Tell me about your pots....

[fretlessman71]

Does everyone have a single pot that they use exclusively for homebrew? Would it matter if I used a SS one that we use for chili most of the time? Is it really worth getting the $40 one that I saw at the homebrew store, or will the $12 one I found at Big Lots work alright?:rolleyes:

[mortong]

Hmmm, $12 at big lots? I may have to make a trip there tomorrow to pick up a second pot. What was it made out of?

[fretlessman71]

Supposedly Stainless Steel. Seems to be ok! It's lasted a year now....

[OldHooky]

How many quarts?

[BeerBelly]

I got a deal from Academy sporting goods, 4 stainless steel pots with lids for 20$. They are 20 quart, 16 qt 12 qt and 8 qt but they are about as thick as paper. I scorched some LME on my last batch.

[danno]

I have a dedicated 30 qt aluminum pot from a turkey fryer kit, nothing but beer goes in it. Has a valve, and a CFC...

[paul84043]

I bought a decent brewing pot (30qt) at my HB store I paid 80$ for it and think I paid a little more than I should have, I've seen the same pot for under 60$ since then.
It's a fairly heavy gauge pot, though I've seen thicker, it seems to do very well.
I would try to avoid the super cheap ones for the reasons stated int he previous post, you'll scorch your malt.

If you think paying 50$+ for a pot is alot, check out Polarware.....they're 200$+

It's the second most expensive thing that I have bought for brewing, next to my plastic conicals, and well worth the money.

[b3s]

i use the 30 quart with my turkey fryer...but i wouldn't hesitate to fry a turkey in it...one of these days i'll start brewing 10 gallon batches, and i'll get the 80qt. SS brew pot, which i am sure will only be used for beer....i can't imagine making anything else that would require 80 quarts unless i was gonna make a 5 year supply of my marinara sauce!

[yonkersbrewer]

I always use a large aluminum stock pot with a cast iron flame tamer under it. Stainless steel always scorches which is why it makes a lousy fry pan. The only way to make a good stainless steel fry pan is to layer the bottom with something like Aluminum and is why all clad pans are so popular.

The stock pot is used for what ever I need it for. A good washing eliminates all traces of the pot of soup etc and have not had any problems. by the way...all that Aluminum and brain problems stuff has been discredited.

[mmmBeer...]

I have a 5-gallon SS pot I use just for brewing. I used to use a 3-gallon stock pot that was used for other cooking, but with a teenager in the house I was never really sure it was clean…I like having a dedicated pot, I know it is always clean and I take really good care of it.

I got the 5-gallon pot really cheap; our local grocery store had them for $22 Canadian (about $17 US). It is fairly thin, but I think having a gas stove has helped, as I have never scorched it, and never had any problems with it.

[S.F.B.]

I have 2, soon to be 3, stainless pots. The first is a 3 gallon that I use to do my part mash in. Next is a 32 qt. one for the boil. I don't hesitate to use them for other cooking also. The third is a 15 gallon converted keg that will be my boiler once it is finished.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by OldHooky
How many quarts?

16.

[OldHooky]

I'm still using the 30 quart porcelin(sp) pot that came with my turkey fryer. It's just big enough to do 5 gallon all grain batches in as long as you keep the boil under control. I haven't had any scorching yet, and this pot is really thin. For $19.99 I got the pot, burner(170,000 btu), and all the accessories for turkey frying.

[wortchillergoal]

I use an 8gal. cremaic on steel pot. Good heat transfer and fits over top of 2 burners on my range.

[BigRed]

I would say as long as you clean your pot thoroughly after making your chili, it wouldnt matter - Im pretty sure that metal does not pick up flavors from the food being cooked in it. If you wanted to be sure, you could always boil your pots capacity in distilled water (and discard said water) before you brew to be sure that no off flavors would show up.

I use my turkey fryer's pot and havent had one hint of a peanut oil taste show up in my two brews.

For those of you with no limit on how much to spend on a pot, copper would be the best choice - it would boil about twice as fast as aluminum or steel.

[b3s]

or, if you're really concerned, let it sit overnight with some pbw in it....WOW...that stuff cleans to beat the band!