(Part 3) Best stockpots according to redditors

Sure, no problem! I used this simple recipe.

I let it sit for about 12 hours for step 2. My house was probably about 65° during the night.

For step 4, I degassed it and got the boule as tight as possible before proofing, and then I proofed it in a bowl on a floured cloth (not on the counter top like the recipe shows). I probably proofed it about an hour, rather than 30 min.
I carefully turned it into the heated 10" cast iron pan, and covered it with a heated upside-down oven-safe sauce pot that happened to be the exact same width as the pan (making a perfect seal). I also probably baked it about 15 min longer than the recipe says to get the crust how I wanted it. I took it out with an internal temp of 210° (but I wouldn't worry about it if you don't have an insta-read thermometer).

I've also done each of these once: this one (which turned out well) and this one (which was predictably very yeasty, but fine). The above posted one was the easiest and tastiest so far for me (but again, I'm only 3 loaves deep into this hobby).

I brown butter for every pierogi dinner every year on Christmas Eve. So I only do it once a year, but I always nail it.

The butter will foam up twice. Foaming up once, going back down and then foaming up again. One time will be more dense than the other.

Anyways, stir constantly (I use medium heat) with a wooden spoon.

Nothing to look for in the first foaming - just keep stirring.

During the next foam up, this is when the browning will occur. So use the stirring to move the foam just enough to see the bottom of the pan, through the butter, and see if it's brown enough (root beer color).

VERY IMPORTANT: I have a white bottom enameled aluminum sauce pan. This is key to the whole thing...this is how you can see the color. The only purpose of this sauce pan in my kitchen is to brown butter.

Do one stick at a time. Do not wash between sticks - if doing multiples. Wipe out with paper towel - make sure to get any brown bits.

If you burn a batch, throw it out. There is no saving it.

Similar pan to the one I have...mine is about 30 years old and I think a camping sauce pan (can't find online):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BKPXR3M/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07BKPXR3M&pd_rd_w=dWhOM&pf_rd_p=8a8f3917-7900-4ce8-ad90-adf0d53c0985&pd_rd_wg=xElPf&pf_rd_r=E7X7Y5YPM1Y21Q2KY7VY&pd_rd_r=71fcda2e-4611-4260-9167-8756a6aeb9ae&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFPQkxNQzgzUlFQN0wmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA0OTQyNTUzU0JKSTNQWjlVMUIzJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwMzkxNzUyRDVMWFFIS09OSkpBJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

​

Remember my mantra:

Foam up,

Foam down,

Foam up,

Foam brown

First of all, post a link to the recipe you used, or post the recipe here.

Next, did you measure your ingredients, or weigh them? It can make a difference.

Since I started making my own bread and sauerkraut, I've switched over to weighing all my ingredients via the metric system. The conversions are a pain, but once you've got it written down, it's a lot easier.

When Grrlilla asked if you removed the blossom end, I think they were asking if you cut it off. The last 1/8th of an inch of flesh on the cucumber still holds the enzymes meant to induce the fruit to start rotting, so you've got to cut it off altogether, not just clean off any flower bits.

Finally, I've never heard of any vegetable ferment that said to stir anything. Everything I've ever seen for fermenting veggies says to disturb as little as possible, and only skim the mold off the top. This is because unless you do a "sealed" crock, then the decaying bugs will collect on top and slowly work their way down. That's why you always lose the top inch or two of sauerkraut. But if you were stirring your bucket of cukes, then you mixed the bad bugs all the way through, before the B. acidophillus could properly populate the bucket.

I do my fermented pickles in a Harsch Gairtopf, which generates a lot of carbon dioxide during the ferment, keeping surface mold and decay from occuring. The water seal acts as an airlock, allowing gas to escape, but keeping mold and spores out.

You load it and let it run for the duration, only checking on it once in a while.

That is great. I bought a german-made crockpot they sell for sauerkraut. It is a lot easyer to clean, plus it has a rim where you put water to seal it and let the fermenting gas out. Link

I went with the Bayou Classic 82qt. Perfect for 5 or 10gallon AG batches (I don't mash in it though, I use a cooler for that) and inexpensive.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VXKJJ8/ref=twister_B0052LO3Q4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

i saw some metal ones with a divider on Amazon - let me see if i can find one and ill link ya

This is one my friends and I were thinking of getting for ourselves

I have a decent quality but basic 10 gal kettle (thick stainless, clad bottom, but no ports or extras). I moved to BIAB back in December and find that the 10 gal pot works great. I would probably have to work in a sparge for a batch with more than 20 lbs of grain, but I feel that the 10 gal pot works great for 5 gal batches. There is plenty of headroom for starting with 7 gal pre boil.

I would say you would be much happier with a decent 10 gal pot and a propane burner than trying to work with a 15 gal pot on your electric stove. I cannot physically fit my 10 gal pot on my stove (the microwave is too low). At one point I used to use a large enamel pot that would stretch over two burners, but moving to a propane burner cut at least an hour off a brew day.

There are plenty of pots out there of different quality and such, but mine is similar in quality to this one ( Vigor 40qt Pot ) that goes for about $100 delivered. Looking on Amazon I see a few in the $70 to $120 range. I am curious about some of the "Gas One" brand kettles (like Gas One $70 or Gas One with Port $110 )

I have also been enjoying 2.5 gal stove top BIAB batches using a 5 gal kettle.

Get a 20 gallon bk if you can for 10 gallon batches. 15 gallons will work, but a 20 gallon pot is way easier to work with. For a 90 minute boil & 10 gallon finishing size with a heavy hop load you are looking at ~14 gallons pre-boil. That would be a pain in the ass with a ~15 gallon pot. Sure you could use Fermcap-S, but the amount of expansion involved in a rolling boil could be enough to put that over the edge even without any foaming.

Also, you are saying that based on your budget a "deluxe" brew pot isn't worth it... no way man. Just because you can't currently afford one, doesn't mean that they are in any way not worth it. I use boilermakers. Even though they are expensive (some people would say way overpriced), they are still well worth it. You could obviously get similar features for less money if you really want to, but the important part is the features make for easy brew days.

If I was going for something less expensive I'd still want all the stuff that I get on my pot, namely, a 3-piece ball valve with stainless dip tube, sight glass, and thermometer. An integrated thermometer isn't 100% necessary for a BK, but it adds versatility in the future to easily use your current BK for a MLT or HLT, and it's still nice to have to easily monitor wort chilling as well. Checking volumes during sparge/lautering using the sight glass is the easiest possible way to do it. Without a doubt though, a ball valve is 100% essential, not a luxury. I have no interest in moving 10 gallons of boiling hot liquid by hand at any point or even 10 gallons of 148-170°F liquid. Without a ball valve I wouldn't even consider making 10 gallon batches. So much easier to pump liquid between vessels as needed & drain directly into my fermenter.

Edit: $30 more than your listed item & more than worth the price difference 82qt kettle. At a minimum, add a ball valve & you are good to go.

Edit 2: For your mash tun size. 10 gallon baches @ 75% efficiency, you can maximize versatility with a 62-qt tun. That puts you @ 1.097 OG for a 10 gallon brew using 37.2lb of grain @ 1.25qt/lb. If you don't plan on making beers that big, use this chart to determine the appropriate size for your needs.

Aluminum is fine if you understand how to clean it. If you want a high quality pot, look into something with a tri-ply bottom like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Update-International-SPS-20-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000X1JO6W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483214439&sr=8-2&keywords=update+international+stock+pot

Although in my opinion, getting a metal basket might be worth it.

https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-4020-Stockpot-aluminum/dp/B000VXKJNE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483214493&sr=8-2&keywords=bayou+stock+pot+with+basket

https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1124-24-Quart-Stainless/dp/B000FTHX8S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483214476&sr=8-1&keywords=bayou+stock+pot

Yup -- he is looking at the inside 1/2 of something like of these: https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1124-24-Quart-Stainless/dp/B000FTHX8S/

12 quarts. Nothing too expensive. Think $50, not $100. You want riveted handles, no exceptions.

Cuisinart is a brand name that has some fairly generic, totally fine options in the $40–70 range.

Cheap

Less cheap

Amazon also sells Winco, which is a brand you're likely to see at a kitchen supply store. Something like this is great.

On the extreme cheap end, Family Dollar actually carries a solidly-made 12qt stockpot for $10, but I gotta say it's made of such thin aluminum that it takes fucking forever to bring to a boil because the heat just seems to dissipate right off of it. I recommend Cuisinart or Winco, and don't suggest you look at anything by All-Clad. There is absolutely no reason to spend All-Clad money on a stock pot.

The following:

http://www.amazon.com/All-Clad-Stainless-Tri-Ply-Dishwasher-Cookware/dp/B00FUF5K8W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463006632&sr=8-1&keywords=all+clad+12

http://www.amazon.com/T-fal-Professional-Thermo-Spot-Indicator-Dishwasher/dp/B000GWG0T2/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1463006621&sr=1-1&keywords=tfal+pan

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-Classic-Chefs-Knife/dp/B0061SWV8Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463006669&sr=8-1&keywords=victorinox+fibrox

http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-L8DOL3-Pre-Seasoned-Cast-Iron-Handles/dp/B00063RWYI/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1463006684&sr=1-1&keywords=dutch+oven

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-719-18-Classic-Stainless-Saucepan/dp/B00008CM6C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463006713&sr=8-1&keywords=2qt+saucepan

That leaves a bit of cash left over for randoms, and covers 90+ percent of your cooking. Alternatively, swap the dutch oven for a stock pot type of thing:

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-766-24-Classic-8-Quart-Stockpot/dp/B00008CM6J/ref=pd_sim_79_5?ie=UTF8&dpID=31Dg3p7dZbL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0F6BGCPD6FGMSZWWMW2D


I'd vote keep the DO and use it for boiling any pastas in, etc.

Wish I saw this yesterday when I was doing laundry instead of when I'm at work! Basically I would use one of these so I could do a lot of laundry at once.

Finalizing my shopping list to move from 1 gallon to 2.5-3 gallon batches, BIAB, all to be done on my condo glasstop stove. Can anyone tell me if I'm missing anything on my shopping list?

5 Gal Kettle w/ thermometer and valve

Hose Barb Fitting

Elbow Barb Fitting for bottling (assuming I use my kettle as a bottling bucket)

Fresh Grain Bag

Grain Mill to replace Corona Mill

3 Gal Carboy (or should I get a 5 gallon bucket? Or something else?)

Hose for clean transfer to fermenter

Wort Chiller (and all the necessary plumbing to add a t bar and valve to my kitchen sink)

I have a larger auto-siphon (although I'd rather find something else - I hate auto siphons) to rack to a bottling bucket.

What am I missing? Do I need a false bottom?

Thanks!

I have a 40 QT (10 gallon) which I use for 5 gallon BIAB batches. It's a really wide pot so it stretches over two burners. Taller thinner pots are more popular to reduce your boil off rate, but I don't think that matters much. I usually boil about 6.5 gallons, from 7.25 of strike water. So far no issues with space during the mash, but I haven't tried to make anything like a barleywine in it. I'm not that patient.

Most kitchens are wired with separate breakers to every outlet, occasionally even separate breakers to the plugs in the outlets. So your chances are good. If not use an extension cord, preferably with a GFCI dongle.

I don't have any heating elements in the pot, I didn't know about them when i set up this system. If I had to start over I'd think about using heating elements instead of induction, it seems to be cheaper. Especially the pot. Then again the pot's easier to clean this way.

By the way another option is two heating elements in the pot plugged into different breakers.

yes actually it is necessary. It thickens the yogurt SO MUCH MORE. It's worth the $15-$20 to buy an extra inner liner IMO just to avoid this very problem.

Sorry, I’ll be honest we’re pretty new to this. It’s possible the Amazon links on our webpage are affiliate links. I’ll have to look into it. Just out of curiosity, is there a problem with affiliate links?

For your reference here are the page links:
Duratux 10” Fry Pan: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0745GMM4N/
Sous Vide Pot: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008SOUSV0/

stock pots of some sort are great sometimes a cast iron dutch oven works well too.

[small stock pot]
(https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Polished-NICKEL-Stainless-Coating/dp/B07CWPFFB2/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1537047641&sr=8-8&keywords=medium+stainless+steel+stock+pot)

[Medium size]
(https://www.amazon.com/Cooks-Standard-12-Quart-Stainless-Stockpot/product-reviews/B01M7RNBZA/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_paging_btm_3?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=3)

[large size]
(https://www.amazon.com/LARGE-ECOLOGICAL-NICKEL-Stainless-Coating/dp/B07C9FPM1C/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1537047989&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=large+size+stainless+steel+stock+pot&psc=1)

Where do you get a pot big enough? I have four 750ml jars and I need something that's like 30x25cm.

nevermind https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kilner-Canning-Stockpot-Stainless-Gallon/dp/B07FT3Z44K/ref=sr_1_4

I have this aluminum pot.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000X1MG1M/ref=sxl1?qid=1465764194&sr=1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&th=1&psc=1

I have it in the 40 qt version which was 50 dollars. You can get the 32 qt for around 40 which would be just big enough for a full boil, you just have to be careful of the boil over around the hot break.

Ok, BIAB looks like the easiest way to do this. I don't want to buy too much equipment for this just yet. NB has a starter kit, but it looks like I'm only missing the mesh bag and a "mash paddle". What's the paddle for? I guess I have some research to do. Thanks.

Is this the sort of kettle you're thinking of?

If you want something versatile I'd go with a portable gas burner (such as http://www.amazon.com/Iwatani-Corporation-America-ZA-3HP-Portable/dp/B006H42TVG/) and a pan (such as http://www.amazon.com/TAYAMA-TG-28C-Tayama-Hot-Pot/dp/B000K6LHC4).

I personally have a Zojirushi electric hot pot which is very awesome for many reasons but it may not be ideal for chinese hot pot because there is not a divider on the pot (for spicy half/mild half) and it is actually quite huge to store in a cabinet.

The biggest I have seen is T-Fal's 12 qt pot:

https://www.amazon.com/T-fal-Specialty-Nonstick-Dishwasher-Stockpot/dp/B000GWK34K

What about getting a 16 quart rondeau with a lid and simmering the sauce in the oven? Serious Eats has a piece called The Food Lab: Use the Oven to Make the Best Darned Italian American Red Sauce You've Ever Tasted.

Here: http://www.amazon.com/T-Fal-Specialty-12-Quart-Nonstick-Stock/dp/B000GWK34K

You really don't see them that often in stores. That's a good point.

I have been brewing for almost 6 years now. I started with extract in a 30qt (7.5 gallon) basic stainless brew kettle. Similar to this,https://www.amazon.com/7-5-Gallon-Stainless-Steel-Stock/dp/B000E62GRU/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1481573622&sr=8-13&keywords=stainless+steel+pot+30+quart , undrilled, and I got it at some small LHBS for about $65. I still mostly use that brew kettle today.

I later moved to all grain and got a 10 gallon water cooler, similar to: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-10-Gal-Orange-Water-Cooler-FG1610HDORAN/202260809?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-BASE-PLA-D28I-Cleaning%7c&gclid=Cj0KEQiAsrnCBRCTs7nqwrm6pcYBEiQAcQSznLo5DlKE0S0-3iXFHqQJG9k4lqHGbQyClhGCAXDtbmUaAhfX8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds , and converted it as cheaply as possible following various videos on youtube.

I later upgraded to a false bottom, which was an easy upgrade after most of that was already in place.

Currently, I am in process of moving up to some converted kegs and doing a 10 gallon batch. It might even be my next brew.

Fermenting, I have a fermentation cabinet in the basement that I built to keep carboys at a minimum temperature, only heated. I also have a converted freezer-keggerator. I use 2-6.5 gallon and 2-5 gallon carboys, usually 6.5 gallon for primary.

I upgraded to kegging fairly early, because bottling got really old. Now I bottle almost every other brew with a beer gun, but I feel its more consistent flavor and I don't have to wait to empty a keg to fill do my next brew.

A burner is always handy, because most larger kettles have a slightly rounded bottom and electric only works efficiently with contact. I use an immersion chiller, and I think I prefer that over a counterflow chiller. Its easier to clean.

I also built a stir plate and can some wort for a yeast starter.

Here are some random pictures. http://imgur.com/a/Va7hS

Well, think about the headroom. How much krausen are you looking at? If you brew something with a particularly active fermentation that's going to leave quite the mess. You have no access to a top with a valve for a blowoff tube, meaning you'll have to use aluminum foil.

You'll want something more along these lines: https://smile.amazon.com/7-5-Gallon-Stainless-Steel-Stock/dp/B000E62GRU

Look no further than this fantastic 8 quart stock pot from Cuisinart. I have had one for years and it's awesome. Goes from stovetop to oven without any issues. Super easy to clean and care for! I bought this to supplement my All-Clad set of pots and pans because F spending $300 on a stock pot. This is the next best thing.

Decent Bigger Ones aren't too bad in price. I think I may pick one up because im cooking bigger dishes now and my 1-1/2 qt is too small.