need advice on kettle

[Arkayology]

I am planning on doing 3g BIAB on my gas stovetop in my apartment. I will be here for a couple more years, but I don't want to limit myself with a small kettle in the future and have to buy another one. I am wondering if it would be OK to brew my 3g BIAB batches in a 10g pot on my stove. This pot will probably only be a bit over half-full since these are small batches. Are there any drawbacks to this? Would you get the larger pot or go for a smaller one like a 6 or 8g?

I appreciate the help.

 

[McKnuckle]

The only drawback is that the extra headspace will make holding a steady mash temp more difficult. But if you are on a stove anyway and don't mind adding heat, perhaps it makes no difference to you.

 

[Arkayology]

The only drawback is that the extra headspace will make holding a steady mash temp more difficult. But if you are on a stove anyway and don't mind adding heat, perhaps it makes no difference to you.

What do you mean by adding heat? Using two burners on the stove?

 

[McKnuckle]

No, I mean simply turning on the stovetop burner to add heat under your kettle during the mash. This keeps the temp from dropping significantly during the 60-90 minute mash period.

 

[h22lude]

Few problems doing that. Your boil off rate will be crazy. The wider the pot the higher the boil off rate. A 10G pot for a 3G batch will have a really high boil off rate. Not that it is terrible to have, you just have to compensate for it. The pot may also be too wide for your stove. You can use more than one burner but not sure how well that will work. It will also be taller and may not fit especially if you have a hood or microwave over your stove.

 

[McKnuckle]

My 11 gallon pot is narrower and has a less severe boil-off rate than my 8 gallon pot. It's not the capacity - it's the geometry that matters.

 

[charliehorse]

The main disadvantage to using a 40 quart kettle on your stove for a 3 gallon batch is that you won't have boilovers. Not having boilovers is bad because it don't give your SO something to complain about and SOs always need something to complain about or they'll go looking and you certainly don't want that.

 

[lumpher]

The main disadvantage to using a 40 quart kettle on your stove for a 3 gallon batch is that you won't have boilovers. Not having boilovers is bad because it don't give your SO something to complain about and SOs always need something to complain about or they'll go looking and you certainly don't want that.

I got a good chuckle out of that.

As for suggestions for the OP, if I was going to be there 2-3 years, I think I'd get a 30 qt aluminum pot and go with that. You can get 1 from Academy or some similar place for $20, and with its geometry, you won't get massive boiloff. You'll also be able to do 4-5 gallons. Look into FermCap; it helps keep the hotbreak from boiling over.

 

[PADave]

Few problems doing that. Your boil off rate will be crazy. The wider the pot the higher the boil off rate. A 10G pot for a 3G batch will have a really high boil off rate. Not that it is terrible to have, you just have to compensate for it. The pot may also be too wide for your stove. You can use more than one burner but not sure how well that will work. It will also be taller and may not fit especially if you have a hood or microwave over your stove.

I do 3 gallon BIAB in my 10 gallon kettle, no problem. Boil off is about a gallon an hour. Boil off rate is going to be the same whether you got 2 gallon in the pot or 9 gallon.

 

[Calder]

Assuming tbe pot fits on the stove, the biggest issue I see is being able to heat it up properly. A bigger pot needs more energy to keep it at temp. And if it is wide and has a high boil off rate, that is more volume that also needs heating.

 

[h22lude]

I do 3 gallon BIAB in my 10 gallon kettle, no problem. Boil off is about a gallon an hour. Boil off rate is going to be the same whether you got 2 gallon in the pot or 9 gallon.

Yes it will be the same in the same pot but what I was getting at is typically a 10 gallon pot will be wider than a 4 or 5 gallon pot. A wider pot will have a higher boil off rate.