[Hokerer]

It's definitely a smart move to have some heat resistant gloves on hand in any event. I keep a pair fireplace gloves from Lowes around while brewing. Better safe than sorry.

Yep, my woodstove gloves is what I use

[OrangeSnow]

With a stock pot, aluminum or SS, does shape play much of a role?  Would a tall, thin pot or a short, wide pot be better?

[Hokerer]

With a stock pot, aluminum or SS, does shape play much of a role?  Would a tall, thin pot or a short, wide pot be better?

I find the kind that come with the turkey fryers to be too thin to work in easily - not enough room to maneuver .  What could be considered an advantage, though, is that a thinner pot will tend to have less boiloff.  Personally, I prefer my Megapot - just the right combo of width and height.

[OrangeSnow]

Hmmm... Well, perhaps I'll just have to get one of each and brew two batches!  It certainly doesn't hurt to experiment.

[Slowbrew]

It really comes down to surface area.  The more area that is open the atmosphere, the more you will boil off.  Wide, low pots are nice for making sure you boil off DMS but they do require you start with greater volume in the pot to reach your target volume.

Tall, narrow pots will not boil off as much volume (and probably don't affect DMS that much either) so you can start with less in the pot. 

I, personally, weigh economics and access.  My 12 gallon boil kettle is nice and wide and easy to work in but it takes a bit more gas to heat it up.  Everyone makes their own choices.

Paul

[euge]

Also consider how one is going to chill the wort. With an IC you'll want a pot that's tall enough so the coils will be completely submerged. This depends on the IC obviously, but coordinating of how the the two pieces of equipment will work together and in the brewspace beforehand will save some heartache. For this reason I favor taller as opposed to wider. My 20 gallon pot with 12 gallons of cooled wort still has about 4-5" of IC jutting above the surface.

Get out the tape-measure before committing to any purchases.

[OrangeSnow]

I'm going to give a shot to the taller thin SS pot.  My IC fits well in it and I'm hoping it holds a boil well.  I had a wider aluminum pot for my first batch, and it didn't like to boil unless it was covered.   

[newrocset]

I've heard copper and stainless steel are resistant to bacteria and I guess that's why it is a requirement for commercial kitchens and breweries to use stainless.

I'm guessing that would be a basis to support the use of stainless over aluminum. 

Anyway, I've brewed plenty of great beers with the aluminum pot that came with my turkey fryer until I switched to a keggle and  I really don't see a difference in flavor.

[Will's Swill]

I had a wider aluminum pot for my first batch, and it didn't like to boil unless it was covered.   

That's probably due to an insufficient heat source rather than the geometry of the pot. 

[OrangeSnow]

I had a wider aluminum pot for my first batch, and it didn't like to boil unless it was covered.   

That's probably due to an insufficient heat source rather than the geometry of the pot. 

That's very likely.  Is there any way to increase the heat output of an electric stove without burning the house down?

[tschmidlin]

I had a wider aluminum pot for my first batch, and it didn't like to boil unless it was covered.   

That's probably due to an insufficient heat source rather than the geometry of the pot. 

That's very likely.  Is there any way to increase the heat output of an electric stove without burning the house down?

Lots of things are possible but are still not good ideas.  This seems like a particularly bad idea.

[euge]

Electric ranges are pretty much universally insufficient for boiling more than a couple gallons. If you can and the pot is big enough try placing the kettle over two elements. It'll be lame but there should be some extra btu's there for ya.

[OrangeSnow]

I figured as much.  I miss my old gas stove.  I'll have to make do with what I have for the time being.  I'll just have to keep my boil volumes down and see how the final product turns out.

[Kit B]

That's very likely.  Is there any way to increase the heat output of an electric stove without burning the house down?

With the time/money you'd invest in this project & the danger involved, you're better off getting a propane burner.

[richardt]

I agree.  Once the size of the bottom of your pot exceeds the size of the burner, you're not going to be efficient in heating up the pot of wort.  Assuming that you're using a ceramic/glass-top stove, half of the pot could be heated by the "burner" and half of the pot could be sitting on room-temp glass. 

Anything more than a 5.5 gallon stock pot (for a 2.5 gallon batch) would probably be better off on a propane burner outside, IMO.
Or make an electric brew stick out of a 110v water heater element to supplement the process.