Tea Urns or plastic boilers

[matth]

I was about to start hacking up tesco kettles and buckets, but then discovered second hand burco boilers etc (which are shiny!). Now i have a few questions.

I have read the discussions on here regarding tea urns and knocking out the thermostat to get a constant boil, but do they give as good a rolling boil as the plastic purpose made things? But i have been worried that the plastic would impart some bad flavour.
with a tea urn is an enclosed element better? i know it would be in terms of cleaning but in terms of a boil?

What other mods would i have to make to an urn apart from the themostat.

Overall question though i suppose is which is better plastic boiler made for brewing or Burco type boiler (have seen a swan one quite cheap) as once everything is considered they seem to run at about the same price.

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks
Matt

 

[corby_brewer]

All you have to do with a Burco is bypass the thermostat, with is a easy 1 minute job. Ive got one which ive used on about 4 brews, it manages a perfect rolling boil with no problems what so ever.
But recently i managed to get myself a 10g plastic boiler complete with 2 elements which i know use.
There wont be any bad flavours comminig from the plastic.

 

[matth]

Out of interest what siz is the Burco you are using - and why the move to a plastic one?

Thanks

 

[matth]

Also - as in a previous post i was told i needed to get a boiler around 40l to produce in the region of 25l beer (my aim was around 50 500ml botles - but anything over 40 will do), i can't seem to find may urns that get to this size - so what are the quantities people are brewing with these sorts of boilers, and are they slower thatn the plastic ones?

Thanks

 

[corby_brewer]

The burco that i have is 30ltrs and can produce brew lengths of around 24ltrs. The reason i changed from burco to plastic is, the burco isnt big enough for the lengths i now brew. So the burco is now used as a second HLT, altho im planning on converting it to a mash tun soon.

 

[graysalchemy]

I use a 60l plastic food barrel with two tesco kettle elements in it. Works a treat. Managed to boil 60l (they are bigger than they say). I got my barrels of ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/60-litre-plastic- ... 3f00de3664.

I also use them for fermenting as well. These ones had been used for food colouring (red) but were spotlessly clean. I just gave them a clean with a steam cleaner, jobs a goodun.

:

AG

 

[matth]

ah great - these look quite good - now then decisions decisions! I had spotted these blue things before, but were unsure about them handling heat. At that sort of liquid volume how long does it take to get up to speed and boil for?

Anone elses opinions always accepted, got a wedding coming up but am still putting bits together for use later in the summer.

Cheers

 

[graysalchemy]

60l of cold water takes about 75 mins with two tesco elements. I have insulated mine and this does help. They get very warm but by no means they have not shown signs of distortion or getting soft. I must say that this is my experience with the barrels i have, they may vary with type manufacture etc.

:

AG

 

[Leglesstwot]

Those blue buckets look the dogs b****** for the price. At only £7 for an 80 litre one, if you were setting up an AG setup from scratch would it be better to go for the 80 litre jobs from outset or is it each to their own?

Personally if I am going to spend a day brewing, I would rather brew as many pints as possible. Do the buckets have any markings on the bottom to say what they are made of and what grade they are?

 

[graysalchemy]

i wished i had gone for an 80l boiler then i could have quite happily brewed 60+l. Like most people on this site I do aspire to shiny stainless steel but this set up will do for now.

They don't say what type of plastic they are.

:

AG

 

[Leglesstwot]

Cheers Grays

 

[graysalchemy]

No problem mate :

 

[matth]

Ok - still undecided then, I'll have to go away and have a good ponder, admittedly i would love to brew as much as mpossible but i only have limited space at the moment, and time is important too. Cheers for the info guys.