Aluminum Turkey Fryer Questions

[dorklord]

So, I scored an aluminum turkey fryer. It is the 30 quart Bayou Classic unit. Not to stray too far off topic, but my wife saw it listed on craigslist and forwarded it to me. (This is an awesome sign. Additionally, I was talking about bottling a batch this weekend, and she asked how much a keg setup would cost. Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen)

So, it was cheap, I ran out and picked the thing up. It was very dirty. The guy said he bought it to try boiling down maple syrup, and apparently that didn't work out, and he tried putting the aluminum pot in a campfire. That must not have been satisfactory either, but now I've got the burner/stand that have been used once (not even very dirty) and this pot that is just downright nasty. Inside wasn't too bad, it looks like soapy water and a little more elbow grease will take care of it.

But the outside is all black and sooty. I tried to scrub it off with water and the green side of an old kitchen sponge, and although it turned my hands, the sponge, the water, and the bottom of my tub black, the pot still looks nasty. So I'm wondering, primarily, what I can safely soak this thing in. I've heard oxi-clean and one-step are bad, I checked the label on a bottle of CLR and that said not to use on aluminum. I'm hoping to find something that I can soak this in that won't be real expensive (or if it is, won't need a real high concentration) as I'm going have to put the pot into a big plastic storage bin to soak, so there's going to be a lot of water, probably 10 or 12 gallons, around this thing.

Also, any other tips for the use, care, and maintenance of the pot? And, for that matter, the propane burner (when it gets too hot to brew in my kitchen, I'll be using that). I read the instructions, but they're pretty vague and must apply to several models. (If you have an adjustable regulator, adjust it. If not, just open the valve. Light from the bottom. Caution: Fire hot.)

 

[GunnerMan]

ProBreweryWash would be a good cleaner to soak the whole pot in a bucket with. You could use OxiClean but it will corrode and then you will need to put in more elbow grease to polish off the tarnish. I thinks TSP is corrosive as well but it is not an oxidizer and produces an alkaline solution so it will corrode slower but will still corrode.

However dish soap will work well on getting soot off. If it were me I would soak the pot in some TSP for a short time and then scrub away with dishsoap on the remaining stuff. The inside might be good to boil some plain water in the soften up the gunk in there.

 

[dorklord]

I do have some TSP, I wonder how long it would be fine to soak for.

I think the inside isn't going to be too bad. There is basically a line where the syrup must have been, and above that there is some discoloration, but it isn't bad, and it looked much better after just a bit of scrubbing last night. I left it sit today full of water, with just a bit of vinegar in it.

But man, that stuff on the outside...the pattern looks like it boiled over, and but I'm not sure if the clean region is where the boil over took the soot off (or prevented it from forming) or if the black area is where the flames burned the boil over residue into the aluminum.

I think it is safe to say that if you are thinking about placing your brew kettle into a campfire for any reason, don't.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Brillo or SOS will remove the outside stains...maybe some aluminum too, but thats ok.

 

[dorklord]

Brillo or SOS will remove the outside stains...maybe some aluminum too, but thats ok.

I'm sure steel wool would take the stains off the outside, but where's the fun in that?

I'm just hoping that a good soaking will reduce the amount of actual scrubbing I need to do later, since scrubbing will be messy (about the only place I can think of to do this is outside with the hose, or in the tub. And it is still getting cold at night, so I haven't turned water to the hose taps on yet) and it takes time. Letting it soak while I'm at work, or during the evening sounds like a much better idea, which leaves me more time to drink beer.

 

[GunnerMan]

Yeah no beer should be touching the outside so if it aint perfect it dosen't matter The inside of my Al pot is discolored where I boil as well, they say with Aluminum you should do a boil in it with water first to get a layer of whatever it's called on it before you use it for beer. Beer is acidic and will corrode the Aluminum so my guess is this layer of whatever it is protects the Al a bit.

 

[dorklord]

Yeah no beer should be touching the outside so if it aint perfect it dosen't matter The inside of my Al pot is discolored where I boil as well, they say with Aluminum you should do a boil in it with water first to get a layer of whatever it's called on it before you use it for beer. Beer is acidic and will corrode the Aluminum so my guess is this layer of whatever it is protects the Al a bit.

The pot is soaking right now. I hope the TSP does the trick. After, I'll either throw it in the oven (that depends on if it fits, and if I'm too lazy to take the rack out) or fill it up and boil. If I had a propane tank, I'd just fill it up and boil it outside, but I don't have a tank yet.

 

[artyusmc]

you sure its not stainless steel, i have that pot bought last year and its stainless steel.

 

[GunnerMan]

you sure its not stainless steel, i have that pot bought last year and its stainless steel.

The 30qts are Aluminum the 32qts are SS. http://www.bayouclassiccooking.com/turkey-fryers.html

 

[dorklord]

Definitely aluminum.

I let the pot sit in the water with TSP for about an hour. I'm sure the concentration of the TSP was quite low. The water turned a little dark, and some chunks of crud were floating in it...other than that, I'm hoping it softened up the black crap.

 

[oceanselv]

Keep the aluminum pot away from any highly caustic cleaners. Caustic cleaners contain NaOH and the caustic will corrode the aluminum.

 

[artyusmc]

good luck on your cleaning im cleaning my right now for tomorrow

 

[wilserbrewer]

I'm sure steel wool would take the stains off the outside, but where's the fun in that?

I'm just hoping that a good soaking will reduce the amount of actual scrubbing I need to do later, since scrubbing will be messy (about the only place I can think of to do this is outside with the hose, or in the tub. And it is still getting cold at night, so I haven't turned water to the hose taps on yet) and it takes time. Letting it soak while I'm at work, or during the evening sounds like a much better idea, which leaves me more time to drink beer.

5-10 minutes w/ a brillo pad and pot will shine like new. I doubt soaking will remove charred on effects of putting the pot in a campfire. I recently acquired a 20 gallon alum pot that I believe had been used for clam bakes ove open fires on the beach. Hit it w/ an SOS or Brillo and it shines...YMMV...good luck w/ the soaking.

 

[dorklord]

I had tried hitting it with a scrubby pad the night I brought it home, and wasn't having much luck.
Last night, I cleaned out the inside and part of the outside, after it had soaked in TSP. It still took some elbow grease, and I absolutely demolished the scrubby pad, but I'd say the TSP 'softened' the charred on stuff. And when I was scrubbing, I would occasionally smell burnt maple syrup...

 

[GunnerMan]

Give up cleaning and just make a sweet stout in it...and call it something like "Tar of the Char."

 

[dorklord]

Give up cleaning and just make a sweet stout in it...and call it something like "Tar of the Char."

If the char were on the inside, I just might.

But the inside just had a little ring, which is now gone, and some general dirt and grime (of the general sort that accumulates in a pot that someone leaves in the garage for a long time).