Bi-Metal Pots

[ThunderingWind]

In order to keep scorching down, have any of you modified those thinner stainless or aluminum stock pots to have a heavier base?

I am looking for a pot that has a cast iron, clad with another layer of stainless. I can get them for my in-home stove but jsut not in the
large 20 -30 qt size.

[alex gregory]

20-30 QT! You have got to be kidding. How many people are you feeding, or are you planning to use it as a tub? What are you trying to cook?

Lodge makes a nice 6.5 qt. cast-iron bean pot. Calphalon makes excellent 8 qt. steel/alum pots.

All-Clad makes a 20 qt. beast that I think is heavy duty steel (check out a site that I think is called chefresources.com). I suspect the 30 qt. size is going to be thinner stainless or alum only.

I also suggest you check out your local restaurant supplier that handles used equipment, and find the perfect 20-30 qt stock pot.

[wagionvigil]

Ed what do you want these for?

[ThunderingWind]

Ed what do you want these for?

1) Cooking for entire Troop instead of 4 patrols.
2) Maximizing heat transfer to boil water for cleaning dishes at campsite and saving as much fuel as possible.

[wagionvigil]

AS per the Jamboree Guide cooking is by Patrols
The Boy Scouts are operated on the "Patrol Method" and the Jamboree is no different.It is my understanding that the food will be distributed to the troop and divided among the patrols. Lunches are out and about. The Boys will have lunch tickets and they use one per day at the Lunch Kiosks located throughout the Jamboree. These are very good meals.One thing they do is when you pick up your Tuesday Lunch they give you back Mondays ticket so you can save them.

[ThunderingWind]

Only the dishwater idea was for the Jamboree. The larger meal is for another event.

[wagionvigil]

ok ,I really like the dishwasher idea.

[alex gregory]

I'm not sure a 20 or 30 quart pot is the ideal solution for boiling water, and the suggestion of troop cooking does not sound very boy scouty to me.

I have serious safety concerns about scouts lifting 30 quarts (7.5 gallons) of boiling water. Even if the pot is not going to be moved, outdoor stoves are not as stable as we would like. Can you imagine the damage of spilling 7 gallons of boiling water? It's a scout outing, not repelling Viking invaders.

Bringing 30 quarts to a rolling boil takes a long time and a lot of heat. To boil 1 gallon of water in 1 hour you need 1,178.6 BTUs; accordingly, to bring a 30 quart pot (7.5 gallons) to boiling in one hour you need 8,839.5 BTUs at 100% efficiency (which never happens). At 100% efficiency a 50,000 BTU/hr. burner will deliver 8,839.5 BTUS in 0.176 hr. (about 10 minutes). But 100% efficiency never happens, and typical heat loss on an outdoor stove is appx. 50%. Under ideal conditions it will take a 50,000 BTU/hr burner about 20 to 30 minutes at full blast to bring a 30 quart pot to a boil. That's a big stove and a lot of propane. Sure you can use bigger BTU/hr. burners, but you're still going through a lot of fuel and probably sacrificing patrol method.

By comparison, to bring 4 quarts (1 gallon) to a boil on a more practical patrol-sized burner that typically operates at 8,000 BTU/hr. takes about 10 minutes. That same gallon on a 50,000 BTU/hr. burner will boil in about 3 minutes.

Of course you actually practice patrol method cooking, and each patrol has it's own stove. Given the limitations of patrol stoves, I suggest that it is lot more practical (and safer) to boil water 4 to 6 quarts at a time.

[ThunderingWind]

One does not boil the full 30 quarts.

One puts a rack in the pot along with water and the dishes and sanitizing chemical. Then one brings the pot to a boil with a vented but secured lid.

1) Dishes are cleaned by eating EVERYTHING, wiped by bread or tongue last
2) Dishes are moved to hot water with soap
3) Dishes are moved to boiling water for a rinse
4) Dishes are moved to pot for sanitizing

As to the cooking not being patrol method - your are correct. This is for a large Scouting function were a lot of people need to be fed and is totally separate from the Jamboree and is completely Adult run.

[alex gregory]

One does not boil the full 30 quarts.

Returning your original question at the top of the thread, if you're not going to boil the water why a 30 quart pot that will cost between $100 and $300+? For less than $30 you can buy three plastic cat litter pans and a drying rack that make for a perfect dishwashing station.

Anyway, if you want a large capacity stock pot just google "restaurant suppliers" and your hometown and you'll get a bunch of local suppliers that deal in new and used food service supplies. Here in the NW I like Bargreen Ellingson, you can check them out at
http://www.bargreen.com/

You can also rent large stock pots. Good luck!

[ThunderingWind]

Alex:

The need for a 30 qt pot is for size. Need to try to get 8 boys plates or bowls, cups and spork inside.

This pot use less water and thus less fuel because it using steam to help finish the cleaning and sanitizing
of the dishes.

The lid is somewhat sealed to the pot using a simple clamp and has a hole in it so the pressure does not build.

This is just an idea we are looking into from an engineering standpoint and "Green" standpoint tying to save fuel
by creating a pot that will use less to do more.

Anyway, I found the heavy metal bottom pots in 20 qt size today. And will keep looking for the 30 or larger.