Economy Kettle

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cpatel479

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Hey guys,
Does the quality of kettles used for the hlt, mash tun, and boil kettle matter with an electric system? Typically with a burner you want a thick bottomed kettle to prevent scorching but since I am looking to build a e-Herms, I was thinking that it would be wiser to buy economy kettles and put the extra money else where.
 
No, not if you are using an electric heating element. The only problem you will run into is when adding a ball valve etc to a cheap (thin) kettle it will flex a bit. I use Polarware Econ kettles. They flex but the never leak.
 
No, not if you are using an electric heating element. The only problem you will run into is when adding a ball valve etc to a cheap (thin) kettle it will flex a bit. I use Polarware Econ kettles. They flex but the never leak.

Me too.

The econo kettles sold at adventures in homebrewing are thicker. You could check those out too.
 
I guess the question is what level of quality are you aiming for? Budget? You can get a pretty nice kettle from a bunch of the sponsors here. Spike and Colorado Brewing both have really great prices and customization. Spike has wonderful quality for budget. Personally, I love that I have a Triclover fitting for my element. I can take it off and on in a snap.

Just some food for thought.
 
Staples has aluminum pots (40 quart) for $29 each and buy two and get free shipping! Boil some water for an hour to establish a good oxadizaion layer and you are good to go.
 
Hey guys,
Does the quality of kettles used for the hlt, mash tun, and boil kettle matter with an electric system? Typically with a burner you want a thick bottomed kettle to prevent scorching but since I am looking to build a e-Herms, I was thinking that it would be wiser to buy economy kettles and put the extra money else where.

BTW- I first got into BIAB and all electric brewing after seeing a beer boiled in a plastic pail with an electric element. No idea of what kind of plastic it was but it was most certainly not a regular paint bucket type.

I set my pots on a wooden work table and the wood never gets hot enough to burn your hand after taking the pot off.
 
BTW- I first got into BIAB and all electric brewing after seeing a beer boiled in a plastic pail with an electric element. No idea of what kind of plastic it was but it was most certainly not a regular paint bucket type.
If it was the kind of boiler used in the UK and Europe (e.g. Brupak Boiler) then it was probably polypropylene (Type 5).

There doesn't seem to be a good cheap (on a par with Ale Pails) source of food grade PP buckets/containers in the US though, otherwise a Hot Rod or weldless water heater element plus a PP bucket would be a viable option for a boil kettle or BIAB.
 
I guess the question is what level of quality are you aiming for? Budget? You can get a pretty nice kettle from a bunch of the sponsors here. Spike and Colorado Brewing both have really great prices and customization. Spike has wonderful quality for budget. Personally, I love that I have a Triclover fitting for my element. I can take it off and on in a snap.

Just some food for thought.

You can solder tri clover fittings on pretty easily... Even to a thin pot.
 
Staples has aluminum pots (40 quart) for $29 each and buy two and get free shipping! Boil some water for an hour to establish a good oxadizaion layer and you are good to go.

Unless they're made of fairly thick aluminum, they'll flex if you install a spigot and try turning the handle. This happened with my aluminum brew pot when I installed a spigot and convinced me to buy a nice stainless steel brew kettle.
 
You can solder tri clover fittings on pretty easily... Even to a thin pot.


For some its easy... For me... Nope... I suck at silver soldering onto SS... I was more than happy to fork over the $$ to Spike Brewing for my kettle. The quality is second to none.
 
Unless they're made of fairly thick aluminum, they'll flex if you install a spigot and try turning the handle. This happened with my aluminum brew pot when I installed a spigot and convinced me to buy a nice stainless steel brew kettle.

I believe the staples pots are 4 mm (1/8"), plenty thick for a spigot IMO. Likely your referring to a thinner turkey fryer pot, they are like thinny thin 4 sheets of paper thin :)
 
They are 5mm thick at the wall just before the base roll. The rim is 4mm so there is plenty of material for a stout connection.
 
Not to go off topic but to the op, triclad doesn't even matter if you're using propane. Pretty hard to scorch liquid.
 
I don't know how large you want to go, but if you have the resources to convert them, keggles can be had for cheap if you are are patient.
 
I have a stainless 40 qt Concord as well that I use as my BK and very happy with it. Much thicker then Bayou and other mass marketed BKs out there.

Besides the Concord BK, I'm also using a Polar Ware 20qt as an HLT and decided I wanted another 40qt so I didn't have to fill and heat twice for mash & sparge.

I thought I would just buy another Concord, drill the holes and buy the fittings like I did for my first one. Then I came across these guys. Crap! I can buy a custom BK made to my specs with welded sleeves for almost the same money!

I could have saved a few bucks drilling the holes and buying the ball valve, thermometer and the weldless bulkhead fittings. But it was not much difference in price.

I'm going to get a sight glass for my current 40 qt and use it as my HLT and use the new custom pot as my BK!

Now, having said all that: I don't have the thing yet. It could be a piece of crap for all I know?? I hope to let you know in a week or so....
 
No, not if you are using an electric heating element. The only problem you will run into is when adding a ball valve etc to a cheap (thin) kettle it will flex a bit. I use Polarware Econ kettles. They flex but the never leak.

Rotate the valve 90 degrees and that usually stops the flexing...that's what I did with the ultra thin bayou classic kettles I bought. I also own a ballington which is made in the same factory as the concords I'm told and its noticeable better than the bayou as far as thickness and finish... Your right though thick kettle are totally not needed here.
 
Taller than wide kettles are ideal for electric brewing and are more efficient. They are also much better for brewing smaller amounts in larger kettles... Cheap kettles are often wider than they are tall...
 
Interested in an update when you purchase one. Been eyeing them to upgrade my kettles to tri-clover everything

Received my new BK on Thursday. Unfortunately, the one I received was not configured how I ordered it. I e-mailed Tim from CoBrewingSystems who apologized for the mix-up and said they shipped the wrong BK. The one I received was intended for a different customer with the same last name as mine. Go figure... They got "my" KB welded up and out the door before the EOD Friday and should arrive on Thursday.

As far as the kettle itself, once they ship the configuration that I ordered, I will be more than happy with it gauging from the one I received. The thermometer that came with it has Concord printed on the face and the kettle itself is thick like mine which is a Concord. So if it quacks like a duck...

Disappointed with the mix-up but looking forward to getting the right BK. You can't beat $165 for a 10 gal, custom configured, welded fitting BK with ball valve & thermometer.

Here is are a couple of photos of the BK I received.

new BK outside.jpg

new BK inside.jpg
 
I use the bayou classic pots, turkey fryers. Yes the walls are thin, but after making a "sandwich" with some over sized SS washers, I have not had problem one with them. I even stepped on my ball valve when I had it on the ground one day when draining my MT. Hasn't dripped a drop.

If I had the cash to do it all over again, I would op for the stainless and go electric. Propane is a pain in the (_*_) to keep up with sometimes. Specially during summer months when we grill out 4-5 nights per week.
 
Can you put a dip tube in that kettle?

This is what I plan to use for a dip tube.

I requested the height of the valve sleeve to be welded in so the bottom of the barb will be 1/8" off the bottom of the kettle.

ELBarb.jpg
 
I have the cheap Concord kettles off of eBay and very happy with them.

+1. I'm in the process of building a new 20 gal boil kettle and after pricing out a number of options, I decided to go with a Concord off eBay and silver solder all the fittings. I will be using one of Bobby's tri clamp solder fittings for the element so I can easily remove it for cleaning.
 
Curious? if you guys are trying to save money with economy kettles than why in the world are you looking for welded fittings? the weldless fittings really do work fine. I move my kettles and clean them in another room and have like 12 weldless fitting in the three of them combined... never had an issue with any leaks in the couple years I've been using them...

I guess what im trying to say is like expensive kettles welded fittings are not really needed....
Like I mentioned earlier a person can easily make and customize any kettle layout they want for much less this way...for me it was about $170 per kettle for a 16.5 gallon stainless bayou classic pot with site glass, rtd sensor and ball-valve with bayou's false bottom... and stainless cam locks
my 13 gallon stainless ballington kettle was only $73 shipped! I got all my fittings at bargainfittings.com and a few things from duda and dailydeals on ebay.

and regardless of the threads saying otherwise the kettles are easy to drill if you keep the drill on a slow speed... I used harbor freight step bits. the only fitting I would say would really be a good idea to weld or solder would be a tc fitting for a removable element. I clean mine in place and removing it would be nice.
 
I think what makes this forum so great is that different folks can come together and share different options and different opinions with one another. Then folks can choose what fits their situation and their budget the best.

In my opinion, $165 shipped for a 10 gal stainless, thick walled, custom configured, 2 fitting welded kettle is an economy kettle when compared to other commercially available kettles.

If you agree, that's great. Check it out! If you don't, that's ok. But I have put an option out there to be considered.

Brew on guys!!

:mug:
 
+1. I'm in the process of building a new 20 gal boil kettle and after pricing out a number of options, I decided to go with a Concord off eBay and silver solder all the fittings. I will be using one of Bobby's tri clamp solder fittings for the element so I can easily remove it for cleaning.

Ditto, but curious how are you silver soldering the other fittings? I assume you cant just take a SS Coupler and silver solder it to a pot? Are there specialized fittings that let you do this?
 
Ditto, but curious how are you silver soldering the other fittings? I assume you cant just take a SS Coupler and silver solder it to a pot? Are there specialized fittings that let you do this?

I dimpled and soldered all the fittings on the rest of my setup so why stop now. Got all the info to do it in the silver soldering stickie.

View attachment 1433309117397.jpg
 
I dimpled and soldered all the fittings on the rest of my setup so why stop now. Got all the info to do it in the silver soldering stickie.

That looks awesome! I have soldered copper but never stainless. Was it difficult to get the solder it to flow right?

One of the ports looks pretty close to the hole where the base is welded to the keg. If you're going electric, that won't be an issue. If you're using propane, you may need a shield so you don't overheat the port.
 
I think what makes this forum so great is that different folks can come together and share different options and different opinions with one another. Then folks can choose what fits their situation and their budget the best.

In my opinion, $165 shipped for a 10 gal stainless, thick walled, custom configured, 2 fitting welded kettle is an economy kettle when compared to other commercially available kettles.

If you agree, that's great. Check it out! If you don't, that's ok. But I have put an option out there to be considered.

Brew on guys!!

:mug:
see I would consider that a deluxe heavy duty kettle at normal average prices and a $70 10 gallon stainless kettle with $20 in weldless fittings the economy route myself but I respect your viewpoint :mug:
I certainly wouldnt say you paid too much..
 
That looks awesome! I have soldered copper but never stainless. Was it difficult to get the solder it to flow right?

One of the ports looks pretty close to the hole where the base is welded to the keg. If you're going electric, that won't be an issue. If you're using propane, you may need a shield so you don't overheat the port.

It's really easy if you follow the instructions in the stickie. You have to use the liquid flux. I actually find it easier than sweating copper.
 
That looks awesome! I have soldered copper but never stainless. Was it difficult to get the solder it to flow right?

One of the ports looks pretty close to the hole where the base is welded to the keg. If you're going electric, that won't be an issue. If you're using propane, you may need a shield so you don't overheat the port.

The dimpling is more laborious to be honest...

Once you press the fitting in, the soldering is as simple as just applying heat. The dimple on the ID of the pot holds the flux & the solder in place til it cools & bonds permanently.
 
Ditto, but curious how are you silver soldering the other fittings? I assume you cant just take a SS Coupler and silver solder it to a pot? Are there specialized fittings that let you do this?

You actually can but it is tedious because you can only apply just enough heat to melt the solder to the point that it bonds but does not run.

And the pot must be laid on it's side perfectly flat and level. If not, it will trickle down the side that is leaning.
 
I dimpled and soldered all the fittings on the rest of my setup so why stop now. Got all the info to do it in the silver soldering stickie.

I have my old 5 Gallon SS pot from my kit when i started brewing i never use, i think ill destroy it and try silver soldering a coupling on and see how well it goes.
 

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