Pressure cooker to boil kettle?

[pingwin77]

A guy I work with is into home brewing and he has a 40 gallon pressure cooker sitting in his garage. He bought it for canning pickles but has never used it. We got to talking and trying to see if we could convert it into a big boil kettle.

Does anyone have any idea how that would work or if it can even be done?

 

[WortMonger]

Are you planning on using it with pressure? If you don't vent the evaporation then you will get DMS build up which is bad.

 

[Catt22]

A guy I work with is into home brewing and he has a 40 gallon pressure cooker sitting in his garage. He bought it for canning pickles but has never used it. We got to talking and trying to see if we could convert it into a big boil kettle.

Does anyone have any idea how that would work or if it can even be done?

Well, basically it is actually just a big pot or kettle. The only difference would be that it was designed to be used as a pressure vessel, so it will have thicker walls etc and, of course, a lock down lid, a pressure regulator of some kind and a pressure relief device in case it should overheat/run dry etc. I see no reason why it could not be used as a boil kettle. OTOH, if it's in good working condition, it could be worth some serious change. The big ones like that are expensive. I'd look into selling it on Ebay or Craigslist and use the money to buy a nice standard brewing kettle. We are in the midst of harvest time and there will likely be a strong demand for pressure canners right now. Excellent time to sell it. OTOH again, you could use it to can a bunch of wort in quart jars for making starters. I'm looking to buy one for just that reason.

 

[shelly_belly]

40 gallons? WOW! Please post a pic of this behemoth, pressure cooker porn.

 

[pingwin77]

There would be a pressure relief or vent of some sort for sure. I am also trying to find some information on the possibility of converting it to a Merlin style system like New Belgium Brewing has, but there is little info to be found.

We got the idea since there are 5-6 guys I work with that all home brew. If we can make it 40 gallons at a time, we can buy bulk and cut down our costs.

I'll keep you all posted and get some pictures up once we get this project going.

 

[Catt22]

Yeah, WOW. I thought you said 40 quarts, not 40 gallons. That thing is worth a lot more than you may think. Obviously, the market for one that big would be rather narrow, but it may be worth checking into further. I wonder how it came to be in your friends possession. That's way beyond home canning size.

 

[wildwest450]

That's way beyond home canning size.

Not if this guy is your neighbor.