Stock pot question

[JonnySax]

Hi everyone! i had a question about the stock pot I plan on using for brewing.
I have an unopened 30 qt turkey fryer which i feel will be perfect for boiling. My question is can I still use it as a turkey fryer? I know there is something about using lipid based products in your brewing equipment that is a no-no... This is why we use special iodine based cleaners for the primary and secondary right? So, Please let me know if i am able to still use this as a turkey fryer or If I need to make it a dedicated Beer brewing pot. Thanks

 

[videoman]

I can't help you with the science of why or why not, but my gut tells me to commit that turkey fryer as a dedicated beer brewing pot.

I have used the turkey fryer pot I have in my beermaking; but when I made that decision I scrubbed, cleaned, sanitized and boiled off water prior to use... just because I have to believe bacteria generated from the turkey frying process would not be good in my beer.

So I am using a pot that had been used as a turkey fryer, with no issues to date. But I would not continue to use it for turkey...beer...turkey... beer, etc... I think in the long run I would end up with an issue somewhere down the road i.e. infections, negative aftertaste in beer, etc...

Hope this helps.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I don't use my brew pot for anything but brewing. I'm not sure if there is a real reason not to use it for something else, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

 

[FlyingHorse]

I don't think there's any real risk of infection, since you'll be boiling. There IS a risk that you won't get all the fryer grease/turkey fat completely cleaned out before you brew your beer. Even a small amount has the potential to kill the head retention in your beer, and slightly larger amounts could contribute off-flavors.

I wouldn't do it.

 

[sirsloop]

I made hard boiled eggs once in my brew pot... cleaned it damn good afterwards though. There's no way I'd deep fry in the same pot used for beer though. So much of a hassle cleaning and there's no telling what problems would happen. Zero head retention and off flavors are probably the beginning of the problems.

 

[A4J]

just because I have to believe bacteria generated from the turkey frying process would not be good in my beer.

just being a devil's advocate here, but if you've thoroughly cleaned the pot and you've boiled your wort, how can bacteria survive all that?

I've personally be more worried about the lingering odor and chances of off-flavors (flavor is affected by aroma), but these guys in this thread are saying you scrub all of the odors off, so why wouldn't you be able to use it for both?

My brew pot is dedicated to brewing only though (only because I have no other need for something so big).

 

[videoman]

There IS a risk that you won't get all the fryer grease/turkey fat completely cleaned out before you brew your beer.

Got me A4J... I'll not defend that comment... what I was meaning to imply was better said by bike n brew... it's a pain to clean after having grease in it and the left over residue will affect your beer in a negative way.

Advice in this thread seems to be don't do it.... from now on I'll leave the science to others... I'm certainly a beer 'artist' not a beer 'scientist'.

 

[JonnySax]

Being a biologist myself, There is no way a bacteria could withstand the boiling process... The thing i was worrying about was the lipids and oils used in the frying. The reason why we use Iodine to clean the other fermenting equipment is that soaps such as antibacterial dish detergent leaves a residue behind that will cause a variety of problems with the beer. I guess in this case its better to be safe then sorry. thanks again everyone!

 

[Awfers]

I'm almost sure that boiling does not kill all bacteria, ie: some are resistant..

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/mole00/mole00455.htm

http://www.ovpr.uga.edu/researchnews/92sp/boiling.html

http://www.biojag.com/biojagfolder/ChapterNotes/Chapt18bac.htm

 

[JonnySax]

True... forgot about the thermopiles, but for our purposes, boiling will sanitize the pots.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

If it is an aluminum stock pot (I'm guessing) you should dedicate it to brewing. I have several 30qt Al pots that we use for lobster boils/fish/boils/turkey frying/ cat cooking...... whatever we want to boil in large quantities. When I first started brewing I thought, I'll just use one of these.....

I was worried about sanitation as well, so I filled the pot up and brought it to a hard rolling boil. At this point it looked OK but I noticed a film layer on the surface of the water. When it cooled down it was a thick lipid and fat coating on the surface. Obviously not OK for brewing. So I emptied it, gave it a MAJOR scrub and polish. Then left it to oxidize for a couple days, refilled re boiled, same problem. I did this three times and junk was still coming out of the aluminum. Long story short, I would not use it as a multi-purpose pot.

 

[BrosBrew]

I just got my aluminum stock pot and already put it in the oven for 30 min. I started to boil water in it to make sure there is an oxide layer. The water is still cold, probably 45-50 degrees, and I notice ALOT of tiny bubbles forming at the surface of the pot. Is just the oxide layer forming or what exactly is causing this? If anyone could help me out that would be great.