home depot bucket to hold bag?

[dilligafbrewing]

im in the middle of designing/building my electric biab setup and because of my chosen boil vessel, im having trouble finding a suitable steamer basket to keep the bag from touching the element. i've found that a home depot 5 gal bucket fits perfectly and am planning on just putting a bunch of holes in the bottom and using it for my RIMS biab setup. my only question is: do i have to worry about any chemicals or weird flavors leaching out of the plastic at mash temp?

 

[Leif-HB]

I would try a stainless steaming rack if you can find one. They have a few on Amazon. I don't like the idea of the plastic.

 

[dilligafbrewing]

I would try a stainless steaming rack if you can find one. They have a few on Amazon. I don't like the idea of the plastic.

maybe im not using the right search criteria. cant seem to find an one at around 11' diameter.

 

[dilligafbrewing]

a little research on HDPE shows that it is food safe up to 248*f, so unless anyone has experienced issues with it, i think i might be ok.

i will do a dry run with the bucket in at mash temp for an hour and see if there is any detectable odor to the water. i will also be circulating it through food grade plastic tubing with a food grade pump, so if any weirdness leeches out of any of these components, i should notice.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

what size do you need for your false bottom

 

[jmcquesten]

So you want to repeatedly soak the plastic bucket from Home Depot in 150°-180° water with an electric element in with it? It seems like this would definitely lead to off/plastic flavors and would probably break the plastic down a little each time. Doesn't seem like the best approach to me.

 

[dilligafbrewing]

what size do you need for your false bottom

i'd have to wait till i get home to get a precise measurement but a tad under 11' diameter with maybe a 3" rise, but there are lots of things to contend with like spigot bulkheads, thermocouples, heating elements when it comes to spacing out the feet.

 

[kh54s10]

There was someone who forwarded a letter from the manufacturer of the HD orange bucket. It was said that the plastic used was food safe, but the dyes to make it orange were not. So the advice was to not use it in food preparation.

The white one should be OK.

 

[dilligafbrewing]

So you want to repeatedly soak the plastic bucket from Home Depot in 150°-180° water with an electric element in with it? It seems like this would definitely lead to off/plastic flavors and would probably break the plastic down a little each time. Doesn't seem like the best approach to me.

it didnt sound like the best idea to me either, which is why im here asking if anyone has experience with using this material in this manner. it is possible that it would break the plastic down but i need evidence that this is happening to make an informed decision. the claimed food safety temperature of HDPE as 248*f suggests that there isnt any breaking down happening below that temp.

 

[Morrey]

If you contact Arbor Fab, one of our HBT sponsors, they can fab you anything you can dream up from SS mesh. I would be very wary of the plastic and heat combination, even the food grade buckets. Arbor Fab prices are pretty reasonable and I have a couple of their custom fab devices.

 

[kh54s10]

I did a quick search on Amazon and found several false bottoms that were near the size you want.

 

[brandonnys]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DVEW6XK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Would that work?

 

[dilligafbrewing]

I did a quick search on Amazon and found several false bottoms that were near the size you want.

i found one 11". Plenty in 10 or 12, but all are the domed style, and i dont think that will work for what i'm doing. youd have to see the inside of the kettle, it's pretty crowded down there with 2 heating elements, a spigot, thermocouple and thermometer all in the bottom couple inches, also, the idea of a bucket or ideally a steamer basket allows me to lift the bag out easier for draining/sparging.

 

[dilligafbrewing]

i really want to stay with the basket/bucket plan for ease of lifting out and draining the grain bag.

 

[dilligafbrewing]

ooh! maybe this would be better....

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AS1VJ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[kh54s10]

i really want to stay with the basket/bucket plan for ease of lifting out and draining the grain bag.

I would look for an aluminum or stainless steel pot that is the same size as the bucket.

 

[nobadays]

A quick search brought up this rack...you would probably need to fabricate legs that meet your needs (stainless washers/nuts/bolts):

http://tinyurl.com/zkfbgzp

I use a similar one in my electric kettle and it works quite well.

 

[Bobby_M]

The steamer racks work great but just make sure you wash it off and completely dry it right away to keep it from rusting. I don't like using buckets or baskets to hold the bag. It seems like a nice way to lift the bag out but you don't get the natural squeezing action that pulling the bag out by itself offers. You also won't be able to squeeze the extra wort out easily.

 

[dilligafbrewing]

The steamer racks work great but just make sure you wash it off and completely dry it right away to keep it from rusting. I don't like using buckets or baskets to hold the bag. It seems like a nice way to lift the bag out but you don't get the natural squeezing action that pulling the bag out by itself offers. You also won't be able to squeeze the extra wort out easily.

i plan on sparging. thought i mentioned that.

 

[Murphys_Law]

Personally, I wouldn't want any plastic bucket to sit in hot water for that long. Maybe just paranoid on my part but I'd go with stainless.

 

[Fordzilla]

I suggest one of these. It is 10.25 x 10.25 x 9. You'd just need to come up with something to set underneath it, perhaps an upside down colander?

https://www.amazon.com/Winware-Professional-Aluminum-Steamer-20-Quart/dp/B001CHHL9S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476289976&sr=8-1&keywords=stock%2Bpot%2Bsteamer%2Bbasket&th=1

 

[kristiismean]

to the OP, not sure if someone else mentioned it yet. Run the system at temp with just water. (reuse for mash and brewing or watering plants)

run the system 30 minutes, basically a fake brew day. then cool the water and taste it. any off flavors you have would make it into your beer, and something is not right. if it's still a good tasting water, then you have all the right stuff..

me, I would go with SS and not mess with it. I only use silicone tubing for anything over 150 degrees...

 

[dilligafbrewing]

to the OP, not sure if someone else mentioned it yet. Run the system at temp with just water. (reuse for mash and brewing or watering plants)

run the system 30 minutes, basically a fake brew day. then cool the water and taste it. any off flavors you have would make it into your beer, and something is not right. if it's still a good tasting water, then you have all the right stuff..

me, I would go with SS and not mess with it. I only use silicone tubing for anything over 150 degrees...

yes, I mentioned it. that was my plan originally... after reading more reports on chemical leaching from plastic water pipes i think i'm gonna shy away from the plastic option, even though it's nice and cheap. will most likely go with aluminum or stainless turkey basket.

one thing sticks in my head tho.....why is it that plastic bucket in hot water = big no-no for so many people, but so many people use plastic tubing for recirculating/transferring hot wort without a second thought?

 

[brandonnys]

There's approximately 1,205,765,058 (give or take) formulations of plastic. I only trust plastics that have been purpose-formulated to be safe in the brewing realm. Even then, I try to stick to metal/glass options as much as possible.

 

[kristiismean]

yes, I mentioned it. that was my plan originally... after reading more reports on chemical leaching from plastic water pipes i think i'm gonna shy away from the plastic option, even though it's nice and cheap. will most likely go with aluminum or stainless turkey basket.

one thing sticks in my head tho.....why is it that plastic bucket in hot water = big no-no for so many people, but so many people use plastic tubing for recirculating/transferring hot wort without a second thought?

most of the setups I have see are silicone tubing, I would never use anything less.

 

[1MadScientist]

Heavy HDPE is used all the time for no chill containers, is it stamped with #2 HDPE?

 

[jmcquesten]

Heavy HDPE is used all the time for no chill containers, is it stamped with #2 HDPE?

"No chill" is also questionable, so I don't know that the use of the plastic there makes a good case. I have no experience using plastic for mashing or "no chill", but it seems like it's just asking for off flavors. I would think hot side plastic equipment would be available if it were a good option.

 

[applescrap]

Use a perforated pizza tray folded in half. Boom, done! I cant take credit. That is just one of Bobby_M's brilliant ideas I gleaned from pestering him. My other plan before I realized having/buying pumps and valves was not for me was; using a bolt upside down in strainer, grate or something with washers. Flat top part of ss bolt down, upper part up. These give some ideas. I dont like the idea of the plastic but yes it will work. I know brewers on this site that no chill in fermentor buckets.

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[timdillon36]

I see everyone giving ideas of false bottoms and steamer baskets but I have to ask why you need any of that.

First I doubt you can burn a bag or grain that is covered in liquor. For example you can boil water in a solo cup over an open flame.

Lastly you stated you were going to control mash temp while recirculating with Rims. If you are using a RIMS tube to maintain temp the elements in your BK won't even be on during the mash.

 

[RM-MN]

If you use the plastic bucket in your mash you're gonna die!

If you don't use the plastic bucket in your mash you're still gonna die! There are so many factors in your life that cause a higher risk of dieing or even diseases or poisoning that I find the fear of the white HDPE buckets to be laughable. If the buckets are food safe to 248F and you will be using them at mash temps of 147 to 160F, that leaves you with a comfortable margin on the food safe aspect.