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Seasoning new alumiun pot with oil

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Wastegate

Active Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
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Location
Mount Royal
As you can see from my post count, I'm completely new to brewing. :mug:

I purchased a 8 gallon aluminum stock pot. I tired to follow the instruction that came with the pot. Seasoning it three times, with a light coating of oil, heating, cooling, then wash.

Problem is I might have heated it too much, there is an oil colored stain at the bottom of the pot.

I don't want this to introduce any off flavors in to my first batch.

Is it fine, or does it need to be removed? What would be the best procedure/cleaner to remove it.

I still plan to do a full boil of water for some time to get the oxidation layer I keep reading about.

I did a search and could not find a similar post.

Thanks in advance.
 
You could have probably just got away with the boiling of water to get your oxide layer. Never heard of people seasoning brew kettles before but, since you have, just use some pbw and it will clean er up nice. Good luck!!!
 
For brewing you do not want oil on your pot, it will kill head retention. You should wash the oil off thoroughly with soap and water. Then fill the pot mostly full with water and boil it for 30-60 mins. This will create a passive oxide layer. It's a gray coating that is tough as nails, in fact it's aluminum oxide, what they make sandpaper out of. You only need to do this once unless you scrub it off. Just wash the pot after brewing with hot water and a soft sponge and the oxide should be there for a lifetime.
 
Boil it an hour and find out what your boil off rate is while you're at it.

Don't check your water volume until it has cooled back down to room temp though as it won't read correctly.
 
+1 on Masonsjax comment. Remove the oil. It WILL seriously affect your beer until it's gone.
 
OK, I'm confused.....oil is evil but people are using it (olive oil) in lieu of aeration when pitching yeast??

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Home Brew mobile app
 
The olive oil trick you're referring to uses a tiny fraction of a drop of oil. If you can see oil on the toothpick before you swish it, you're using too much. That's a little different from coating the whole inside of your kettle with oil.
 
After cleaning the oil out of your new kettle, give it an overnight soak using hot water and a scoop of Oxyclean or PBW.

Rinse well, fill it nearly full with water, bring to boil and let it boil for 45-50 minutes. Then it will be "seasoned" for brewing purposes. Avoid using abrasive scrubbers or cleaners on it after that.
 
I have heard of seasoning cast iron pans with oil but never heard of that for aluminum. Agreed on washing it all off then boiling water.
 
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