Pot size as important as volume of wort?

[sjlyons81]

I plan on using a 10 gallon kettle for all grain but was just wondering if I could effectively boil 3 gallons in it on a stove top or is there some reason I'm unaware of in which the size of the pot matters? Besides weight

 

[Singletrack]

Will it fit on the stove? Do you have the burner capacity to boil in it?

 

[sjlyons81]

Will it fit on the stove? Do you have the burner capacity to boil in it?

Physically it fits on the stove. I have a 5 gallon pot I do partial mashes on, but I like the spigot and thermometer on my new 10. Just wondering if the surface area matters to achieve a boil.

 

[ong]

The surface area pretty much determines the boil-off rate, so with a bigger diameter pot you might need to collect more and lower gravity wort to make the same beer; and I suppose it would tend to cool slightly faster and need a few more BTUs, but the thermal mass won't be that different, and it should be ok on your stove.

 

[richlong8020]

It's always better to do full boils. I do 6ish gal of water for a 5.25 gal wort vol. same thing with 12ish gal for 10 gal wort vol. this way you you cover the boil off and trub loss.