's gonna work great. I have the kettle screen in the bottom.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-Marine-48-Quart-Cooler/16437964

free site-to-store. Unbeatable deal?

I had to call around to the HD in town and one had them about a month ago. I have to think that now is about the time that they would be getting in their spring stuff so it shouldn't be long, but im no expert!

I think I have the same burner set up. Mine came from bass pro around christmas. I do 5 gallon batches and havent had too many problems. I do get a boil over from time to time but some fermcap-S keeps the foam down nicely. One day i will get a bigger pot and not have to worry but when i do the pot and burner will make a great HLT.

One thing about the burner, if it is the same on i have, is it has a 20 min timer. So you have to remember to turn the timer dial a few times durring to boil but it really is not a problem. I have even seen guys bypass the timer. Overall it is a great burner to make the jump to AG!

Hey, fellow Lincolnite and homebrewer! Nice to make youre acquaintence!

tre9er said:

Hey, fellow Lincolnite and homebrewer! Nice to make youre acquaintence!

Click to expand...

Hello! good to see another Nebraskan!