Zippitydo said:I heard aluminum was bad because of the metal it was made with.
Aluminum works great.
Why not oxyclean?
...I use mine for crab boils too...
Stainless is sooo easy to clean! Aluminum will pit and burn through if you do not take care of it (I use mine for crab boils too). Choice will be dependent on price. I would get stainless if you are going to stick to the hobby for a long time.
A good stainless pot is a worthwhile purchase. I bought a 5.5 gallon ss stock pot at Walmart with an encapsulated 0.5 inch aluminum disc in the bottom. Price a few years ago was $62.00. I also do big soups, but the heavy bottom makes it great for holding a stable temperature for partial mashes.
While that's good for soups, stocks and maybe as a mash tun, it's been proven to have little (if any) value for a BK. Plus, for less than that you can get a 4mm thick 40qt (10 gallon) aluminum pot, with lid.
+1. I found a set of 4 nested/polished SS stock pots on sale at Giant Eagle in Feb '11. With lids & steamer trays for some $25. They go from something like 1G up to 5 gallons. Easy to keep shiny too. Just some PBW & a dobie with a lil elbow grease. Rinse well,& shiny as new all over again. They still look great now. I love the look of shiny stainless when I go to brew up a batch. They're just better all around imo.
Proven?
I guess no one told Bayou Classic, as my 8 gallon kettle has tri-ply bottom.
Rick
Pretty much no actual benefit in the boil kettle
There's at least one benefit. Having a stainless steel screen attached to your dip tube. My tri-clad bottom pot works fine with one. My keggle scorches the living crap out of wort when the screen is in there.
As I understand it, you want an oxidation level on an aluminum pot (that is why folks suggest boiling a kettle full of water for at least 30 minutes when you first get it). Oxyclean will remove the oxidation, meaning you would have to boil water for 30 minutes and then toss it out before starting your brew each time. At least that is my understanding, but I could be wrong.
In theory this is the rumor.
Actual science states that Aluminum oxidizes the instant it touches oxygen...so even if you took a scrubby and rubbed the hell out of it, the aluminum forms an oxide the instant it touches air.
You should still not scratch it though with abrasives, just because it will scratch more easily than steel.
Aluminum is fine, there is nothing wrong with using it. I purchased a 40qt aluminum pot on amazon about a year ago and I've used it for many batches and its done very well. I did choose to boil water in it for 30 minutes not only to allow the pot to oxidize much more visibly, but to also remove any industrial chemicals possibly used in the process. I believe it was this that I ordered:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CHKL68/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Then why do you use the screen if it creates scorching?
If you're scorching that much, then either you're running the burner too high/hot, or something else is going on. I have minor heat marks on the bottom of my keggle after a batch. Easily removed. I also have the dip tube placed so that it's not on the bottom of the keggle.
Thick bottoms won't offset poor design choices.
Uh...I don't use the screen anymore in my keggle, due to the scorching issue. I didn't know that it would scorch until I tried it once.
Thanks for telling me my design sucks. If only I was as smart as you. Alas.
Tri-clad bottoms are designed to spread the heat out to prevent scorching, and what do you know - it works. Thin-wall kegs that weren't ever designed for boiling in have a much harder time with scorching for some weird reason. Maybe you could enlighten me as to why this might be.
Oh, and rant all you like, I'm not following this thread anymore.
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