Vat - John's Royal Indust. 40 US Quart/38 Liter NSF Stainless Steel Stockpot & Lid

[Cheese Head]

Picture below is of this stockpot with 9 US gallons of milk, in theory 90% full, but no room for the tenth gallon as I need room for adding diluted annatto and rennet and for stirring.

I lifting it (74 pounds of millk plus ~16 stockpot, hope stove takes weight!) and handles felt strong, not worried about breaking, but worried about sloshing milk over edge if I wanted to move it all the way from stove to sink.

[DeejayDebi]

That's understandable John. I park mine vat near the sink and I still slosh when adding water and stuff. I like at least an inch of room to play with for adding and stirring.

[wharris]

I have not dared to try and lift my vat when its full.

1> I can't.
2> Not sure the handles would hold it.

On the other hand,  with my rig, I don't have to, and i've not noticed any bending whatsoever. The lid still fits perfectly...
I am very happy with my 100qt rig.

[Majoofi]

... if I wanted to move it all the way from stove to sink.

So are you heating this monster directly on the stove, rather than nested in another pot of water? Do you get any scorching on the bottom? What effect does this have?

[Baby Chee]

I heat my 60 quart pot right on the stove.  It's electric with glasstop, so the heating might be more even.  No scorching.

However, I fill the milk in at 10pm, go to bed, rise at 5 or 6am, and set the burner at 1/3 full heat.  Takes an hour or two and the milk is 90ºF.

If you wham up the heat, I bet you'll get scorching.

It's amazing how cold the milk stays overnight for 8-10 hours.  It's about 35ºF when put into the pot, and it's about 55ºF when I get up.  Still cold!  And the air temp in my house is almost always above 70ºF round the clock.

[Cheese Head]

Majoofi, sorry, didn't see your post, I agree with Baby Chee. While I don't leave my milk out overnight to warm (good idea), I just heat with gas flame slowly, this brand has a very thick bottom so dissipates the heat well. I stir occasionally so minimal hot spots, at least that I know of .

[MarkShelton]

I'm contemplating this pot also, and while the slow heating eases my fears slightly, I am also nervous that the pot and milk will crush my stove burner! I don't think the landlord would be happy about that...
What would the stockpot weigh full of milk? Should I be afraid that it would flatten my electric stove eye?

[wharris]

I think the full wieght of that pot would be about 159lbs..

60qt/4=15gallons.   15 Gallons X 8.6lbs per gallon ~ 129lbs
Stainless Steel 60qt pot is about 30lbs.

[MarkShelton]

Oooh thats good to know! I can test it out by standing on my stove eye! That way I won't have to buy anything to see if it can withstand the weight!

[DeejayDebi]

Might be hard to explain the the landlord though .. well I was standing on the stove and all of a sudden ...