Should the madness begin?

[brewinbasque]

Hey guys and gals. I have been contemplating upgrading my brewstation. Which is pretty much non-existent at the moment. And it dawned on me. I have a 30 Gallon Stainless Steel kettle just waiting to be put to use! So, what do you guys think. here are some pics of the bad boy that I am considering converting.

Its an old Groen D-30 Steam Kettle that came out of an older restaurant/bakery...that I acquired totally legally!!! He is Large and In Charge!. Here is a glimpse of a bit of interior lip. That Crank actually rotates the whole bowl, with a quart of oil for scale. Nice thick Lid, with a good pour spout at the bottom of the pic.

So what do you think guys?! is it a good idea?

BB

 

[EarthBound]

Are you planning to convert it to an electric kettle?

 

[brewinbasque]

Yes.

 

[EarthBound]

What gauge thickness do you think it is where you plan to install the heating element?

 

[lschiavo]

I just did a quick search on ebay and I see one similar (not even a dump unit) listed for $3k! I'd probably clean it up and try to find a buyer before I started drilling holes in it. You could easily build an entire system from scratch if you could sell it for that kind of coin.

 

[brewinbasque]

Well, I really don't think the steam part works. It was in the basement of the bakery, i noticed it was all SS so I was going to just scrap it...then put it in my shed, aka my office, and remembered it a few months later. perhaps I will throw it up on Ebay and see if I get any bites first. selling it for close to 2-3k would be nice

 

[kellanv]

While I'm not positive about this, wouldn't the steam be piped in from a separate boiler for that type of unit? Looks like the box with the crank would be for gearing etc.

Unless its ruptured, could be worth something

 

[lschiavo]

While I'm not positive about this, wouldn't the steam be piped in from a separate boiler for that type of unit? Looks like the box with the crank would be for gearing etc.

Unless its ruptured, could be worth something

I'm pretty sure thats how they work.

OP, look up some local restaurant equipment suppliers too. They may also deal in used equipment.

 

[brewinbasque]

Thanks for the heads up everyone. I'll do a little more research into this before making the plunge!