Canon kettle be used for a 5 gallon extract batch?

[msa8967]

Talking with a friend of a friend today a fellow said he wanted to start doing extract batches and had gone out to buy a 4 gallon brew kettle. I started wondering if this would really be too small for 5 gallon brews even if you top off with plenty of water but thought I better ask for other opinions on this. What do you think?

 

[ccfoo242]

Does seem small. I have 5 gallon aluminum pots from Amazon that were inexpensive but very nice. For full boil he would need 7 or 8 gallon but 9 or 10 would be better because of boil overs.

 

[treacheroustexan]

I used to brew my extract batches in a 5 gallon pot, but only using 2.5 gallons of water and then topping up. 5 would definitely be better, but I think he can get away with 4 as long as he doesn't walk away during the boil.