Would this hot water urn be suitable for BIAB?

[Aidan Curran]

Hi there Brewers,

I spotted these water urns on TradeMe (they have 38L and 28L versions):

http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-farming-industry/retail-hospitali...

Just wondering if anyone has any experience using this particular model or similar? I guess my concern would be would the 2kW element be sufficient to give a rolling boil on 25-30 litres of wort? And the thermostat goes up to 110 degrees - is that enough to prevent it cutting out during the boil?

Cheers,

Aidan

[Druid]

Be warned - those guys advertise their urns as 38l and 28 but they really only hold about 30l and 20l respectively - the higher figures they quote include the volume of the space beneath the part that holds the liquid and contains the element and wiring.

I bought one and complained - the exchanged it for a larger one for the same price

The stainless in the walls is pretty flimsy too.

[Aidan Curran]

Thanks for pointing that out Druid. Have you encountered one of these models yourself?

Still, if it was just 30L capacity it could still just about pull off a standard batch BIAB (with sparge perhaps) eh?

[Druid]

Yes - I bought the 38l item.  They exchanged it for the next size up when I complained - that was a 48l urn (I think) but required a 15A socket and circuit because it used a 3.8kW element - so it never got used.

Sorry - can't comment on suitability for BIAB as I've only ever used a HLT/MT/BK setup.

For the prices they end up actually selling at (as opposed to the starting prices), I just decided to sort it out with a proper pot and a 3 ring burner as there wasn't a lot of difference

[Malcolm]

I have one but only use it to heat up mash and sparge water.

[Evan Davies]

Aidan, I reckon you need to see John Slaneys setup if you are going BIAB, hes been busy flying the last few meets, but I think you have met him, his is made from an old H/W cylinder, so size is what you want, I can get these at scrap value whenever you want, remember its not ALWAYS A BLING THING. Oh and JS is also one of the top brewers in the great nation of brewers NELSON. :-D

[Aidan Curran]

Hey Evan, sounds like that would be worth looking into. I get the feeling that these Chinese hot water urns aren't the most reliable. I'll have to have a chat to John about it. How much can you get an old cylinder for?

[Evan Davies]

Whatever it weighs in scrap, then cut off the top and do your thing and then drop the rest back in for a refund, Metalman has copper @ $7.20 a kilo and that seems a wee bit high, so couldnt imagine a cylinder fully stripped would weigh more than 10ish kilos. Txt Andre and have him weigh his for an idea, as he boils in a old copper.