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Cheap brewpot for a full boil
I'm looking at a Granite Ware 34-Quart Stock Pot on amazon.com for $32 with free shipping. Sounds like a pretty cheap way to get into full boil -- in fact it's cheaper than the 20-quart stainless steel I've got that takes forever to boil. The one on amazon is one of those black-with-white-speckles affairs. Anyone know whether these would work OK? My questionable math says that's 8.5 gallons, plenty to go full boil for a 5-gallon batch and maybe enough to accommodate a later move to all-grain.
That's a great price for a big pot. That size is plenty big enough for a five gallon batch of all-grain. I am not so sure about the enameled pot though. I think that the finish is safe as-is, but it is easy to chip, and underneath is something that you wouldn't want to use for your beer. I don't know much details about it, but I would be wary. You could always get it and give it a try, at that price, then if it doesn't work, just get rid of it.
I've been told that enamel is fine as long as the finish is good, but if you chip it down to the metal you're done.
I had a smaller enamel pot when I started out brewing, and it worked great for about 10-20 batches before I upgraded to stainless. Once the emamel goes, it's the iron in the steel underneath that messes up your wort. You'll be able to tell right away, though, because it'll smell and taste awful (like beer that's been over-oxidized), and be significantly more red in color than it should be going into your carboy...
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