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Is 18/0, 200 series stainless steel safe for a boiler pot?


thomasedwin

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Anyone out there ever use a Ballington brand name stock pot for a boiler or brew pot? I went on ebay and purchased the 15 gallon stock pot / steamer, it came with the lid and steamer rack. I plan on putting a kitchen sink drain in the lid to attach a rectifier and condenser. The sales ad for this pot claimed that it was constructed from Commercial grade stainless steel so I figure it was 18/8 or 18/10 304 series stainless. Then I read online that certain ballington cookware pots were made from lower grade 18/0 200 series stainless and some woman claimed her cookware rusted after putting it in the dish washer machine. I was told that a good test for the quality of stainless steel is to see if a magnet sticks to it and if it sticks it's low grade stainless. a magnet will not stick to 304 stainless so I took a fridge magnet to this new stockpot. First I tried the welded handle on the lid and sure enough the magnet stuck to it, not real strong like it does on the fridge but just enough to hold it on there, then I tried the lid itself and there was no magnetic attraction at all, then I tried it on the rest of the pot, the double riveted handles, both sides and the bottom and there was no attraction at all. So what does this mean? I'm thinking the pot, lid and the steamer rack are all 304 series stainless but the handle welded to the lid is the cheaper 200 stuff. I don't know why they would manufacture a stockpot that way, maybe because 200 series is easier to weld or they save some money using cheaper stuff to make the handles but since it's only the lid handle and it doesn't touch the mash it wont hurt anything. By the way the stockpot was shipped from California but was made in china. Most 60 quart stockpots I looked at were all around $150 $200 or more, I got this one for $98 and free shipping,also it's a lot more sturdy than I expected. So in closing what's the deal with the grade of stainless used for a still pot? they say the best you can use is 18/10, 316 surgical stainless steel but it's very expensive, then comes the 18/8 18/10, 304 stainless that every one says is real good and safe for a still but when it comes to the cheaper 18/0, 200 series I can't find anything about if it's good, bad safe or not to use it at all. Does anyone know the real deal? Let me know.

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