Aluminum pot thickness

[ramgeva]

Hi all
I want to buy and Aluminum pots (Budget) for Boiling and sparge/Strike water.
I found 2 pots:
31 litter Pot for Boiling - 2.5mm Thick
15 litter Pot for sparge/Strike water - 2mm Thick

My question is does it thick enough (Without installing any weldless kit on it)?
and if Yes will it also be enough in case i want to install a Weldless kit on it?
10x

 

[HopinJim]

Those may work, but seem a little thin for aluminum. My main boil kettle is a 40qt Winware professional aluminum stock pot, and it is actually about 4.5mm thick (3/16 inch). I would recommend this thickness IF you plan to install weldless fittings. They can be found on Amazon (search Winware Professional Aluminum Stock Pots) in several sizes. The only gripe about these is that they don't come with lids, although they are available if you want them. I bought the lid for mine and notched it out to fit around the uprights of my I.C. so I could put the lid on while chilling. I have a valve, sightglass and thermometer installed, and it works just fine.

Just remember that you need to "season" them before boiling any wort or making strike/sparge water in them. There are several ways to do that, but I just filled mine most of the way up with water and let it boil in there until it turned grey inside. Once done, do not scrub or use PBW/Oxyclean in them...just use a little liquid soap and water and a non-abrasive sponge to clean, and rinse thoroughly.

 

[ramgeva]

Thanks HopinJim
So without Weldless installation it could be OK, but you don't recommend to install in them because they are too thin?
I can order from Amazon as they don't sent everything to my country (I don't leave in US) so I need to find something local.
Thanks

 

[wilserbrewer]

I have a 2 mm aluminum kettle, it works fine and has held up for years. A weldless kit will work on a 2 mm kettle. A thicker kettle can take more abuse, that's the main difference. As a reference, turkey fryer pots are probably only like 1 mm or less, and people use them for years without issue.

 

[ramgeva]

great Thanks a lot for the Help