Cooking Pot?

Just a quick question about the cooking pot? I currently have a 3 gallon stainless steel pot that I made my first batch with. It was a little small as I boiled 2 gallons then added 3 gallons of water to the primary and to help cool the wort.

My question is: Is stainless the best option to go with when getting a newer much larger pot? Like 7 gallons or so? Or is porcelain or would aluminum be just as good? Stainless and porcelain are very expensive when talking that large of a pot, so wasn't sure if aluminum would do as good or not.

Thanks

There have been many almost heated discussions here about whether or not you should use aluminum. I say, if you can afford SS go for it...if not aluminum is just fine.

Good God, Man

Don't cook your pot


Oops, sorry, wrong forum.

Hmmm.....Okay well I am not interested in starting a heated discussion on here. Just wanted to get a professional opinion on what would be okay to use. Can I ask though what the difference is between a stainless and alum pot? I know stainless is much thicker and can last longer, but I have seen alum pots last 10-15yrs as well. So does alum give a bad taste or what?

Thanks so much!

I think that perhaps more important than the material used would be the thickness of the pot (at least the bottom of it.)

If it's too thin, you can burn sugars on the floor of the kettle where temps are much hotter.

I use a 20 quart SS pot (with only 3 gallons of wort), but it's very thin. I am always nervous about burning things, and I end up stirring a lot out of paranoia.

-walker

There are old rumors, studies, whatever about a connection between aluminum and alzheimers. Some old timers also seem to think that aluminum does leave a taste. I have no opinion on aluminum myself, because I don't use it. I like stainless because I think it cooks better, and if used properly it's easy to clean up. Nothing but All-Clad in this Nazi's kitchen.

Gotcha!! Now I will be on a hunt to find a nice priced stainless I guess.....Anyone know where I can find one that is under $165 for a 5 to 7 gallon? HA

Thanks

My LHBS has a 5 gal. for $40 and a 7 1/2 gal for $99. I think you can find something in that range pretty much anywhere.

I use a 20 qt enamelware pot. So far for the two batches I used it for I had no prolems and the heat stayed nice and even. What's the minimum size to use for all grain batches if I want to do 5 or 10 gallons respectively.

The pros don't use aluminum because the chemicals used in "cleaning in place" will destroy it. On the other hand, don't ever put bleach in a stainless pot. [Look up chloride stress corrosion] For homebrewing, there isn't any difference. I've never met anyone who can actually detect "made in aluminum".

Enamel is cheapest, but also the thinnest and it does chip, leaving plain iron to cause rust problems.

I use stainless, but my buddy uses aluminum. We both make great beer. He likes his light beers, while I like the full bodied ones.

Cabelas has some decent turkey fryers (30 quart) with stainless pots. I picked mine up for a hundred. That includes burner and all the fixins for frying your turkey.

I use a 5 gallon stainless steel pot. It works great and I got it at Wal-Mart for 16$ US.

Sorry, I checked with my shopping consultant(girlfriend) and apparently it was 20$ US and it was at Zeller's which you don't have in the states. I looked around for the same name brand online but they didn't have it. I did find some great looking deals though:

http://home.listings.ebay.com/Cookw...QQfromZR4QQsacatZ46274QQsocmdZListingItemList

This one looks pretty good:
http://cgi.ebay.com/20-qt-quart-STA...410783598QQcategoryZ46276QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

My initial setup was also a turkey fryer. 30 qt SS pot, burner & stand, shallow pot (used as a stand for the fermentation buckets) and a big sieve that I use for washing blackberries. $69 US on sale a Lowe's. The pot was a bit small, so I got a 7 1/2 gal. and turned the 30 qt. pot into a mash tun.

I went to Linens 'n Things. (OK, I admit it, I was probably the only guy in there). But they have lots of cooking stuff and they had a big selection of SS stockpots with thick bottoms for reasonable prices.

mmditter said:

I went to Linens 'n Things. (OK, I admit it, I was probably the only guy in there).

Click to expand...

No, I was there too. Bed, Bath, and Beyond also has a good selection of cookware.

El Pistolero said:

No, I was there too. Bed, Bath, and Beyond also has a good selection of cookware.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I like BloodBath & Beyond. Got my digital scale there.

As for the Stainless vs. Aluminum argument, there is no scientific evidence that aluminum will turn your brain to mush. I've used aluminum since 1997.

I got a great deal on this 40 qt. brewpot ... $43.49. I got the “-H” unit which is a 8mm thick pot. It is indestructable.

mmditter said:

I went to Linens 'n Things. (OK, I admit it, I was probably the only guy in there). But they have lots of cooking stuff and they had a big selection of SS stockpots with thick bottoms for reasonable prices.

Click to expand...

That's where I got mine from, but my roommate works there so...

Thanks so much for everyones advice and help!!!!

GaBrewBoy

Do you also have any interest in a turkey fryer? I did, and realized it was most affordable to purchase a stainless steel fryer which I would also use for brewing.

I purchased the Bayou Classic 1175, which is a 30 quart (7.5 gal) SS model with burner, basket and other accessories. It's $99 on Amazon (more at www.bayou-classic.com). Lots of other models exist. If you only want the pot, our local Walmart had 5 gallon models at about $40, 6 gallons at around $60.

As for materials, aluminum, as others suggest, is often associated with leaching minute but often noticeable amounts of minerals into wort or mash. Some care, some don't. I went with stainless to be safe.

Enamel is fine, but requires more care. One chip and you invite rust. As I am not the most delicate of flowers, steel works best for me.

Have fun.