Vasconia 32-Quart Aluminum Steamer with Lid

I love this kettle with two tiny quibbles. I have been using it to brew beer for about 15 batches of beer. It is large enough to do a full volume boil, it is large enough to mash in, and I have even used it for the non-beer purpose of making soup stock.My two complaints are both things I had control over but wanted to mention.First - this is aluminum (yes I know that is in the description). That means you cannot use it on an induction burner. This may seem obvious but I want to mention it because I didn't really think about it. I used it primarily on a bayou style propane swamp cooker, however I put it on an induction burner once and expected it to work. Not so much. This is not actually a problem with the product as I should have known, but it was something I wanted to mention.The second is - if you happen to scorch something onto the bottom (yes my fault) it is a PAIN to get it off. I soaked it, I used baking soda, I scraped it, I used wire scratchpads. None of those things worked. Ironically what worked was burning even more stuff onto the bottom and then scraping off the whole combined lot.I do like the kettle. It would make an excellent tamale or clam steamer in addition to being a brew kettle, but I like beer better than those things so I use it for beer.

This all-aluminum pot is an ideal, inexpensive crab pot for Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic, or Gulf of Mexico Blue Crabs.The bottom is 13 3/4" in diameter and fits nicely over one burner on the typical gas or electric range. Wider ones I've checked draw the comment: "...doesn't fit right." It's 12 3/4" high so it easily fits under the exhaust hood.If you watch the "Equipment Corner" segment of "America's Test Kitchen," you know that the preferred handles for handling large pots are the ones solidly attached to the side, near the top, and protruding up and away from the pot. This pot has them with each handle protruding 2 1/4" away from the pot, attached with four solid rivets, and with a rubberized grip coating each one as opposed to the bare metal ones shown in the picture above.The steamer insert sits horizontally on a ridge in the pot 2 1/4" above the bottom. I has two near-center 11/16" holes so you can handle it with the fingers of one hand and numerous 7/16" holes.That leaves about 26 quarts of capacity above the steamer insert. Note that 32 quarts = 1 bushel. So you can easily get 3-4 dozen medium Blue Crabs in the pot.The lid on the on I got has an easy-to-grip large plastic knob in the center instead of the metal handle shown in the picture above.The only disadvantage over other crab pots I can see is that some others have steamer baskets that allow the steam to come in from the side as well as the bottom. But since the area above the steamer insert is only a little over 10"high, it's not going to take long for the steam to get to the top crabs. If you've ever held a lid down on a crab pot until the crabs stop struggling to escape, you know the heat reaches and overwhelms them fairly quickly anyway!

This all-aluminum pot is an ideal for brewing full batches! The bottom is 13 3/4" in diameter and fits nicely over my 12" electric burner on my electric range.This pot has them with each handle protruding 2 1/4" away from the pot, attached with four solid rivets, and with a rubberized grip coating each one as opposed to the bare metal ones shown in the picture above. The lid on the one I got has an easy-to-grip large plastic knob in the center instead of the metal handle shown in the picture above.The steamer insert sits horizontally on a ridge in the pot 2 1/4" above the bottom. I has two near-center 11/16" holes so you can handle it with the fingers of one hand and numerous 7/16" holes. Vasconia is a regarded brand in Mexico but this pot was stamped on the bottom made in China - odd.My only complaint with this pot is the label sticker that will take time to remove from the side of the pot. There is one glued label on the bottom as well. I hate when they do that - I used Goo B Gone, a brilo pad and be sure not to scrub in circles (Will leave swirl marks in the metal). This stock pot is great for the price, and works quite well when brewing batches of beer requiring a boil larger than 5 gallons. I have not brewed in it yet but I seasoned it and the inside blackened or browned. As long as the oxide layer is already present inside (accomplished by simply boiling water for about an hour) no off flavors or metallic aftertastes occur in your finished product. The pot is easy to handle and brings water to a boil quickly due to the better heat transfer properties of aluminum over stainless steel.