Inexpensive 40 quart SS Pot?

[Cpt_Kirks]

Funny title, right?

I'm looking for a thin walled 40 quart (10 gallon) SS pot. It will be a SS liner for my Igloo water cooler MLT.

All the pots I see are high dollar "thick walled" pots. Which, if you are making 10 gallons of gumbo for the boys, or 10 gallons of soup for your restaurant, is preferable.

But, I need a thin walled cheap one.

Anybody know of any?

 

[skyebrewing]

I don't know how cheap is cheap, but the bayou classics on amazon are a great deal for what they are. If its for soup, just get aluminum for half the price

 

[cwi]

I doubt there is a pot that exactly fits inside a water cooler, or at least I wouldn't want to deal with searching for one online where dimensions/specs are often wrong/confusing. Even if there was one, you would lose at least some volume, and possibly a lot depending on the fit.

Why not just buy a cheap stainless 10g pot with any dimensions (with decent proportions, of course), and insulate the outside of it? Spray foam ("great stuff" or similar), or a combo of spray and a wrap, would work.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

I doubt there is a pot that exactly fits inside a water cooler, or at least I wouldn't want to deal with searching for one online where dimensions/specs are often wrong/confusing. Even if there was one, you would lose at least some volume, and possibly a lot depending on the fit.

Why not just buy a cheap stainless 10g pot with any dimensions (with decent proportions, of course), and insulate the outside of it? Spray foam ("great stuff" or similar), or a combo of spray and a wrap, would work.

Well, I could do a lot of things. I could make a heavily insulated keggle MLT. I could add a ton of foam to a SS pot. I could just keep using the cooler MLT I have, even though a large ridge forms every time I add hot water.

Right now, I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive SS pot to use as a liner for my cooler.

 

[cwi]

Well, I could do a lot of things. I could make a heavily insulated keggle MLT. I could add a ton of foam to a SS pot. I could just keep using the cooler MLT I have, even though a large ridge forms every time I add hot water.

Right now, I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive SS pot to use as a liner for my cooler.

Have you tried a thread/google search? If a pot that works as a liner existed, I would think there would be threads/info about it, and maybe even LHBS selling them. If searches don't turn up anything, a good fitting pot may not exist, or is hidden so well it hasn't been found yet.

It would help if you would state what the intended use is. I just assumed you were trying to line your water cooler to create a SS insulated MLT. In that case, I would think that finding a fairly close fitting liner to maintain volume/capacity is a priority, in which case it may be a difficult quest. If the goal is to keep a pet turtle warm, maybe max volume isn't as important. Maybe you just really love the aesthetics of ribbed orange cylinders.

I only suggested finding a pot, and then insulating it, as an alternative solution that doesn't involve searching the ends of the earth for a pot that fits precisely into a cooler. Sometimes people become fixated on a particular solution, when there are other easier, less time intensive, though possibly more expensive solutions. It is hard to know without knowing what the problem/goal is.

Is your goal to have a 10g (exactly 10?) insulated SS MLT, but with the design constraint that it non-destructively use a pre-existing 10g water cooler as insulation for economic reasons? Also, if you value saving money much more than saving time, it would help to state that as well. Or maybe you value time and money, which is why you are on here having others spend their time doing the searching, and not yours. Have any fences that need white washing?

I don't know if you have already checked the usual places- Home depot/Cabela's/Bass Pro turkey fryer pots, bayou classic pots, etc.

 

[vinyl_key]

The only thin walled pots I see around are usually aluminum. Then again, I haven't really been looking around for pots lately...

 

[cwi]

You might also try a new post with a better title like- "Is there a SS pot that fits tightly inside an Igloo water cooler MLT?", or "Looking for a SS liner for an Igloo water cooler MLT?.

People don't open every thread to see what the real question is. Your original post looks like the usual "cheapskate looking for a pot" thread, that someone with the knowledge you seek may not ever bother to open/read.

 

[Navy_Brewer]

Why not find one that fits close the spray foam the difference. Or for that matter, spray foam the outside of a pot to a couple of inches depth then fiberglass the outside. With some sanding and painting it would be just as good as a cooler.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

The only thin walled pots I see around are usually aluminum. Then again, I haven't really been looking around for pots lately...

Yeah, there are cheap, thin walled SS pots. I have one I got for Christmas a couple of years ago, but it is a 4 gallon.

With the proliferation of cheap Chinese made SS goods around, I figure there is a good chance of finding a thin walled 10 gallon pot with the right dimensions.

As to aluminum, I hadn't really considered it. Is aluminum considered a good metal for a MLT? I have seen discussions on using aluminum pots for boil kettles, but can't recall seeing any on aluminum MLTs.

As to foaming a pot, if I have to go that route, I'll probably use a keggle instead of a pot.

 

[cwi]

With the proliferation of cheap Chinese made SS goods around, I figure there is a good chance of finding a thin walled 10 gallon pot with the right dimensions.

The problem with chinese merch vs. almost anywhere else, is that chinese suppliers tend to produce (exactly) whatever the guy down the street makes. They follow the "commodity" principle, almost to a fault. If you find one thin walled chinese 10g pot, you have (usually) found them all.

For some things, it is possible to get customized dimensions, like bike frames. That is only because the only thing that changes is the length of the tubes and changing already 2D adjustable jigs. For merch involving forming dies and such, like drawn pots, it is not so easy. They probably steal/borrow the CAD drawings from each other, just like they steal/borrow most everything else IP related. I am not hating on the chinese system, I am just stating how it is currently. I can't wait until the machining sector changes to a custom based industry where all you have to do is send them a CAD file, and get your part a week later in the mail. Things like pots with a large amount of "dead" space will not benefit from this, of course.