does anyone have this cooker & pot?

I am getting ready to brew my next batch and I want to get a larger brew pot and a propane burner so I can do full boils and get off SWMBO's stove. Since it isn't "turkey" season nobody seems to have the cookers in the store where I can look at one. Walmart has this deal going (Walmart.com: King Kooker 30 Quart Turkey Fryer with Safety Shut-off System: Grills & Outdoor Cooking) and I was wondering if anyone has used or seen one. If so, is it a decent set up or should I keep looking?

Thanks!

I have not seen it before. My does seem almost identical except for the stand. It seems to have all of the same parts (thermometer, pot, stand, burner, boil cage, hanging rack) that mine has. This has the additional feature of an auto shutoff which seems like a great idea if the kettle falls but I don't know if it will be cumbersome for brewing. Either way, you might be able to bypass the safety feature and use the whole for a drain. I think it looks good if it looks good to you. I love mine and used it for brewing Saturday morning and then for a ton of corn on the cob Saturday evening.

eighty bucks for an alum. 30 qt. pot and burner doesn't seem like any kind of a deal to me???

That being said...if you want one this weekend, money well spent i would say.

I have that stand and burner, but not the same kettle (mine was 6.5 gallons or so). The burner is just fine (in fact, I use it with my keggle).

I got it for $40 from cabelas.com last year though. Don't know that I'd pay $80 for it.

Rick500 said:

I got it for $40 from cabelas.com last year though. Don't know that I'd pay $80 for it.

Click to expand...

I must be jinxed for getting a good deal, I have looked on line about 20 places and $80 for the full setup seems to be the going rate. At Cabella's, they have a similar setup going for $120 (I would imagine the quality might be better there).

Amazon has a Bayou Classic version with all the pots & hardware for the same price & their burner looks a little more heavy duty. Same price though, $79

I'll do a little more searching then it's time to go for it I guess...

Well, to be fair, my $40 deal didn't come with the accessories that one does... it was the smaller kettle, lid, burner, and some kind of strainer basket.

I would suggest you check out that auto shut off feature more closely before purchasing that cooker. IIRC, the regulator has a probe attached which gets dropped into the kettle. This is supposed to prevent overheating the cooking oil when frying turkeys. I don't know if the regulator will continue to operate if the probe gets damaged. That would be my concern. The auto shut off then becomes the weak link and you don't need it for brewing anyway. I don't think the shut off is adjustable, so it would be worthless for brewing purposes. I could be wrong on that. I looked at them briefly a long time ago, but don't remember all the details.

mine is not like that,but came with the safety temp probe thing that hooks on the side of the pot. I just left it hanging down under the stand so it stays cool. its so you wont burn down the house when using oil.

as soon as you buy that you will stumble across a better one for less $$$

In my experience...

I had bought a king kooker three burner stove from cabela's got it home and opened the box. well i was not impressed at all the welds looked like birdsh*t, the legs were uneven and parts were missing.

stay far far away from these king kookers....

take a look at the bayou classic burner ...i use these on my brew rig, very happy with the performance and quality.

Well, Craigslist made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I still ended up paying $75 but the cooker is much better quality than most of the homer store stuff I've seen. It came from Eastman Outdoors Inc and it looks something like these (I think my model may have been discontinued) Eastman Outdoors Cooking Hardware, Accessories & Flavoring Systems

The pot is only 26 qt but it is a pretty heavy duty stainless and the burner seems to be pretty well made. I was hoping to get a cheaper deal on Craigslist but I think having the better quality made up for the price difference.

Are you using this to do a full 5 gallon batch boil (6.5gallons boiling)? Just wondering why you went with the smaller brew pot.

Yeah, I want to do a full 5+ gallon boil. When the guy told me about the pot he said it was 28qt. When I got there he apologized because it was a 26. I drove a way to get it and it was brand new, looks like quality gear so I bought it. If I find I have an issue with capacity, I guess I'll look for a larger pot some time but I think it will do me for now.

I have a 30 quart pot and I push the threshold for a 5.25-5.5 gallon batch. I'm guessing you will have some difficulty putting that much liquid in it as I start with 6.5-6.7 gallons (26-27 quarts) preboil. With the hotbreak the foam wants to go and it shoots up quickly so as it nears boiling I have to watch it like a hawk with my hand on the gas valve. However, I only have to do this for about 3 minutes and the foaming is under control.

You might be able to adjust your brewing so that you can be slightly under 5 gallons at which point the 26quart pot will work fine. Might I also suggest some fermcap to keep the boil overs from taking place. The website you posted shows some quality equipment.

Thanks for the tips mnm129, I will start slow and approach cautiously. I was thinking I might be able to start with 5 gal. of liquid and once it foams up and settles, ease a bit more water in. I'm not sure what this would do to the recipe though, any thoughts?

Well, I tested the new cooker & pot today on 5 gals of water. From tap to rolling boil was 23 minutes. The only thing I found to be lees than I would expect was the thermometer that came with it. I was working on the patio and I'd been watching it inch up to boiling. I was not paying close attention when I noticed steam drifting by. I went over to the cooker an it showed 200° on the thermometer but obviously it was 212° plus.

One other nice bit I discovered was the regulator is a 10 psi (I thought the box said 20 psi but it didn't). My 23 minutes of cooking time didn't seem to use much gas at all (a bonus in my current thrifty state)

So I'm taking it that you like it. Great. Enjoy your new toy!

Catt22 said:

I would suggest you check out that auto shut off feature more closely before purchasing that cooker. IIRC, the regulator has a probe attached which gets dropped into the kettle. This is supposed to prevent overheating the cooking oil when frying turkeys. I don't know if the regulator will continue to operate if the probe gets damaged. That would be my concern. The auto shut off then becomes the weak link and you don't need it for brewing anyway. I don't think the shut off is adjustable, so it would be worthless for brewing purposes. I could be wrong on that. I looked at them briefly a long time ago, but don't remember all the details.

Click to expand...

The "safety timer" on the combo kit I got after the holidays ($29 at Kroger :rockin was fairly easy to bypass...

Proceed at your own peril in doing so though...