Looking at kettles one question

[Brewing1976]

When looking at kettle is it worth getting threaded or T/C for gauges and drains?

 

[WBCo]

I have had both and I prefer TC for everything. It's easier to remove and clean and it's also extremely versatile. At the end of the day it's all just personal preference.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I've never used T/C ports, so I can't really comment on them. My take is that they're more sanitary and thus more important for cold side fittings.

As far as drains and gauges...I don't ever remove mine, so they're threaded on and that's it. For my drain, I did put a quick connect fitting on the valve so that I can quickly and easily connect/disconnect hoses, but a T/C fitting would have been much more expensive with no real advantage other than it looks fancy.

I will say this about kettles in general, I personally won't consider a kettle with weldless fittings. If you're on a very low budget, and you can find one with weldless fittings that's much less expensive, then it might be worth it. When I bought my brewbuilt, it was only $20 more than weldless kettles of similar quality, so why not get welded fittings?

If I had a friend getting into brewing today, I'd steer them to Spike, Brewbuilt or SS Brewtech (Now that SS Brewtech has some welded kettles). 3 years in and I still love everything about my Brewbuilt.

 

[Soulshine2]

When looking at kettle is it worth getting threaded or T/C for gauges and drains?

my 8 gallon has welded threaded ports, my 10 gallon came with drilled holes only so I bought weldless ports. I see no difference while in use. I did use a dab of clear 100% silicone on the weldless fitting seals(rubber washers) AND the stainless steel washers I put in a vice and bent slightly to conform to the kettles curved sides. No leaks . Wipe off any excess silicone.

 

[Brewing1976]

I've never used T/C ports, so I can't really comment on them. My take is that they're more sanitary and thus more important for cold side fittings.

As far as drains and gauges...I don't ever remove mine, so they're threaded on and that's it. For my drain, I did put a quick connect fitting on the valve so that I can quickly and easily connect/disconnect hoses, but a T/C fitting would have been much more expensive with no real advantage other than it looks fancy.

I will say this about kettles in general, I personally won't consider a kettle with weldless fittings. If you're on a very low budget, and you can find one with weldless fittings that's much less expensive, then it might be worth it. When I bought my brewbuilt, it was only $20 more than weldless kettles of similar quality, so why not get welded fittings?

If I had a friend getting into brewing today, I'd steer them to Spike, Brewbuilt or SS Brewtech (Now that SS Brewtech has some welded kettles). 3 years in and I still love everything about my Brewbuilt.

You don’t remove gauges and drains? So how do you clean them after brewing

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

You don’t remove gauges and drains? So how do you clean them after brewing

I wash the kettle with oxiclean and hot water. I open/close the valves a dozen times or so while draining the cleaning solution through them, and then with rinse water. Then I put about 3 gallons in the kettle, put it back on the burner, heat it to about 190 and recirculate with my pump. While it's recirculating, I open/close all valves about a dozen times.

After about 20 batches I took apart two of the valves (one on pump exit and one on the MLT outlet) and they were clean as a whistle. Now I just follow the same process and don't worry about it.

As far as the gauge, there's not really much to clean. I spray the port from the inside with cleaning solution, and of course it goes through the same 190 degree recirculation, but that's it.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

What gauges?

If your doing BIAB a thermometer probe is just going to get in the way. Actually a thermometer isnt needed at all and just another hole in the pot. Nothing a handheld thermometer cant do.

Sight gauges are a thing of the past. Just unneeded stuff on the pot to try to clean and get crudded up.

What other gauges are there? Not sure.

Gauges are like badges....we dont need no stinkin gauges [Blazing Saddles]

 

[Brewing1976]

What gauges?

If your doing BIAB a thermometer probe is just going to get in the way. Actually a thermometer isnt needed at all and just another hole in the pot. Nothing a handheld thermometer cant do.

Sight gauges are a thing of the past. Just unneeded stuff on the pot to try to clean and get crudded up.

What other gauges are there? Not sure.

Gauges are like badges....we dont need no stinkin gauges [Blazing Saddles]

I’m just going to get the port and just put plug in it.

 

[shoengine]

TC all the way. Super easy to assemble, disassemble and to clean, plus there are tons of options for fittings, and none of them require a wrench.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I’m just going to get the port and just put plug in it.

My brewbuilt came with a plug in the upper (temp) port.