40qt kettle as mash tun

Hello,

I have a 40qt stainless steel kettle that I was thinking of using as a direct fire mash tun.  How well would this work?  What is the most amount of grain/highest gravity I would be able to fit in this?

If you;'re using it for a mash tun, I assume you’ll put a false bottom in it.  That will eat up some space.

Yes I would be or a bazooka tube…? Maybe I’m better off just doing single infusion in a cooler for now

Well, that’s what I’d say.  I guess I “assumed” that the purpose of using a kettle is to be able apply heat to it.  You’d stand less chance of scorching your mash if there was liquid beneath a false bottom keeping the heat away from the grain.

A 40qt pot with a false bottom should be able to safely accomodate 15 lbs of grain at water to grain ration of 1.5:1. You may be able to get 20lbs but you’ll have to lower your ratio to 1:1. Assuming 75% Brewhouse efficiency, 15lbs of grain will yield roughly 5 gallons of 1.075 beer give or take depending on your efficiency.

My intentions were to allow me to apply heat if I missed my temp. However I havent even done an all grain batch yet. My next batch will be my first all grain and I am trying to figure out my equipment setup.

Okay, so after doing some research on what it would end up costing me to make the kettle work as a good mash tun, I decided to just go the cooler route.  I got a 52 qt Coleman Xtreme for $32.  Now I just need to get a ball valve that will fit in where the spigot is and a bazooka tube or something.  Does anyone know what ball valve/barb setup works with this cooler?

Here’s a couple resources you can use as inspiration: http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/mashtun.html and http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

Thanks Mark. I found that first link soon after I posted. i’ll take a look at that other one too. Going to try and make a trip to home depot today