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Electric Steam Kettle as a Boiler?

dolemike
edited June 2014 in General

Howdy folks,

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to use an electric steam kettle as a boiler- not the kind that POMMEs use to make tea, but the larger ones that institutions such as schools and prisons use to make slop. The nice thing about these kettles is that they come in 60 gallon and 80 gallon sizes and you can often find them used. The really nice thing is that they have their own boiler- you just plug it in or hook it up to a gas line and turn it on. Seems like you could weld some sort of gasketed tri-clamp type interface between the kettle and the piece that holds your column. What do you all think?

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Comments

  • Law_Of_OhmsLaw_Of_Ohms

    nice if you can find them at a junk yard in good shape, but if you had to buy new, its much more expensive then our boilers.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty6eY9VUIgI

  • LloydLloyd

    Looks like a great mash tun though.

  • dolemike

    They could make a good mash tun or an even better grain cooker. They are commonly available for a couple thousand bucks on eBay or Craigslist. I have been trying to come up with economical ways to distill on the grain.

  • grim

    Great as a cereal cooker, marginal as a mash tun. Fitting a false bottom is difficult, and you'll lose volume to do it. From what I can remember the last time I actually used one to cook, temperature control wasn't great.

    The 40 gallon units are most common and least expensive, larger units are rare on the used market, and generally command a better price. You'll pay a pretty penny for a good condition 80 gallon unit. New? They cost a fortune.

    I've seen one of these converted into a still before, they just welded the lid to the kettle and cut in a man-way and the column fittings. No idea how it actually worked though, in practice, but it should work.

  • grim

    Other issue is 40-60 gallons is just too small for commercial, and way too big for hobby. And at the price you'll pay for an 80, there are much better options to invest in, even if it means paying more. Better to buy once, than pay double later.

  • dolemike
    edited June 2014

    I agree. I will have to look into the cost to install a steam boiler- usually not so cheap. I really like this StillDragon stuff. I may have to make some additions to my water distiller.

  • CothermanDistilling

    Boulder Distillery, maker of 303 potato vodka, uses a steam kettle powered by a total loss steam system that uses a beer keg and I think 10KW of heating elements. The steam boiler has no valves, and the exit from the cooker is run into a bucket of water 12" deep.. this gives them ~0.5 PSI.. he mashes 50lb bags of local potato flakes in it... he has 60 or so similar keg-boilers, each with less power and operating a 2"x6' packed column for stripping runs... if you ever get near Boulder CO, his is one of the coolest places ever...

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