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I'm finding when I go to the upper grain volumes I can fit into my bag for the mash that the colander I've been using to rest the bag on is not wide/deep enough and I'm loosing liquid that is seeping from the side of the bag outside the rim of the pot. Anyone know where I could locate a deep colander or a wide one that only has drain holes at the bottom that would fit a pot with an 11" diameter.

pet lion wrote:I'm finding when I go to the upper grain volumes I can fit into my bag for the mash that the colander I've been using to rest the bag on is not wide/deep enough and I'm loosing liquid that is seeping from the side of the bag outside the rim of the pot. Anyone know where I could locate a deep colander or a wide one that only has drain holes at the bottom that would fit a pot with an 11" diameter.

Colander I have is 13" diameter. I picked it up at Walmart. The handles rest on top of the keggle so everything seems to drain back into the keggle.

My colander rests on the edge of my pot too (I'm stove top brewing with a 16 quart pot) but it can't contain the grains enpugh even though I try tie up the top of the bag to try to keep it taller than wide.

What about just sitting a bucket with holes drilled in the bottom on top of the pot? You can drill the holes so they are all within the opening of your pot.

Jimmy wrote:What about just sitting a bucket with holes drilled in the bottom on top of the pot? You can drill the holes so they are all within the opening of your pot.

Excellent idea!
Or even a wide, sturdy plastic bowl.

There's a good one at CT. It's called a BBQ wok.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/2 ... ?locale=en

I think they have 2 sizes. The biggest is very big.

GuingesRock wrote:There's a good one at CT. It's called a BBQ wok.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/2 ... ?locale=en

I think they have 2 sizes. The biggest is very big.

Looks like a good suggestion as well.

I found some pictures. I have one. My pot was just slightly too large for it, but I think your pot would support it all the way around. My one, the handles only rested on the rim of the pot and it wanted to collapse so I ended up putting a wire cake tray under it. Now I drain to another pot instead of pulling the bag...much less mess in the kitchen to clean up.

Hey Mark, is that 14" measurement for the diameter of the top rim or for the base? Thanks!

pet lion wrote:Hey Mark, is that 14" measurement for the diameter of the top rim or for the base? Thanks!

Just measured it. The top is 14" and the base is 10 ¾ "

That's a 27.5 lb (when it was dry) grain bill in the picture above. The grain in the picture is wet and draining. Maybe 50lbs weight? quite heavy any way.

Oh yeah! My grain bills are maxing out around 6.5 kg so about half what you have loaded on there.

Jimmy wrote:What about just sitting a bucket with holes drilled in the bottom on top of the pot? You can drill the holes so they are all within the opening of your pot.

I came here to suggest that. I use 2 5 gallon buckes for wort drainage once I pull my bag. One has big holes drilled in the bottom and it sits inside the other.

Maybe you could find a bucket that fits snug in the top of your pot.

I think I would only go the bucket method if I cut off the top 2/3 of it so I could manoeuvre it under the bag easily in my little kitchen. I am pretty sure that stainless steel wok will be purchased from CT before my next brew day.

I think it will work well on an 11" pot. Good luck any way. I'd give you mine but my wife wants to have it to cook veg on the barbeque with. Other nice thing about it is you can chuck it in the dishwasher....always a bonus. Brewing seems to have endless cleaning jobs associated with it.

There's a picture of my colander in action, probably a 5.5kg grain bill on that one.

Yeah, when I was maxing out at 5.5 kg it wasn't so much of a problem but I got a bigger bag to try to allow me more grains per brew my colander just isn't cutting it for the pot size I have.

A great source for collanders, etc., is Advantage Food Equipment on Mount Hope Ave. in Dartmouth (behind the Dart. Gen. Hsp.).
They have lots of industrial sized collanders, large stainless spoons, SS screens, etc., and most prices are quite reasonable. When I "sparge" the grain bag I try to raise it enough so that the sides don't touch the pot. I use a pizza pan with small holes in it on top of the grain to evenly distribute the "sparge" water.
When you walk into Adv. Food Eq. and look at the gear they have your brain just starts spinning all kinds of ideas for brewing.
Cheers

I use an oven rack from my microwave. Fits over my pot and it's sturdy enough to hold 16# or more I would assume.

LeafMan66_67 wrote:There's a picture of my colander in action, probably a 5.5kg grain bill on that one.

Where did you get the colander?

Sandy

Wal Mart Bedford.

Finally have a brew large enough to require using the bbq wok from CT. Fits my pot perfectly. Thanks again for the suggestion!

pet lion wrote:Finally have a brew large enough to require using the bbq wok from CT. Fits my pot perfectly. Thanks again for the suggestion!

Glad to hear it worked ok.