Boil kettle question.

I am about to start brewing five gallon batches and I'm looking for a new kettle for a decent price. I saw a cheap eight gallon steamer kettle for only $30.00. I was wondering if it was even worth getting or should I just fork over more money for a decent kettle? Thanks in advance for any replies.

I say go for it. I have an el-cheapo aluminum kettle and it works just fine. But I'd rather spend my money on ingrediants than expensive equipment.

Buy it! Here's the thing, aluminum heats up quicker, and cools off faster, which is great for brewing! The only downfall (kinda) is that it's a softer, more porous metal than stainless, and can pick up off flavors if you use it for other things or don't clean it well after use. So as long as its dedicated to beer, and you clean up well, it'll work great for ya! Cheers

Thanks for the replies. It would be dedicated for beer so i'll pick it up. Thanks again.

I got a 7.5 gallon aluminum kettle at first, thinking I would be happy with it. I later ended up buying an 11 gal stainless steel kettle when I realized it was better for doing BIAB since it was larger. If all you ever do is boil in it, then 8 gal is fine. If you ever decide to go BIAB, you'll regret not having the bigger kettle. With that said, now I do all grain and I still use the 7.5 gallon kettle to heat my sparge water, so it was still a good buy...