Smaller pot/aluminum pot question

[ljastangs21]

Hi,

So I just bought my first kit today. It comes with everything except the cooking pot. I found a 2-3 gallon pot at home but the kit calls for a 5 gallon pot. Also, does it matter if its aluminum or does it have to be stainless steel?

 

[mfraier]

On the size of the pot; get the bigger one. As far as material I have used Aluminum and SS......spend the money and get the stainless pot.

Back in college we used a cheap aluminum pot with no issues with taste, I just didn't hold up very well. Good luck brewing; be patient.

 

[Mmenges]

Your pot will be fine for now if you're doing partial boils, although it's in your best interest to invest in a larger pot if you plan on staying with the hobby. Now is the time to buy it if you can find it. Go to your local Lowes or HD and try to find a turkey frying kit.

You can go ahead and brew now if you'd like but in the future keep in mind that you hop utilization will need adjustment in order to get the correct IBU's. Because of the concentration of the wort you won't get the hop utilization that you would out of using a proper sized pot.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

If you get a good quality aluminum pot that has relatively thick walls, you will be fine with aluminum. I've been using a good quality aluminum pot and a SS pot for over 10 years, with no difference in taste in my opinion.

I agree with Mmenges about the pot; get the biggest you can afford, but for now your pot will be fine. Just be extra careful when it reaches a boil that it doesn't boil over and create a huge mess.

 

[SKMO]

I have some cheap (thin) alum and SS pots that I use at times, and to avoid scorch spots I use a heat diffuser plate.

This is not a high tech piece of equipment. It is simply a piece of 3/16 plate steel, about the size of a frisbee. Thicker would be fine. I worked in a restaurant several years ago, and we used these on the gas stoves.

Anyway just beg, borrow or otherwise procure a slab of flat plate steel as large or larger than the bottom of your brew pot. Does not have to be pretty. Or buy one off Amazon, the cheap ones are alum based and can warp, the good ones are powder coated steel. Best bet is to find a local metal fab/welding shop and hit them up about closing time with a 12 of some primo A/B product. They will have tons of this stuff tossed around the work area and everybody will get a great deal.

Put the steel plate (diffuser) on top of your gas or elec stove element, and the boil kettle on top of that.

It's a real low tech solution to scorching in thinner pans. Yes it takes longer to heat up to a boil, but you are doing a long boil and once it gets hot it will stay hot.

Anyhow this works great for me. No plumbing or electrical wiring involved!