Is my pot ruined?

[integersmirk]

(I mean my boiling pot, not anything green you might smoke)

Well, I am getting very close to being all set up for AG brewing now... 80kgs of grain in the garage, my chilly-bin mashtun is 95% there, and then I go to the basement today and find that my 28l aluminium boiling pot has been used to soak something in a mixture of Chlorine and Caustic soda.

I am seriously considering divorce.

Anyhoo, it's fair to say that the pot is looking much the worse for the experience.

I had already been thinking that 28l is too small for my main boil, so had been intending on buying something bigger (like this 56l pot on trademe http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-farming-industry/Retail-hospitali... ).

And then I could keep the 28l pot to boil the water used for the mash / sparg.

So here are my questions:
* Is the 28l pot ruined and not safe for use for boiling my water?
* Does anyone know of a better deal than the 56l pot on trademe, or would recommend a different size?
* Does anyone have alternative suggestions on what to use to boil enough water for mash / sparg?

Help appreciated as always :)

[MrC]

I don't know about you 28L pot but the 56L pot looks like a very good deal to me. Could probably do with one myself.

[denimglen]

The 28L should be fine for use, but you'll want to do something to build up the passive oxide layer on the aluminium, it will likely be pitted from the soak as well. Using it in it's current state will leave you with a metallic taste and high levels of aluminium in the water. Building up the layer may be as simple as leaving it for a couple of days or so but I can't say for sure.

28L is too small for full boil on a 20L batch IMO. My pre-boil volume is 29.5L, and I need to use fermcap in a 37L pot to void boil overs.

That 56L pot is a good deal, I think my 37L is of the same make. They're not extremely well made or anything but will do the job absolutely fine. You'd look at paying over $100 for a 42cm pot-lid at most catering supplies.

[denimglen]

Yup, dull is good.

Maybe a soak with some napisan will help the oxidising along.

I had a quick look on the interwebs for you but could only find stuff saying you shouldn't use bleach on stainless but nothing saying what to do if you did. But I've been hitting the keg tonight so my search skills are slightly fail.