Usable as a brew kettle?

[mulliganx]

Just bought a brew set. I have this left over from deep frying my turkey, Thanksgiving. It's clean. Question is if I can use this as a brew kettle?

Bayou Classic Aluminum Turkey Fryer Stockpot - 30 qt

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00062VZMY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[iowabrew]

You bet. I've been using this for 3 years. Works well

 

[dickproenneke]

Yup. Just boil it once with plain h2o before brewing - forms a protective oxide layer.

 

[mulliganx]

If I used this brew kettle to cook a turkey in the past is that ok?

A person told me to use brew kettles that have NEVER been used before and ONLY used for brewing beer..

I used this to cook a turkey on thanksgiving.

Thanks

 

[ElCid79]

aluminum can pick up flavors... Clean the crud out of it, then boil o2 once.... make a batch, and see if it turns out okay. If so, keep using it.. Otherwise don't any more. I would eventually upgrade to a stainless one. I am not a big fan of aluminum pots.

 

[jrgtr42]

WHat they said. You should be OK with some care taken.
I have that same rig, but I never made turkey in it.
Also, the pot is borderline for a full boil. Especially if you have an extra long one for a high-gravity beer, there really isn't enough room for it to foam up without boiling over.
I have a 33-quart Graniteware pot that is perfect - big enough to handle foaming, but not so big that I can't handle moving it around when full.

 

[HornetSparky]

Still use my turkey fryer pot for five gallon batch full boils, but as has been mentioned it requires constant attention to avoid boil overs. I have the keg that will be my keggle because I'm sick of my small pot. Totally workable, though, and my recommended starting kettle to friends because they can be had for $20-40 on Craigslist.

 

[mulliganx]

@jrgtr42 - Just to be safe, I will go ahead and purchase this pot from Graniteware. 34-quart w/ steel core

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BO7C9C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[SIXFOOTER]

Aluminum is fine for a boil pot, if it was used to fry a turkey just clean it to get all the oil out and it will be fine.

 

[troutcatcher413]

i used an old used turkey fryer for many batches with out issue. I would clean the pot with bar keepers friends and then a full boil of water until you create an oxide layer and then brew on.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/faq-aluminum-pots-boil-kettles-49449/

 

[broadbill]

Mine Aluminum turkey fryer pot routinely sees lobster boils. It is cleaned and used for brewing again; in my case heating strike and sparge water. I use a keggle for a BK because I like having the room without dealing with a boilover.

 

[jrgtr42]

@jrgtr42 - Just to be safe, I will go ahead and purchase this pot from Graniteware. 34-quart w/ steel core

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BO7C9C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

That's the one I have (I think... it's been labeled as 32, 33 and 34 quart)
It's big enough for a full boil, and works well on that fryer.
At some point in the future you may want to upgrade to a kettle designed and built for brewing, but this will serve perfectly well in the meantime.