aluminum pot - does this look normal?

[dmbRedGetta]

So I just picked up an old turkey fryer from a guy on craigslist. He said he used it once, so I made sure to scrub it really good (just used regular dish soap). I'm planning on brewing tomorrow so today I filled it with regular water and boiled it for an hour to build up the oxidation layer (it's an aluminum pot). This is what it looked like at the end of the boil... is that normal? I don't want to ruin the batch because I screwed something up, you know.

 

[hopdoc]

NO.... Doesn't look like plain boiled water to me....

 

[NivekD]

How's your water?, looks like a lot of calcium to me.

 

[dstranger99]

^

It looks like his water is mixed in with the soap, but if your water does look like that, go get 5 gallons of spring water.......

 

[kombat]

I agree, definitely not right. I suspect water issues.

 

[dmbRedGetta]

I agree that it looks like calcium. The thing is, I've used tap water for every batch so far, with no issues. The only change is the pot and the propane burner.

Could it be some kind of residue on the pot reacting to the water? Like maybe I didn't rinse it well enough. Should I try to boil again using just spring water before making beer?

 

[Glynn]

i would clean it out real good and boil it again

 

[sj3324]

Clean all that stuff out and try boiling again and see what happens.

Edit: Glynn beat me to it!

 

[dmbRedGetta]

Here's what the pot looks like after the boil.

 

[kombat]

That's more like what mine looks like. Note that if you give the pot a good scrub, do not let it soak with an oxygen-based cleaner, as it can pit the aluminum. I'd still re-run the boil test using spring water, but keep the water and use it afterwards (assuming you don't get more of that white, chunky gunk).

 

[amandabab]

Ive seen pots that were really used for deep frying look like that for a couple boil cycles. the oil gets into the metal pores and can take a while to get out.

 

[dmbRedGetta]

Awesome, thanks. That's at least somewhat reassuring. I'm still hoping to brew tomorrow, but I'm definitely going to wash it and boil again a couple more times first.

 

[JUST_BREW_IT]

that looks similar to something I contracted while in college. I recommend a heavy dose of antibiotics. it worked for me