So I got an aluminum Brinkmann turkey fryer from home depot, and had read that you should boil water in it for a bit to get the oxide layer on it. I boiled for an hour, and ended up with this: The fryer got covered with some kind of white ash that wipes off clean. The bottom of the pot has orange marks where it rested on the fryer stand. The inside of the pot looks painted black. It doesn't come off with scrubbing. This isn't what the oxidation is supposed to look like is it? Is it still safe for beer? Does anyone have an idea what happened? Thanks.
the paint on the fryer burned off. they sell them with paint because the metal rusts very quickly, and nobody will buy a rusty item brand new. nothing to worry about. if you repaint it is just going to burn off again. the inside of the pot can get dark after use, and if you cant scrub it off then it is nothing to worry about. your pot is reasy for use. good luck.
And if the whole thing isn't black, will more of it becoming black during the boil make the beer taste metallic? Does it need to be at equilibrium so to speak?
im not sure why the inside of your pot turned black, except that 120,000 btu's is alot of heat. it looks like the flame ran up the sides. keep in mind that the inside of the pot below the water line is 212 F no matter what. still, if it isnt flaking, greasy, scaley or loose it is probably nothing to worry about. one of our resident metallurgists may have an explanation. i have never heard of an aluminum pot failing or causing off taste. doesn't mean it cant happen... but my memory is gone.
This is true of the water itself, but not necessarily true of the pot. I don't know though what caused those black marks inside the pot. It doesn't look anything like normal 'seasoning.' Though a wild guess would be that there was some substance (left over from manufacturing) lining the inside of the pot, which burned where the pot got hottest.
I went ahead and brewed, now the pot is a much dimmer gray, more like what I had been expecting: Did the black stuff just change colors or did it leach off into my beer? Any ideas if it's safe to drink?
It may sort of look like normal seasoning now, but it wasn't before, so it don't think it somehow transformed. And yes, whatever the black stuff was is now mostly in your wort IMO. Since nobody can say what the black stuff actually was, I doubt anyone can tell you if it's safe. But... if the pot was made by a reputable manufacturer, it may be safe to assume that they didn't leave anything in the pot that would be dangerous. Just curious...did the pot come with directions to wash thoroughly before use?
No actually, not that I saw: http://images.brinkmann.net/Docs/Pdf/815-3786-W.pdf However, it does say not to use it for purposes other than frying turkeys, so I don't think I'd have any luck complaining. There were reviews of it by people who used it as a brewpot without issue.
Most aluminum (and SS) are shipped with a coating of oil on them. You should wash the thoroughly with soap and water before use to remove the oil. My guess is that this coating reacted with your water somehow and caused this black coating.(you would not get this frying a turkey because you put oil in the pot) When i seasoned my old 7 gal cheap turkey fryer pot. I washed it with soap and then boiled a gallon of water in it with the top on. The steam seasoned the pot with a light grey coating. (thx hb42 for that advice). Now is it safe to drink??? Thats the million dollar question i cant answer for you. Personally i would dump it. If you do go ahead with it i would be VERY critical on how it tastes. If there is any chemical/metal/off flavor. Toss the batch. Good luck! Cheers! DM
Are they? I have 2 aluminum and 2 stainless steel kettles, all different brands, and I don't recall a coating of oil on any of them.
Yours may not. But the ones i have had a film on them. My new SS Megapot came with instructions to wash with soap and water to "remove manufacturing residue" from it. I also have a 20gallon Aluminum stock pot that had a oily coating on it when i received it. It may vary between manufactures. The only way to know is to contact them and find out. One thing is for sure. That black coating is not normal for a seasoned pot. Cheers! DM
Your burner looks fine, but I would fill your pot with water and reboil after you scrub the hell out of it with soap and water. You probably should have done this before you brewed in it. Dubbelman is correct that most metal products are shipped with a protective coating. Although, the coating is more often for marketing reasons than protection. It may not be harmful, but it is certainly not desirable. It might not be a bad idea to buff the pot with some steel wool to remove the oxidation layer, then reboil. But see how it looks after soap and water. The finished product should be a dull grey, and the color will likely be uneven.
Some companies oil steel product and some don't. Pots that are stamped overseas (transcontinental shipment via boat) or that see a long time in a warehouse are more likely to be oiled. I work at a company that stamps steel and we have to oil a lot of the product that is going to China or the UK. We also have trouble keeping product in the warehouse free from buildup (SS does not rust but it can have a rusty colored buildup that can be washed off.
Yes, this. The scrubbing removes the oxide layer that you previously built up with the boil, so you should reboil after any heavy scrubbing. Just use a sponge and soap to clean after a brew day, the sooner the better so the crud doesn't get caked on. I also don't know what the black stuff was but I wouldn't toss any beer unless it tastes bad. The turkey fryer is still intended for cooking and I doubt any oil (or whatever) that might have been on there wouldn't be food safe.
According to John Palmer, homebrewing author and metallurgist by trade, "Shiny new aluminum pots will sometimes turn black when boiling water due to chlorine and carbonates in the water."
I think I have the same fryer as you and mine never did that did you fill it all the way up with water or just put a little in the bottom? Because when I did mine I filled it all the way up that was around 40 or more batches ago.
Are these safe if they came off in the beer? I tasted a little bit while bottling and it seemed ok. I think I had about 3 gallons of water in it when I boiled.
