Pitted BIAB Boil Kettle- worth salvage?

[Monmouth00]

Hello Everyone,
My father gifted me his 15 gallon aluminum stock pot that he used for slow cooking on his old wood burning stove.
I’m about to move from extract to all grain with a BIAB setup. I’d like to use this stock pot instead of buying a new one, but it’s pretty badly pitted after having sat unused for many years.
Is it worth trying to salvage it? I put in a lot of elbow grease with baking powder and water first, then barkeeper’s friend, then boiled with vinegar and cream of tartar mixed in water. All of that still didn’t remove all the badly oxidized stuff. The pictures are what I was left with.
So, do I keep scrubbing and boiling until by arms fall off, or do you think I’m good to go with what I’ve got? Or, sack it, and just pony up for a new kettle?

 

[augiedoggy]

Its a boil kettle... unilike say a fermenter (where aluminum cant be used anyway) The pitting wont effect operation. You may get more pitting which is caused by acidic liquids and foods disolving the aluminium... (wort has a ph of around 5.2 making it acidic)

This kettle will work fine..

 

[kh54s10]

That is cleaner and less pitted than the 5 gallon aluminum pot I started with. I have others now so I only use it for cooking any more.

 

[bucketnative]

However, with the aluminum, you do want a good layer of oxide built up before using. IT is recommended that once you clean your aluminum pot, fill it with water and boil it. That will create a darker gray layer of oxide that will help protect the kettle before boiling wort in it. Some people also will say to just put the whole kettle into your over at elevated temperatures in order to oxidize the surface.

 

[augiedoggy]

However, with the aluminum, you do want a good layer of oxide built up before using. IT is recommended that once you clean your aluminum pot, fill it with water and boil it. That will create a darker gray layer of oxide that will help protect the kettle before boiling wort in it. Some people also will say to just put the whole kettle into your over at elevated temperatures in order to oxidize the surface.

I believe the acidic wort will also remove that oxide layer.... ever have an oxidized copper chiller come out of the wort seemingly cleaner and brighter than it went in?

 

[Monmouth00]

However, with the aluminum, you do want a good layer of oxide built up before using. IT is recommended that once you clean your aluminum pot, fill it with water and boil it. That will create a darker gray layer of oxide that will help protect the kettle before boiling wort in it. Some people also will say to just put the whole kettle into your over at elevated temperatures in order to oxidize the surface.

Yes, I intend to fully season it before I grew again. Thank you!

 

[wilserbrewer]

If you want a little project, you can clean up that old kettle with sandpaper.

Start with a coarse grit and work down to a finer grit.

Takes some elbow grease but results are pretty good.

I’ve cleaned up a few old alum pots this way.

Wet dry paper works best with a bit of water to lube the paper and carry away the cuttings.

 

[bucketnative]

I believe the acidic wort will also remove that oxide layer.... ever have an oxidized copper chiller come out of the wort seemingly cleaner and brighter than it went in?

No, the oxide layer remains. My pot never looks brighter after the boil. It usually takes a very aggressive solvent to dissolve alumina. For instance, I have used HF to dissolve alumina in a lab setting.

 

[augiedoggy]

No, the oxide layer remains. My pot never looks brighter after the boil. It usually takes a very aggressive solvent to dissolve alumina. For instance, I have used HF to dissolve alumina in a lab setting.

thats good to know because its not the case with some metals such as copper. Or aluminum with some liquids such as the acidic sauce that likely pitted that kettle in the first place.

 

[Monmouth00]

If you want a little project, you can clean up that old kettle with sandpaper.

Start with a coarse grit and work down to a finer grit.

Takes some elbow grease but results are pretty good.

I’ve cleaned up a few old alum pots this way.

Wet dry paper works best with a bit of water to lube the paper and carry away the cuttings.

I did go at it with some sandpaper to see if I could remove some of the pitting. Even took my random orbit sander to the bottom.

Unfortunately, some of the pitting is really deep, and I'm just not sure it's worth all the work.

I think I'm going to buy myself a nice, shiny SS kettle with a drain fitting, and use this one to either sparge or drain my BIAB in.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

 

[bruce_the_loon]

Check that you don't have any pinholes in the pot before going any further. Place it on a newspaper and fill it completely, let it stand overnight and check that the water level is unchanged and the paper underneath is dry. Had a alu pot develop a couple of tiny holes with similar pitting once.