Stainless vs aluminum

stellfd28 · Post by **stellfd28** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 10:56 am

Thinking about venturing out and trying either a partial, or an all grain sometime soon. Looking at what i have and what i need i mentioned to my wife that i need a bigger Stainless pot as the one i have now is under 5 gallons. She says for me to use our turkey fryer pot (which has never been used). But it's a thin aluminum, not stainless. Does the boil pot need to be stainless??

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jeffsmith · Post by **jeffsmith** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:06 am

stellfd28 wrote:Thinking about venturing out and trying either a partial, or an all grain sometime soon. Looking at what i have and what i need i mentioned to my wife that i need a bigger Stainless pot as the one i have now is under 5 gallons. She says for me to use our turkey fryer pot (which has never been used). But it's a thin aluminum, not stainless. Does the boil pot need to be stainless??

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I used an 8 gallon aluminum turkey fryer pot for quite a while before upgrading to stainless. As long as it's the size you need, it'll work just fine.

stellfd28 · Post by **stellfd28** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:08 am

Thanks jeff

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Post by **mr x** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:34 am

I also used a thin aluminum turkey fryer for years.

Post by **chalmers** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:49 am

Ditto here. Just a note that if this a brand-new pot, it is advisable to do a water-only boil to build up a bit of an oxide layer.

akr71 · Post by **akr71** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 1:45 pm

chalmers wrote:Ditto here. Just a note that if this a brand-new pot, it is advisable to do a water-only boil to build up a bit of an oxide layer.

Yep, and then when cleaning it, don't scrub off that grey oxide layer. I used a 30 quart pot for quite a while - its doable, but pretty tight once you get a rolling boil. Watch it like a hawk and keep a spray bottle full of water handy to help prevent boil-overs - spray the top when it gets close to boiling over.

Also, if you have a burner, boil outside. When it does eventually boil over, you don't want that all over the stove.

jacinthebox · Post by **jacinthebox** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 2:05 pm

aluminum turkey fryer is what I used when we started Partials

jtmwhyte · Post by **jtmwhyte** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 4:28 pm

I use a 50qt Aluminium Kettle and it's great.

Jayme · Post by **Jayme** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 6:37 pm

Aluminum is also much better conducting heat than stainless. The only real downside is this more reactive with a lot of common cleaners. John Palmer has a pretty good write up on metallurgy in how to brew. I'm not sure if that section is included in the first edition (available free online) but it's definitely in the most recent edition that you can purchase. If you don't already own it, it's a great book and well worth the money.

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