Turkey Fryer kit

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Ron_Blackhurst

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Anyone know if a turkey fryer kit works well for brewing? If so what are the pots generally made of?
 
Cheap thin aluminum

From another thread yesterday

My only gripe is that it's aluminum. I have used a turkey fryer for the past 5-6 years on extract and all grain and it's showing it's age and getting it really clean is a PITA. Once I get my keggles up and running I will donate my turkey fryer pot and burner to someone just starting to brew
 
I use a turkey fryer. I use the pot that came with it for frying turkeys. I picked up a 10 gallon pot from Bayou for brewing.
 
That's what I used for my first two years. My only issue with it wasn't even the aluminum pot, but the timer on the burner. That thing gets annoying real quick.
 
If I use an aluminum pot are there any steps I need to take prior to my first brew.

Yes, there is one thing. Fill the pot as full as you can get it with plain old water and bring it to a boil. Let it cool and dump it, or use the water for laundry or something. This step will create a protective oxide layer on the aluminum rendering it nearly if not completely inert. Then, when you clean it after a brew, do not scrub the thing to a mirror finish. You want to maintain that dull finish.
 
i got the burner + aluminum pot deal from Wally World, $50

30 quart and 15" tall. hey! 2qts per inch! I use an aluminum yardstick to measure volumes

need to oxidize the pot by filling it with water and boiling it for an hour. measure start and ending volumes = boil-off rate
 
OK so just on good boil and that should do it. Is there a time frame for the boil or just 30 minutes or so.
 
i got the burner + aluminum pot deal from Wally World, $50

30 quart and 15" tall. hey! 2qts per inch! I use an aluminum yardstick to measure volumes

need to oxidize the pot by filling it with water and boiling it for an hour. measure start and ending volumes = boil-off rate

Missed this one that helps
 
Also, don't use oxyclean nor Star San on it. Neither play well with aluminum. Since it's your boil kettle, all you really need to do is clean it with dish soap and water and rinse well.

Aluminum actually conducts heat better than stainless steel, which is nice. And it's way cheaper.
 
Since timers and the disabling thereof was mentioned, I need to do a slight hijack:

The timer on mine is starting to go out. The connections for the AAA batteries are getting bad. Can I replace the hose and regulator with something off the shelf for gas grills from Lowes or Home Depot?
 
Will a 30 qt pot be OK to use on my electric stove top

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app
 
Will a 30 qt pot be OK to use on my electric stove top

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app
I can just squeeze mine on our flat top stove with a microwave/hood above it. Most I have gotten up to temp is 3-3.5 gallons and that was to strike or sparge temps, never tried a full boil and doubt it could do it
 
Ron_Blackhurst said:
Will a 30 qt pot be OK to use on my electric stove top

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

It could be, but you're going to have trouble getting it up to temp depending on the strength of the stove. You also need to be careful about scratching it.

Any reason (other than it being ass cold) for not using it on the turkey fryer outside?
 
I have heard from a good source, If the timer is turned past "full" a few degrees, it will never bother you again. ;)
 
I have a turkey pot but not the burner that's why not outside

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app
 
Ron_Blackhurst said:
I have a turkey pot but not the burner that's why not outside

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

Interesting - I've always bought them together. Should work fine as long as your stove has he oomph.
 
http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Stainless-Steel-Turkey-Fryer-with-Spigot/product/10211714/

I found this one the other day, is there anything I should be looking for in a burner/brew pot rig? Like BTUs, height, capacity, etc?

This is pretty similar to what I have, but stainless steel instead of aluminum, which is probably why this is more expensive than mine. Here is what I've learned...

Aluminum is fine. Stainless is prettier, but once you've built up the passive oxide layer in the aluminum, it's fine. The downside is that I want to replace that tiny spigot (the one on mine looks the same as on this unit) with a ball valve, but the kettle wall is so thin and the aluminum soft enough that I worry about the weight of the ball valve and the possibility of knocking it by accident and denting up the kettle badly. If you want to put in a ball valve, find out if the spigot is welded or not (hopefully not) and see if you can learn how thick the kettle wall is. The other advantage to stainless is that you can use most cleaners and sanitizers on it, unlike aluminum.

The 30qt kettle is on the small size. Hopefully that's not filled to the rim. If all goes well with mashing and sparging a typical 5 gallon batch, you'll be okay. But on my first AG batch, I lost temp in the mashtun, had to add more hot water, and therefore by the end of the sparge I had almost 36 quarts. I had to boil down a long time, and was boiling over the edge, because my kettle was full to the very top. Once you dial in your process, I'm sure this size can work fine for standard 5 gallon batches.

38k BTU's will do the job. Mine is similar, and it works. It won't be as quick to boil as a bigger burner, but you will still get a rolling boil without waiting forever.

Those rivets on the handles may not be water tight. Mine weren't, so wort was leaking out and burning down the outside. I fixed this with JB weld.

The shutoff timer could be a problem you'll have to disable. Mine has a high temp shutoff, but as it's set for frying oil temp, it's no problem for beer.

In short, if you don't mind aluminum, you can get a good unit with a larger kettle for less money.
 
I too have a turkey fryer set up that I use for beer making. I have a 40 qt as well as the 30 qt that comes with it. 8 gallons from 64* F to boiling is very fast, but I haven't timed it yet, It seems to be around ten minutes. I will say, compared to my old burner, it is light speed fast.
 
I'll keep looking. I'm not in a huge rush as its routinely -20c outside these days. It does make an ice bath easy to come by what with the 3 foot snow drift in my back yard. Its the frostbite. I need my fingers for lifting homebrew up to my lips:)

Thanks for the info.
 
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