Pre-Drilled Boil Kettle?

[SoInBrew]

Wanting to move from extract to BIAB. Needing a bigger kettle. Looking at 15gal kettle for 5gal or so batches. Also, thinking about going electric by adding a heating element to the kettle. Does anyone sell a pre-drilled kettle with two holes down low and, maybe, one higher for a temp probe? Three total. I see several that have one low and one high, but not anything with two holes low.

Thanks

 

[CTS]

I believe spike does custom holes, I'm sure most places that sell kettles would do that.

Why not get a kettle with no holes and do them yourself? I just finished a boil kettle and a mash tun diy and it was very easy.

 

[jekeane]

Spike will do whatever you want.

 

[ba-brewer]

If you intend to primarily do 5gal batches and plan to go electric in the future I would suggest going with a 10gal kettle.

I have a 15gal kettle that I used for propane and when I went to electric the wide surface made for a weak boil. I got a 11gal bayou classic for doing electric and get much better wort movement during the boil.

 

[Griffin495]

If you are going BIAB, I'd skip the hole for a temperature probe. The probe could snag the bag and cause it to rip or just get in the way when you are stirring in your grains.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Spike does do custom kettles, but they also have pre-done plans for an eBIAB kettle. It has a Triclamp for the heating element, a drain port, a temp probe port and a recirculation return port at the top. I plan to use that as the foundation for the eBIAB rig I'm planning. That, with a controller from Auber and a basket from utah bio-diesel will complete the rig. I'll probably do my own infusion type return for recirculation.

I'd really rather do an induction based rig (to eliminate the dead space for the burner), but I'm just not finding a good solution for a controller based 5000 watt induction burner. To me, a true purpose built 5,000 or 5500 watt induction burner designed to be controlled by an external temp probe would be ideal. I've seen some DIY hacks, but I don't really have the electronics background to do that, plus they seem a bit....fragile.

I've been holding off because of this lack of an ideal solution. Plus, coming into spring/summer/fall, the need to go electric is less urgent.

 

[tofuguy]

If you intend to primarily do 5gal batches and plan to go electric in the future I would suggest going with a 10gal kettle.

I have a 15gal kettle that I used for propane and when I went to electric the wide surface made for a weak boil. I got a 11gal bayou classic for doing electric and get much better wort movement during the boil.

You will want the head space for BIAB if you ever plan to do full volume mashes. I recommend 15 gallons for a 5 gallon batch size. That is what I am currently running.

 

[augiedoggy]

taller narrow kettles are always better for boil efficiency and less boiloff.

The baskets look cool and may be easier to clean? and may have other advantages. But Unless the sides are solid they are not as good for setups using recirculation vs a regular good old fashioned Bag which forces the wort through the grain bed from top to bottom and not allowing it to take the path of least resistance out the sides.

 

[SoInBrew]

Thanks for the great replies. Have thought about DIY, but, having never drilled a pot before, not sure how easy it is to damage it beyond usability. Also, hadn't thought about the temp probe snagging the bag. I will look around and see what custom (Spike, other) have available.

 

[augiedoggy]

if your doing a recirculating biab you can mount the temp probe in a tee as many do so while its recirculating its reading accurate temps.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

taller narrow kettles are always better for boil efficiency and less boiloff.

The baskets look cool and may be easier to clean? and may have other advantages. But Unless the sides are solid they are not as good for setups using recirculation vs a regular good old fashioned Bag which forces the wort through the grain bed from top to bottom and not allowing it to take the path of least resistance out the sides.

Can you expound on this a bit? I'm not sure I follow your logic....