Reddit mentions: The best steamers, stock & pasta pots

• Good quality non stick pans; duo set lids optional but recommend at least one. example or something similar quality.
  
  
• Take care of your pans!!! Actually read the care instructions. Do not let other's cook in your pans unattended. The smallest scratch just grows and everything flakes off and you're not supposed to consume teflon. There are alternatives cookware types though. I enjoy cooking as a past time and having nice cast iron around is fun but I haven't fallen into the habit of using it full time.
  
  
• Variety of non-stick pan friendly cooking utensils. You want these to be strong. You also may want something thin to flip delicate items. Don't buy them if you cannot test their strength in the store. Including a whisk. Just everything should be non-stick friendly.
  
  
• A few wooden spoons also strong. A few silicone spatulas for baking/stirring batter. These are a godsend for scraping anything sticky or oily out of a non-stick pot or glass bowl.
  
  
• Silicone tipped tongs. SILICONE TIPPED TONGS
  
  
• PARCHMENT PAPER!!! Get the giant two pack from Costco. I put this under anything that needs baked. I even line entire casserole dishes. Parchment Paper is made of SILICONE ALL HAIL TO SILICONE. Make cleanup a breeze. But do not cook higher than ~425-F for that long. It does burn under a broil.
  
  
• non-stick two quart pot with tight fitting lid. All of your non-stick utensils will come in real handy. Also non stick large stock pot type pot with lid.
  
  
• I personally haven't looked into plastic materials but in the long term if I ever put money into pantry & fridge food storage I would like to go with commercial kitchen type containers. But as it is right now we get these pretty cool reusable quart sized takeout container from the local Thai place so that's our primary tupperware.
  
  
• Rice cooker to free up your stove burners and cookware. They'll no longer be used for regular rice. I guess if you don't eat rice much it may not be an issue.
  
  
• We do have a couple metal pots that we use our vegetable steamer in.
  
  
• If you get a food processor do not get anything smaller than 14 cup capacity. I repeat, nothing smaller than 14 cup capacity. Even then that might be small for you. I have the 14 cup one and it seems you might like to scale things up a bit more than I. But think of the possibilities. I love a slew of roughage in my chili and bunch of diced small carrots is great texture. That's what I love the food processor for.
  
  
• kitchen speakers :) Something to listen to while you work.
  
  
• Love your knives correctly. sharpen them once or twice per year and follow good care instructions.
  

As an avid veggie-eater, here's a few pointers:

1. Choose fresh veggies, not canned or frozen, if possible. Some veggies are okay frozen, like peas; others, like brussels sprouts and spinach, turn into a slimy mess.
   
2. Proper cooking is key. Vegetables shouldn't disintegrate at the touch of your fork, they should still be intact while you're plating them up. I'd suggest, steaming, roasting, or stir-frying most veggies.
   
   a. Steaming is very simple, just get as steamer basket (something like this, they're available at basically any store with home goods). Cut up some vegetables, put them in the steamer, put the steamer in a pot with just enough water to not quite touch the bottom of the steamer, put the lid on and let them cook. Poke them with a fork after a few minutes, and if the fork goes in with some resistance, it's done. Don't overcook. In my opinion, the best veggies to steam are broccoli, green beans, carrots, asparagus, and spinach.
   
   b. Roasting takes a little more work, but is super delicious. You just need an oven-safe pan (a baking pan, a cookie sheet, something like that) and some oil (I usually use olive oil personally). Good roasting veggies include brussels sprouts, beets, carrots, asparagus, cauliflower, zucchini, and squash. Drizzle cut-up veggies with a bit of oil (don't go overboard or they'll get oily and soggy) and the seasoning of your choice (salt and pepper, seasoning salt, balsamic vinegar, or herbs like thyme, rosemary, and sage, just for starters), bake at 375F until they're done (same fork test as steaming).
   
   c. Stir-frying. Good for leafy greens like spinach, kale, Swiss chard, and cabbage, as well as pea pods, bell peppers, green beans, and most other green veggies. Put a bit of oil in a pan, set to medium or medium-high heat, toss in veggies, stir around until veggies are done, season to taste (tastes good with some sesame oil and soy sauce).
   
   
3. Salads. Listen, people always go on about salads as if they're the healthiest possible thing, but they're only as healthy as you make them. If you can only stand salads drenched in creamy dressing, don't force yourself to eat it because it's "healthy". Also, if you're not used to salad greens, a lot of them might seem really bitter to you (stuff like arugula or kale) and turn you off. If you want to go for salads, I'd suggest some baby spinach and a nice mild lettuce like romaine, topped with whatever other veggies you like raw (radishes, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms...). Throw on some other fun stuff like dried cranberries, feta cheese, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, whatever strikes your fancy. Drizzle with vinaigrette and go to town.
   
   
4. Raw veggies can make good snacks. I'm a big fan of carrots, sweet bell peppers (the red, orange, or yellow ones), snow peas or sugar snap peas, radishes, cucumber and cherry tomatoes. These veggies, especially when bought in season, are delicious and can be much sweeter than you might expect. I'm eating cherry tomatoes out of my garden right now, and they taste like candy they're so sweet. Lots of people also like raw broccoli, cauliflower, green bell peppers, and celery, although those aren't my favs. They might be yours though. If you want, try eating them with a yogurt dip or hummus.
   
   Hope that helps a bit!

>We’re definitely guilty of trying a recipe once and ditching it if it doesn’t work out. I’ll work on trying adjustments and sticking with one until it’s perfected.

It can be really hard to do that, because you're basically fighting human nature, lol - but if you do the tweak & experiment approach, then you don't miss or skip over any recipe that might end up being amazing, you know? Granted, there are some recipes that your personal palette will just straight-up reject, so...it's a process, haha!

So I'll throw some recipes & resources out here - keep in mind (1) you may not personally like all of them, and (2) they may come out good, but you may want to tweak them to make them better. For me, trying new recipes is all about:

1. Trying something new
   
2. Seeing if I like it
   
3. Seeing if I love it enough to lock it into my recipes folders
   
4. Seeing if it has potential to be tweaked to be really excellent after some R&D in the kitchen
   
5. Seeing if it's not good & needs to be dumped, lol
   
   If you look at your kitchen as a production environment, then the game changes a little bit: if you only eat 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner), then you're on the hook for 21 meals per week. I aim to try at least one new recipe a week, which out of 21 meals required, isn't that bad! That minimum-level effort results in over 50 new recipes tried every year, which makes trying new things much more approachable! So with that said, here's a few links!
   
   Vegetarian:
   
   Jill Nussinow, aka The Veggie Queen, has a couple of great cookbooks: (well - they're vegan, a bit further from vegetarian, but really good!)
   
   

• The New Fast Food
  
• Vegan Under Pressure (TOC)
  
  Many soups are vegetarian! (or vegan)
  
  
• Minestrone soup
  
• Lentil gumbo
  
• White bean soup
  
  Vegetarian (and Vegan) recipes:
  
  
• Vegan chili
  
• Refried beans (if you use the vegetable stock option)
  
• Hummus (you'll need a food processor, and you'll need to experiment a LOT to get the flavoring where you personally want it to be; also be sure remove the skins to make it silky-smooth!)
  
• Buttery garlic mashed potatoes
  
  Chicken recipes:
  
  
• Chicken teriyaki (per the OP...although I recommend using low-sodium soy sauce, as it's a bit on the salty side using regular soy sauce)
  
• Crack chicken (per the previous post, I add a cornstarch slurry at the end...fantastic on buns - especially brioche hamburger buns, quesadillas, etc.)
  
• Chicken parm meatballs (I know it sounds silly, but for doing the noodles separately, plain, I use a microwave pasta cooker most of the time & it has really great results lol)
  
  Indian recipes:
  
  If you're into baking at all, check out this no-knead naan. I use a Baking Steel a lot in my kitchen - not cheap, but it's one of those "buy it for life" things that works for a variety of baking recipes!
  
  I have a huge love for Indian food...here are some of the basics:
  
  
• Butter chicken (read this FAQ)
  
• Chicken tikka masala
  
• Coconut tandoori chicken
  
  Thai recipes:
  
  I'm currently working on my curry game (and failing spectacularly, lol). Thai recipes are very new to me...still learning! Here are some starting points:
  
  
• Yellow curry
  
• Green curry
  
• Red curry
  
• Massaman curry
  
• Peanut tofu pineapple curry
  
• Lemongrass chicken
  
• Peanut noodles
  
  part 1/2

CHICKEN STOCK

Well for one thing, make stock. I don't know how you get your chicken but if they have bones on them, save them (freeze them). Cooked or not. Or you can cut to the chase and go buy two whole chickens. You may need a stock pot. There's a good Cuisinart one for about $40, which is about $30 cheaper than when I bought mine about a year ago. So snatch it in case the price goes way back up.

Fill with the chicken (remove the gizzards and such if you bought them whole and raw) and about a gallon of water. Simmer for 3 hours. take a few carrots, a few stalks of celery, and an onion or two. Rough chop them. Into the pot. Continue to cook for another 3 hours. This isn't rocket science. It's dissolving food in water.

If you have some whole peppercorns, parsley, and garlic cloves, either toss them in and strain them later or make into a bouquet garni (essentially tie them up in a bit of cheesecloth so they don't get loose) and toss them in. After another 30 or 60 minutes (stock doesn't require precision) you're finished. And if you don't have any of these items, don't sweat it. It's still gonna taste good.

Ideally, strain through a mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth. I bough a pack of the kinds of plastic containers you get when you order soup from Chinese Takeout from Amazon and you can partition out the stock for easier use.

Put them in the fridge and let them cool down. The fat will rise and form a protective barrier. As long as the fat is there, the stock will keep longer in the fridge. Just skim the fat before you use the stock. Fat in your stock when you use it is generally a bad idea. Don't feel bad about freezing whatever you can't use in the first two weeks.

Now you have liquid gold. You're 15 minutes away from chicken soup. (Just chop up everything, dump in the stock and cook until you wanna eat it.) You now can have flavorful rice. Or better yet, step up your starch game and make risotto. You can add it to other dishes like ground turkey with taco seasoning to make turkey taste about 1000x better. Hell, you can straight up drink it.

CHICKEN FAJITAS

As a side note, olive oil does wonders for chicken. Grab the chicken tenderloins, scrape out the ligament and cook in a little olive oil. Toss in some bell pepper and onion (and fajita seasoning if you have it, else salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste) and you've got yourself fajitas. You can decide whether you want a taco shell or not.

CHICKEN & BROCCOLI (or Beef & Broccoli)

Here's a recipe for beef & broccoli (but works for chicken & broccoli too). Considering it's essentially protein, broccoli, and rice with the barest of flavorings, I consider this clean eating.

The only thing you need to know is that the Chinese have a technique to make protein have a more velvet mouthfeel. It's called "velveting". That's what the marinade is about.

Marinade: (For the protein)

• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon mirin
  
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil (I leave this out but if you like sesame oil, add it)
  
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  
• dash of pepper
  
  Mix together and rub into the protein with your hands. It's easiest that way. Wait at least 15 minutes. After you do this a few times you'll realize the proportions here don't really matter all that much. I just eyeball it now and make it a little wetter than you'll find this to be. Either way there's not much difference in the final product. In other words, as long as you're reasonably close to this part of the recipe, it'll turn out fine.
  
  Sauce:
  
  
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil (I also leave this out)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  
• 4 tablespoons water
  
  How to Cook Everything:
  
  

1. Do you have a rice cooker? If yes, make rice. If no, make rice. It's just more finicky without it. But seriously, consider a rice cooker. I like jasmine rice. They make a brown jasmine rice too. If you have a smart rice cooker, try that. Otherwise, stick with the white stuff. (Unless you like/prefer brown rice, then go crazy.)
   
2. After the meat has been in the marinade for at least 15 minutes, cook in a little vegetable oil, preferably in a wok. You may want to work in 2 batches so you can get better browning on the meat. After the meat is cooked, remove to a plate.
   
3. Chop up some broccoli and microwave it for 4-5 minutes until tender. Too much and it'll get limp and dumb. Too little and it'll be too crunchy. I usually microwave my broccoli with a little water in the container and with a lid. That way it steams up nice. If you don't have a microwave, steam on the stove top.
   
4. If you haven't burned anything to the bottom of the wok/pan when cooking your protein, go ahead and add a little more oil, a few minced cloves of garlic, some grated or finely chopped ginger (I recommend using one of these), and red pepper flakes (or break open some dried bird eye chilis if you have them). Adjust to your heat preference. I like mine with a fair amount of heat in it. (If you did burn something, wash the wok/pan out first and start clean.) Add all three to the oil and cook for 30ish seconds until fragrant. Add the protein back to the pan. Add the cooked broccoli. Add the sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil. Serve over rice. Note: There won't be a lot of sauce. It'll coat everything but there won't be a lot of extra. That's because the dish isn't meant to be saucy.
   
   Anyway, try that. It's phenomenal. Personally, I buy sirloin and slice it to make beef and broccoli. But chicken works really well too.
   
   I can keep going but that's at least 3 things you can do with chicken.
   
   Edit: Thanks for the GOLD!

Cool! Welcome!

The Mr. Beer kits are a great inexpensive way to find out if it's going to interest you. If you like it, here's what I would look into:

1. If you want to get into extract, you'll purchase a kit like this one. Of these sort of kits, I recommend cheaper the better. They all include the basics. the difference is usually upgrading the plastic buckets for glass carboys. That's not necessary, and if you decide you want to upgrade, you can build onto your kit from there.
   
2. In addition, you'll need a large kettle. If you ever plan on going all-grain, I'd go at least 8-9 gallons like This guy. They can get pricey... especially with valves and thermometers in them. Shop around.
   
3. Get some reading. Like others have suggested, How to Brew by John Palmer is great. Also Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian. That ones a bit outdated, but still a great read.
   
4. Forums will help a ton. This community here, or the one at homebrewtalk.com are both great resources. There are plenty more out there like beeradvocate, morebeer, etc.
   
5. Podcasts. I love them. I listen to the Brewing Network quite a bit. Basic Brewing Radio is another good one.
   
   As far as tips for starting here: Sanitize, Sanitize. Patience. Time. Sanitize.
   Have fun!!

first I would say get an electric skillet! that will help a little. is the micro in good working order? if so you can steam your veggies in there. Rotisserie chicken is usually pretty cheap. and can be morphed into many meals. I like to use the carcass to make broth so I usually pick most of the meat off. then freeze or boil it off right away and freeze the broth for later. Also the broth can be made in the crock pot in place of a soup pot. leftover rotisserie is great for:
http://www.copymethat.com/r/qOBhAzW/adobe-chicken-wraps-betty-crocker/

also great in burritos, tacos, quesadillas (made in the skillet) Panini sandwiches with a soup on the side (I know you're getting sick of soup)

http://www.copymethat.com/r/XxyuIHm/dijon-chicken-smothered-in-mushrooms/

the above recipe with some leftover or warmed rice or potatoes.

this steamer is Fantastic for making rice in the micro and cleans up like a charm!

http://www.amazon.com/Sistema-10-9-Rice-Steamer-Bowl/dp/B00BTIVNT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458570391&sr=8-1&keywords=microwave+rice+cooker

here's a tip! You can make a large batch of rice, cool slightly and then portion into re sealable plastic freezer bags. seal and let cool to room temp before freezing. when you are ready to use; remove from freezer break brick in half (I flatten mine so that they stack better in the freezer) put into a bowl add 1 tablespoon of water per every cup of rice, cover and microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes stir and serve.

also check out this Great Gadget! I love micro steamers. they are so fast and work perfectly. a large batch of broccoli can be steamed in about 5 to 8 minutes.

http://www.amazon.com/Sistema-1103-Large-Microwave-Steamer/dp/B005D6XZ4O/ref=pd_bxgy_79_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0SPSX7XWJRRQKEX4KT29

also take the time to read some of the reviews on both of these products. they will give you some great ideas for other uses for these gadgets!

Here's my diet. It takes a little planning, but very little effort when I come back from work and the gym exhausted every day.

Do you have access to a costco and a free weekend? Buy the following

• 12 costco vacuum sealed skinless boneless chicken breasts
  
• 1 bag normandy mix frozen vegetables
  
• 1 bag frozen fruit mix of your choice
  
• 1 sack or barrel of protein powder of your choice
  
• 1 bag red quinoa (or lots of the single-serving brown rice bowls)
  
• Kale and spinach (costco-sized)
  
• almonds, cashews, or other nuts you like
  
  Also buy a foodsaver (you might also want to get extra bags) and a microwave veggie steamer
  
  If you don't have a nice blender, get one. I and consumer reports recommend this one which has a powerful motor and the option for individual cups.
  
  Take a day on the weekend and prep yourself. Open all the chicken breasts. I like to slice them in half so that they're between 4 and 7 ounces uncooked, but if you're trying to gain a bunch of muscle you might want to leave them whole. Vacuum seal them all into bags with your food saver and throw them into freezer. Assuming you eat out a few times and split the chicken, that's dinner for a month.
  
  Next, shred the spinach and kale either by hand or by pulsing it in the blender. Put a handfull of each in the vacuum bags (or regular quart freezer ziplocs) and freeze them.
  
  Now, the low-prep (or rather one day's concentrated prep a month) bachelor diet
  Breakfast: Protein shake
  
• spinach and kale baggie
  
• scoop of protein powder
  
• frozen fruit
  
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
  
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  
• green superfood powder to give it a vitamin and caffeine boost
  
  Morning Snack:
  
• Mixed Nuts
  
  Lunch:
  
• I live in texas and get MyFit Foods every day. It's expensive but convenient.
  
  Afternoon snack: Pre-workout shake
  
• 1 cup almond milk or whole milk (I bring it to work in a shaker cup and leave it in my fridge)
  
• 1 scoop protein powder (I put a scoop of protein and superfood powder in 10 small containers at the beginning of the week so I can just throw them in my morning smoothie and afternoon bag every morning.
  
• Green superfood powder
  
  Dinner:
  
• baked chicken breast. Throw one of your breasts in the fridge the night before and it will be thawed in time for dinner. take it out of the oven while your oven is preheating to let it warm a bit first. I also pound it out with a meat tenderizer to make it a little thinner. 20-30 minutes at 350 F should do it. Use an internal thermometer to check doneness
  
• Season with your favorite spice mix or grilling sauce. Target has a bunch of yummy sauces under the Archer Farms brand.
  
• Steamed veggies, no butter or oil. Just throw a handful of the Normandy mix in your microwave veggie steamer for 5-6 minutes on high, no need to thaw them. They come out perfectly al-dente
  
• If you're craving some carbs, have Quinoa or brown rice. You can make it in the stove-top or a rice cooker.
  
  There you have it! I got really good results from this diet. Let me know if you have any questions!

That's a perfect kit, you won't really save any money by purchasing the same equipment piecemeal, and there's nothing that will go to waste from that kit.

Something you should pick up, which is not included in that kit is a kettle - as someone noted you can start with something as small as 5G, but I would skip right over that and get a 10G kettle. Do not spend more than $100, this Bayou Classic 44 qt. stainless steel kettle should last you your (5G batch) brewing career.

A wort chiller is (very) nice to have, a vinator and bottling tree really make bottling day much easier. Skip those if you think you'll be kegging any time soon, or want to DIY some other solution. A refractometer makes it easier to check your gravity on brew day, but not very useful after that - more useful in all-grain than extract. Same holds true for a nice digital thermometer. The Thermoworks rt600c is a good inexpensive thermometer - again, not that useful in extract, but you'll need it for all-grain.

Also, when/if you start making your own recipes, get a nice kitchen scale that can read in grams or 10th ounces.

Good luck!

What I always suggest is to first decide what you're going to can, how much you will be canning at one time and what size jars you will be canning in.

These are important to know because, as others have said, jellies, jams, fruits, pickles and properly acidified tomatoes can be done in a water bath canner, while vegetables and meats must be pressure canned.

Knowing what size of jars you are going to be using makes a difference in what size of canner(s) you will need. If you're canning for a family, you will likely need to use quart sized jars. But if you are a single person or a couple, you will probably only want to do pint jars.

Too, it's customary that jams or jellies are canned in half-pint jars although it is perfectly acceptable to do them in pints if you will use that much jam in a reasonable amount of time once it's been opened. Large mouth jars (both pints and quarts) and their lids are more more expensive than the regular mouth jars. However, meats and things like whole pickles or pickle spears almost require large-mouth jars.

The jar size also matters because some canners don't work with larger sized jars. Also, very large canners will accept two layers of jars which is great for canning many jars at a time but time and energy wasting to use for small batches.

To get started water-bath canning, the only must haves are:

1. Jars
   
2. Lids and rings
   
3. Stock pot or canner (with lid) at least 3" deeper than your jars
   
4. Jar lifter
   
5. Trivet to keep the jars from touching the bottom of the pot (a layer of extra jar rings works brilliantly for this)
   
   The most affordable places to buy these supplies are going to be somewhere local to you. None are very expensive at all. Some water-bath canners come with a rack inside them, which is both a trivet and a jar lifter itself. New boxes of jars come with lids and rings. The rings (also called bands) are reusable, the lids are not, but anywhere that sells the jars will have more lids. Walmart, Target, K-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, ACE Hardware and places like that will have nearly everything you need for water-bath canning.
   
   As for pressure canning, you will need:
   
   
6. Jars
   
7. Lids and rings
   
8. Jar lifter
   
9. Pressure canner (equipped with lid, gasket, weight, gauge & trivet)
   
   I highly recommend that you read up and shop around before buying a pressure canner. They are somewhat of an investment at between $70 and $400. When you're ready to select a pressure canner, come back and ask and I know everyone around here will help you decide what's right for you. The inexpensive canners are very good but there are also very good reasons to buy a more pricey one and it takes a whole post in itself to discuss them!
   
   Something inexpensive and very nice to have is a little canning set like this no matter which method of canning you do. These tools will be safer to use rather than winging it and will save you infinite amounts of time and frustration. I've seen these same sets at Walmart for something like $8-$10.
   
   I hope this helps!

These days I use a stainless steel steamer basket for most things I make with the Instant Pot.

Something like this

You should be able to get one right now at Walmart. It won't cost more than 5-10 bucks.

Why a steamer basket is better than the free trivet that comes with Instant Pot:

• Sits a bit higher than the free trivet: allows you to catch (or use) more liquid without immersing the food in liquid
  
  • If it's too high for you, you can use a hack saw or file to trim the legs to the height of your liking
    
• Fine mesh: allows steam to pass through just as easily, but smaller food pieces will not fall through
  
  • Also, you will be able to easily steam loose peas, beans, corn, etc.
    
• Conforms to the pot interior better: food pieces will not fall through the gap between the pot and the basket
  
• Easier to lift out food: the central handle on the steamer basket makes it easier to lift out done food, reducing the chances of spills and messes
  
  Basically, a steamer basket does everything the free trivet does, but better. And it lets you do things you can't do with just the free trivet. It might be one of the best value upgrades / hacks you can do for your Instant Pot.
  
  Edit: Sorry, somehow missed the part where you said you have a steamer. I would avoid using plastic in the IP. Suggest you get an all stainless steel one for IP usage.

Go to second hand store or garage sale and buy crockpot and a rice maker with built in steamer so you can steam veggies (and buy a few items like chopping board, cutting knife, spoon, etc). Also buy one of these pasta cookers for your microwave for $10 (I have one, totally works): http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000YT2XOI

I figure breakfast and lunch will be easy so here are some dinner ideas:

-crockpot BBQ shredded chicken sandwiches

-green salsa tacos. 2 chicken breasts (they could even be frozen) and half large jar of green salsa on high for 3-5 hours. Shred, serve on tortillas with lettuce, tomatoes, etc.

-crockpot lasagna (Kraft has a fabulous recipe where you can just put the dry noodles in)

-crockpot roast with potatoes and carrots (use 1 package of onion soup mix for flavoring. Optional: 1 can of coke, rootbeer, sprite or gingerale with soup mix.)

-Stir fry. Never done this before....but you could try cooking the chicken breast and marinade in the crockpot while the rice cooks and veggies steam in rice cooker.

-"crockpot chicken" (my own recipe). Chicken thighs on bone, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup light soya sauce, juice from can of pineapple, 1-2 cups of water (whatever looks good so chicken marinates in enough liquid), some ginger and garlic and sliced carrots. Cook on low all day. Add half can of pineapple RIGHT before serving (it tastes better that way). The chicken literally falls off the bone, the carrots turn out amazing. Serve with rice.

-spaghetti (use fasta pasta for the pasta), crockpot to make sauce unless you just use a jar of sauce which is easier.

-Crockpot chili, stew, corn chowder or soup

-"risotto" or "rice pilaf". You can totally add diced onion, chicken stock, cheese etc to rice cookers....I've done it before.

-Salsa chicken. Add layer of salsa in crockpot, add frozen chicken breasts, sprinkle chicken with chili powder and cook. Sprinkle chicken with cheese and cover back up until melted. Serve on rice with sour cream and salsa (from crockpot).

-Baked potato or sweet potato/yam (in microwave). Just look up internet directions on how to do that. If you like mashed, you can scoop out the insides, mash with fork in bowl, add a little milk, butter and salt. Viola.

Bonus: If you like eggs for breakfast, you can buy a egg cooker for the microwave. Makes perfect sized eggs for egg mcmuffins. Oh, and bacon can totally be cooked on a plate in the microwave with a paper towel overtop, should you wish to add bacon :)

Edit: Formatting. iphone suck at that. I'll add more ideas as I think of them.

Subscribe to this subreddit, good first step.

Visist www.homebrewtalk.com and join up there too, a HUGE treasure trove of knowledge.

Buy this: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/essential-brewing-starter-kit.html

Watch the DVD.

Now, I don't know your budget, if you want to just make some beer this should get you going.

If you want my recommendation for stuff to get now:

A good brewpot, large enough to boil all grain and do brew in a bag, here's a pretty badass one:

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1144-44-Quart-Stainless/dp/B000FTLY1K/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1396500991&sr=8-8&keywords=stainless+stockpot

A wort chiller:

http://www.amazon.com/Copper-Immersion-Chiller-Length-Drain/dp/B007ZDIIOA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1396501051&sr=8-6&keywords=wort+chiller

A good propane burner, I got this one for free on special a while back and love it:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/the-dark-star-burner.html

This is basically all I use to brew all grain beer, I don't like to get too fancy I just want to make some good beer, and I produce pretty good beer, if I do say so myself.

A 10-gallon kettle would probably do you well but if you truly want to not have to buy another kettle later on, go with a 15-gallon. That's what I went with right out of the gate and it's been great. I can pretty much do whatever gravity beer I want for a 5-gallon batch and can even do quite a few 10-gallon batches. I pretty much never have to worry about a boil over with it either. When I was looking into BIAB about a year and a half ago, this was the best piece of advice I came across. Bayou makes a pretty solid kettle Bayou Classic

Start simple. The best way to learn to cook for your family is gradually. It'll be trial and error but you'll slowly add dishes to your arsenal. Steaming veggies is also great. Pick up a stainless steel collapsing steamer and you'll have veggies ready in less than ten minutes. I suggest starting with fresh baby carrots, frozen broccoli, frozen peas, frozen corn, frozen string beans. Kids love them and they keep well. Steam them until just tender then remove from heat. Empty water from pot and put vegetables back in. Dress them with butter or olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Once you have that down you can start using soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, etc to flavor them. Find a basic chicken soup recipe...then add baby spinach to it after its done...once spinach is the norm switch to kale. Good luck! If you want some more recommendations feel free to PM me.

If you're vegetarian, or eat a ton of rice, get the rice cooker. Otherwise get the slow cooker.

Where you're living and what foods are readily available and affordable are all factors that could affect this.

A slow cooker is great if you eat a fair amount of meat, which the rice cooker is useless for. Cheap items like rump roast and pork shoulder are ideal things to put in there, and it's not bad for chicken either, although I prefer it baked. It's also super convenient. Basically, all you do is cut up the vegetables and dump everything in. Many of them have a timer so that when the food is done cooking, it will stay warm until you want to eat it. So you can start it in the morning and come home to dinner. The slow cooker can also do almost any soup or stew. So it's pretty versatile.

A rice cooker is a minor convenience unless you happen to eat rice every day, in which case it will save you a lot of time. It can steam, but you can also do that super easy with a cheap steamer basket.

Not to confuse things too much, but a toaster oven is also a great thing to have. You can bake quite a few things in there, and its great for reheating things that the microwave may not do well with.

I have a Blichmann burner and I love it, but a Bayou Classic KAB4/6 is more or less the same thing with a lower price and a few drawbacks (painted metal v. SS, the Bayous hold the pot farther away from the burner, Blichmann claims superior fuel efficiency). The Edelmetal from Northern brewer seems like it's in the middle. They all have the big-ass banjo burner which I feel is the key component.

I'm using Bayou Classic 16 gallon kettles and I'm pretty happy with them, too. They seem like a good mix of quality and affordability. I got mine for $125 last year. They're a little higher right now. You can often find open box discounts on amazon's warehouse page. I've got a SS pickup and a 45 degree elbow from bargainfittings.com that works well. If you have a pump, I also use the spincycle whirlpool arm from brewhardware, and I like that, too. Only drawback is cleaning it when you use hop extract.

I haven't brewed 10 gallon batches, but I'd look into upgrading your chilling system, too, if you don't have a nice one right now. And thinking about how you will manage it so it will work on your burner. 10 gallons of boiling wort is nothing I want to try to move.

Here are some pots to consider:

• Bayou Classic 36 quart (9 gal) Stainless Steel - $75
  
  
• Granite Ware 50 quart (12.5 gal) - $59.99
  
  
• Bayou Classic 44-Quart (11 gal) SS pot - $111.14
  
  
• Bayou Classic 36 quart (9 gal) SS - $75
  
  
  Here are some turkey fryers to consider if you want to make a bigger investment.
  
  
• Bayou "Basics" with 30 quart (7.5 gal) Aluminum pot. $56.77
  
  
• Bayou Classic with 32 quart (8 gal) SS pot - $140.98
  
  
  Both Aluminum and Stainless steel make great pots. Stainless takes a bit to heat up, but holds up really well to Clean In Place cleaners and oxygen based cleaners.
  
  Aluminum has to have a passive oxidized layer built up on it. Just fill the pot up, boil water in it for 30 minutes and the pot is good to go for the rest of its life. The only negative is you can't use Clean In Place/Oxygen/Bleach based cleaner on it. Some warm, non-scented soap works nicely though.
  
  Good luck.

A stock pot with a steamer and colander is more useful than just a stock pot. Something like this Just an example, I'm sure there are others.. Stock pots really don't need a thick bottom, as stock is not likely to burn in hot spots, same with boiling pasta and steaming, but a thick base like this one has will work well making stews, chili and other thicker soups. It also makes searing pot roast easier and you then use it as a dutch oven. A double boiler pot would make it perfect.

12" skillet seems big. Most burners I have used really don't cover that area well. For a primary first skillet I'd go with a 10.25".

Most decent knives are BIFL, so find one that is comfortable to use. personally I did not like the grip on the Victorinox, but over all a good knife.


It is strange they don't list a sauce pan.

Dirt simple way to get started:

• Protein:
  
  • Easy: bake chicken breasts
    
    • https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/240208/simple-baked-chicken-breasts/
      
  • Oven
    
  • 13"x9" baking pan
    
  • Aluminum foil
    
  • Olive oil
    
  • Salt
    
  • Pepper
    
  • Chicken breast (I like 5-packs)
    
• Vegetable:
  
  • Easiest: microwave frozen veggies
    
    • Microwave
      
    • Frozen vegetable "steamer" bag
      
  • Easy: steam fresh veggies on stove
    
    • Stove
      
    • Pot
      
    • Vegetable steamer basket (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029728H0/)
      
    • Vegetable
      
    • Water
      
• Grain:
  
  • Easiest: brown rice in rice cooker
    
    • Rice cooker (https://www.amazon.com/Oster-Titanium-Infused-DuraCeramic-CKSTRC61K-TECO/dp/B01N06BZFB/)
      
    • Brown rice
      
    • Water
      
  • Easy: brown rice on stove
    
    • Stove
      
    • Pot
      
    • Brown rice
      
    • Water
      
      Repeat every few days. I like batch cooking for 3-7 days in advance, hence the 5-packs of chicken breasts. Once you're comfortable doing these things, you can swap each item out with another item of the same kind. Barley instead of brown rice. Salad instead of steamed veggies. Pork chops instead of chicken. Etc for the rest of your life. Feel free to expand into more complex recipes.

> How do I learn heat levels?

You can't trust the heat settings on your stove, as they can vary alot among different models. For example, 5 on my stove is a little cooler than what most would consider "medium heat".

You have to play it by ear and adjust. Practice something simple like just dicing and sauteing an onion. Watch how it reacts to different levels of heat. Don't even worry about the final product, just throw it away when you're done. Onions are cheap, and if you're learning from it then it's not a waste of food. Pay attention to the moisture levels in the pan, which is one of the key things you need to control as a cook.

> Does it really matter what size a pan is?

Sometimes. The pan should be big enough to comfortably hold all the food you're cooking, and also the right shape for the job. More surface area = more evaporation. I once messed up a Filipino adobo by using a dutch oven instead of a regular saute pan (the liquid couldn't evaporate fast enough and it tasted gross until I removed all the meat and reduced the sauce down—definitely wasn't as tasty as it could have been).

> Another thing is storing and taste. Lets say I make fries, how should I keep them from being soggy the next day?

Fries are just never going to be as good the next day, but it's mostly how you reheat things that matters. You could bake em in the oven and they'd retain at least some crispiness. Most important thing in food storage is to keep things out of the "danger zone" (40°F-140°F) for any longer than necessary—especially if the food is low-salt and low-acid (like homemade stock). Almost everything can safely be covered in plastic film and refrigerated for up to a week, or frozen for many months. Tight wrapping/tightly lidded tupperware will prevent weird flavors from seeping in/out of your leftovers.

As far as which hardware you need, I'd suggest the following, which should allow you to make basically anything:

• 12" stainless steel saute pan (curved or straight side) WITH A TIGHT LID
  
  
• 8-10" nonstick teflon frying pan
  
  
• A saucepot or two. I'd suggest one steel and one nonstick between 6"-8".
  
  
• A stockpot as large as you can comfortably fit in your kitchen. Bigger the better imo.
  
  
• 3 knives: 8" chef's, 10" serrated and a small paring knife. Make sure these are extremely sharp at all times.
  
  
• Mesh strainer
  
  
• THERMOMETER!!! Seriously man, this shit takes so much guesswork out of cooking. I have two, a probe style like this and an instant-read.
  
  
• Steamer basket
  
  > I could learn some healthy stuff
  
  Buy veggie, steam it. Buy meat, sear it on high til the outside is brown, then bake it until your thermom says it's done. If you wanna get real fance, make a pan sauce. I can have this weeknight dinner cooked, eaten and cleaned up in under an hour.
  
  

Does he enjoy outdoorsy stuff? Maybe some camping/hiking gear would be appreciated. You could get him something to neatly store this sock collection. Or you could choose something more universally useful: insulated water bottle, external battery charger, Google home/Echo, really nice reinforced and long phone charger, Amazon Prime membership of his own!, a really nice backpack (like this that can be professional too, microwave pasta cooker, or just some more really cool socks lol

We generally get home at 6 and can often eat dinner by 7; I've found a lot of things I can get done in 30-40 minutes. what's been a huge help for me is that I get stuff going and I can walk away and do other things - like help my son with his homework - and not be rushing to the stove all the time. So things might take longer than 30 minutes, but I can get stuff done during that 30 minutes. I have a cookbook or two for mine, and I honestly don't use them. I use blog posts and a Facebook group. I google what I want to make and add "instant pot" to the search. :)

I use the trivet that came with my instant pot, an inexpensive metal veggie steamer basket, my 1qt white corningware casserole dish, and a stainless steel bowl. I have a bundt pan as well but use that rarely. The only things I had to buy were the steamer basket and the bowl.

We quite often will make pasta and meatballs; pasta and water in the pot, meatballs on top. Cook. Add in sauce. That one I can usually have done in 20 minutes. A small pork tenderloin on the trivet, steamer basket balanced on top with red potatoes is a 15 min. cook time; about 10 min. to come up to pressure and I wait 5-10 to release pressure. Anything with chicken breast is really fast. The other day I did a chicken rice and broccoli dish that took under 30 min. Last night we had a baked egg casserole. Taco Pie is another favorite here, but it works best if you have a 7" springform pan.

Under $10

Under $20

$$$ I have this guy on my own wishlist! It's good for canning low-acid items like green beans and beets and etc.

As a bonus, here's a fun book: Put 'Em Up. I have it and it's great! Also, you can make things like jam with little sugar by using pectin, or if you aren't into jams and preserves, you can pickle things and can sauces. It's just generally awesome.

I got my AG kit at northernbrewer.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/brewing-equipment/all-grain-equipment/deluxe-all-grain-systems/fermenters-favorites-essential-all-grain-brewing-starter-kit-10-gallon

that's the one, except I have the old high school football game orange coolers. I know for a fact you can make those yourself for cheaper, but that's not exactly the sorta thing I'm good at!

Some people love carboys. I did, too, until I dropped one. I swear to God, it was a friggin miracle nobody got hurt, especially since my kids were nearby. Now they have plastic carboys, but honestly, fermentation isn't really that exciting to look at. Buckets are way cheaper, easier to move, and they don't explode if you drop them (your hands are going to be wet A LOT). When I'm done with the mash, I usually have like....ohhh I dunno about 6.5-7 gallons of wort to start off with, so you're definitely gonna want a nice big kettle. I have an 11 gallon kettle because fuck boil-overs. (http://amzn.com/B000VXHKMC).

So you've already got your fermentation bucket, right? That's really all you need other than a bottling bucket. Some people do secondary fermentation, but man, that's just more hassle IMO. Exposes the beer to oxidation and contamination and it's really unnecessary when you can do all of your additions in your primary bucket. The syphon, hydrometer, bottling wand.....the buckets.....the mash tuns....did I forget anything? Maybe an extra kettle for sparging. I have that 11 gallon one and a 5 gallon one that I use for sparge water, but the only reason I have that smaller one is because I went extract first, then "graduated" to AG. Oh, helpful tip for extract brews, try doing a full volume boil, it just makes it better...and I prefer DME to LME, but that's personal opinion.

Oh snap I did forget something.....the wort chiller. These things are awesome, and chill your wort much faster than an ice bath, in my experience. Sorry for rambling!

I picked up this kit for a little under $100 after shipping. If you are not on an extreme budget then spend the extra penny and get this one. The nice thing about these kits as well, is that they give you a recipe for your first batch so you dont have to buy one on the side. It took about a week to show up and like /u/rumham1985 said you'll need to get a kettle with a lid (depending on if the kettle comes with it) and if you want to know the ABV (Alcohol By Volume) you can pick up a hydrometer and tube or refractometer.

Listed are the other items I picked up aside from the starter kit:

• 24 qt stock pot
  
  
• Lid for 24qt stock pot
  
  
• Refractometer
  
  If you have Amazon Prime you can get free 2 day shipping on those products. If you are currently a college student you get 6 months of free prime service so take advantage of that if you can.
  
  In the near future I will be investing on supplies to build a wort chiller using this tutorial which shouldnt cost more than 30$ and maybe after that work up on buying a mini fridge and temperature controller to help keep a stable fermenting temperature.

Zojirushi.

I've had many other rice cookers, from the target and Walmart brands to black and decker.

Zojirushi is just plain and simple worth it. It will consistently give you perfectly cooked rice...every...single... time.

The reason is it has this thing called fuzzy logic where it's computer can determine how to cook things depending on the weight and what not (not sure how it works exactly, but it works great!). The initial buy in is a bit more expensive than other rice cookers but it's worth the investment. It will last very long.

For steaming, you could use the vegi steamer tray for a pot. It's honestly 100x faster because you don't have to wait like 15 minutes for the water to boil.

This is as good one: http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NS-TSC10-Uncooked-Cooker-1-0-Liter/dp/B0074CDG6C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394815672&sr=8-2&keywords=zojirushi+rice+cooker


This is the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NS-ZCC10-Uncooked-Premium-1-0-Liter/dp/B00007J5U7/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1394815672&sr=8-4&keywords=zojirushi+rice+cooker

I can't praise it enough.

Also, this for steaming veggies. Works amazing, I've had it for years:http://www.amazon.com/Amco-Collapsible-Steamer-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000Q4N2LO/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1394815756&sr=8-9&keywords=steamer+tray+for+pot

Re: Cooking.

People usually gain weight when they first cook for themselves because pre made frozen stuff, boxed, canned, etc...stuff is so much easier.

But guess what? Salads and steamed vegetables of all kinds are just as easy.Get something to steam in. I use http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Silicone-Steamer-Green/dp/B00A2KD8IY/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1413902397&sr=1-1&keywords=silicone+steam

You can steam up veggies to eat that day and the next. You can google different salad dressings to make it taste different every time. Using fresh herbs helps in this aspect.

Grocery shop twice a week. More and you will get sick of it and less and you won't have fresh vegetables to eat. Don't buy junk. If you want to buy junk, do it knowing that you will eat it that day...or in the next few days. Another perk of buying mostly vegetables and lean meats is how cheap your grocery bills will be. The center aisles of a grocery store will not only expand your waistline slowly over time but also break the bank.

I prefer making it in a grill pan but a lot of single people love using stuff like the George Foreman grill. You can make chicken breasts to last you 2-3 days.

Eat simple during the week. Cook every second day and eat leftovers the next day. On weekends once or twice try your hand at a more complicated dish that can also provide leftovers for the week. For example if you make a good stew, you can even freeze some.

You might consider getting a steamer, they are super easy and fast - you can make veggies and whatnot simply and it's easy to reheat items that way as well. My 4 yo willingly chows down on broccoli and cauliflower because we started him on steamed veggies when he began solid foods. A simple steamer insert in a pan would work as well, just not as hassle free. Just some food for thought :) Good luck!

It's weird when you realise you miss fresh food and veggies! Also, may I ask for this 5 vegetable bolognese recipe? That sounds fantastic!

Have you considered a microwave steamer for veggies? Or those frozen bags of veggies that can be steamed in the microwave? :) Something like this. I also make salmon in there which comes out perfect!

Edit: I think it's a tool that would not go to waste in a real kitchen either, if you liked steamed broccoli or fish or whatever and need a quick healthy dinner.

Norther Brewer has the Homebrew Starter Kit on sale for $99 that trades the 2 glass carboys for a 5 gallon kettle and a second bucket. I personally think clear glass carboys only makes you look more like a pro brewer, rather than providing anything better. They make things more risky IMHO, so unless they excite you, do the buckets.

(edit) Also for the kettle, FYI I purchased the 10 gallon Bayou Classic Bayou Stainless Brew Kettle, Stainless Steel instead for half that price (see the other buying options for the 2 day free prime shipping, if you have prime.) It was definitely acceptable quality, for my purposes. Although for most kits, the 5 gallon kettle has been sufficient for me as well.

I've only brewed twice with extract, but I'd like to get into all grain, at least starting with biab.

The pot I use now is pretty small, so I'm thinking I want to get a new one that would be good for biab, but that I could potentionally still use for other methods in the future if I feel like it or want to make a larger quantity or something higher gravity.

I was looking at something like [this] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007V493PG/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_1?colid=2A3M8Z2CC4N4J&coliid=I3Q7M72HYYCJW0) or one of these but I'm wondering if it makes sense to get it tricked out with the false bottom and the thermometer and stuff. Are those kettles and acessories that would lend themselves to the different methods?

Also, are the built in thermometers really always shit, and am I really better off getting a thermapen? I'm not super concerned about price (within reason), but for some reason I need convincing or clarification on the thermometer.

One other thing: what kind of bag should I get?

---------

Edit: fixed links

This is the kettle that I use. It's an inexpensive ($20) 21.5 quart steel/porcelain canner, and it works great. It's also recommended in How to Brew by John Palmer, which is an excellent resource.

Also just found this active groupon for a brewing equipment kit. I bought this same deal over a month ago, and I'm about to bottle my first batch with it. It's a great deal, and I highly recommend Midwest Homebrewing. The recipe kit that comes with the deal is a quality kit, and the people are very helpful.

If you like fish, I'd recommend this recipe: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/ginger_steamed_fish_with_troys_hana_style_sauce.html.

I recently made it with my SO. It was pretty easy, and we loved it. Instead of bass, we went with cod. You don't need a bamboo steamer. I used a metal steamer that I already had for steaming veggies. You can find one on Amazon. I highly recommend it as a kitchen essential. http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-175-Stainless-Vegetable-Steamer/dp/B001FBCP7O/

1. I got a Canning Pot from my fiance as a super awesome surprise gift =3
   
2. I will be needing a Canning Kit to do it correctly, i've been told.
   
   Thanks for the contest :D

You can do an awful lot with the hotel fridge and a microwave. Any perishable items should be fine in the fridge, and if you just experiment some you can cook a wide variety of foods in the microwave pretty well. Americas test kitchen even tested microwave pasta cookers something like this and they worked great.

Even without refrigeration as long as you can heat it, you can get relatively healthy shelf stable rices and things like canned chicken breast or tuna/salmon. Buy a little whole wheat bread or the like and possibly some canned vegetables and you can mix things up and keep it much healthier than hotel lobby food or fast food.

A 15 gallon stainless steel beer keg is perfect, much better than rigging a large pot. Amazon does sell lots of big ol' pots though.

The nice thing about a standard 15gal keg is it has a 2" triclamp fitting on the top, perfect for attaching a 2" dia column to. They can be had for cheap either as scrap or from a good liquor store/distributor.

Ha I will when it's built! It's actually all planned out now, just buying the pieces up. I think I can still help though.

Here is an image of brianj's kettle, from a post he did on BrewUnited. Those are two 1500W ULWD heating elements, exactly the same as my build.

I'm going to be using a 16 gallon bayou kettle with a custom brew bag, and use the associated false bottom.

That false bottom will keep the grains off of the heating elements, and there will still be enough space for high gravity BIAB batches (4.5 gallon average batch size).

I use an Auberin PID controller with two 40A SSRs and a 25A SSVR (also from auberin) that will regulate the intensity of one of the elements. You probably already have this all set up already, so it's more of an informational thing.

The re-circulation is probably the part you're worried about:

• Use a chugger pump, and you can attach a SS ball valve if you'd like to regulate the flow. I do.
  
  
• Camlock Disconnects are your friend.
  
  
• Use a loc line in the keggle, and it'll float on top of the mash. You can also just set up a fly sparge type system.
  
  
  I would head over to /u/mchrispen's blog, he has some great pictures of his system and it sounds similar to what you're hoping to do (purely from a re circulation standpoint). It uses keggles.

Make sure you have a heat proof dish or three that will fit inside the IP. It needs to be <8" at the widest, so for square dishes that's the diagonal. I don't think Pyrex is safe if you want to broil, so you may need a metal dish or ceramic ramekins/souffle dishes.

A collapsible veggie steamer basket works better for catching smaller food than the wire trays. People recommend the OXO one, but I like my cheapo one.

If you plan to even attempt yogurt or desserts you will need an extra sealing ring. My first IP meal was ham & bean soup, and my gasket still smells like ham two months and several meals later.

I have an extra inner pot and I really like being able to cook while one pot is in the fridge or dishwasher.

I would stay away from that starter kit. Not because its bad per se but its not worth 180 bucks. And I prefer plastic buckets over glass carboys. If you want you can convert a cooler to a mash tun but I would start with BIAB and you then can increase the complexity of your system as you see fit.


Here is my recommendation of equipment. I am function over form driven when selecting my gear. I find that these items serve their purpose at a reasonable price and are of good quality and unless you want to start doing 15 gallon batches they should serve you well.

Starter Kit

KAB4 Burner

44qt Pot with basket

Ball Valve for Kettle

Thermometer

Bag for BIAB

Mmmm wings ....

Baked Wings:

• Steam wing for 10 minutes. I use one of these and do them in batches.

• Place on cooling rack(s) set over a lined baking/cookie sheet. (Line with newspaper, paper towels or parchment paper to catch grease.)

• Place baking sheet with the rack of steamed wings in the fridge, uncovered, for several hours. This step is critical if you like crispy skin on your wings!
____

• Pull wings from fridge long enough to take the chill off the meat and baking sheet. About an hour, depending on your house temp. You don't want to throw the cold meat and tray in the oven, it will drop the oven temp.

• Preheat oven to 500°F = 260° C

• Reline baking sheet with fresh parchment paper ... or Reynolds Wrap© 🙄 😀, and place wings directly on lining, in a single layer and space around each wing. (They tend to stick to the rack and it rips the skins, so I don't use a rack.)

• Bake for approximately 20 minutes, then turn each wing and bake for approximately another 20 minutes. Keep a close eye while baking, ovens differ. Timing depends on how crispy you like the skins and it doesn't take much for these to overcook and become sad, dried, little mummified things.

• Spin in your favorite sauce. We do two sauces. Hubs likes the traditional hot wings Frank's© style sauce, while I like a mix of his and BBQ sauce.

We serve ours with bleu cheese dip instead of ranch. If your interested in wing sauce and/or the bleu dip recipes, let me know. I haven't found a good* recipe for ranch that doesn't involve a packet of ... stuff. Yeah, stuff.

I would strongly caution against a 35 quart pot. The Bayou Classic 44 quart (11 gallon) pot is only a little more, and it's of dimensions more ameniable to brewing (tall, rather than squat). If you plan to migrate to BiaB, the version with the basket is quite useful; you'll be able to fire your heat source without worrying about scorching the bag.

For ingredients, I would recommend looking around for a LHBS (local homebrew shop). You'll likely not save much money ordering those online, due to their weight/cost ratio, and a LHBS is often the centre of your local community of homebrewers.

With regard to literature, my bible is John Palmer's How To Brew. You can also read the first edition online, but much has been learnt since that was published and the latest edition has current best practices.

That equipment kit is decent, but there are a lot of things in it you'll probably wish you hadn't bought.

You will want:

• 6 gallon primary fermenter carboy
  
• 5 gallon secondary carboy, for dry hopping (can't find any that ship with prime)
  
• A bench capper (wing/emily cappers are cheaper, but it's not worth it)
  
• An autosiphon
  
• A bottling bucket, with spigot
  
• A bottling wand
  
• Sanitizer (Starsan looks more expensive, but a bottle will last a long, long time. Especially if you pick up a spray bottle at the dollar store.)
  
• Two carboy caps and airlocks

I like to steam green veggies like broccoli, spinach, asparagus, green beans, etc. Get one of these things, put it in the bottom of a pot, put about 1/2 inch of water in the pot, bring water to boil, add vegetables, cook for ~5-15 minutes depending on veggie type and quantity, toss veggies halfway through, and enjoy.

I will add 1/2 tsp butter and sea salt. It doesn't take much, the vegetables are full of natural flavor. If you're cooking fresh spinach, garlic powder is a good addition.

If you're set on steaming, I've found there is a world of difference between frozen and fresh broccoli. My first piece of advice is to get one of these spaceship-lookin' guys if you don't already have a nested steamer pot attachment. Cheap as shit and gets the job done with basically any vegetable. You'll want to get the water in the pot at least halfway up the legs of the basket to avoid it all boiling out, then throw that on high heat and monitor once the water starts boiling. Shouldn't take more than 8-10 min to steam with the lid on, but you'll want to monitor and stick the broccoli through the stems with a metal fork. You may notice some pieces getting that deeper green than others, and if so, just move it around in the pot so the lesser cooked pieces are towards the bottom of the pile and more towards the middle of the pot.

After cooked, you can either pull the basket from the steamer, pour the water down the sink and throw in butter to melt in the pan (or olive oil), then salt/pepper/cayenne/red pepper flakes/etc and toss the broccoli around in that, or if you're feeling like a fancy boy, melt the butter in a separate pan with some chopped garlic as the steaming is finishing and then pour it into the emptied pot and dump in the broccoli for a nice toss. Delicious.

Sorry for the long post... I have an irrational love for broccoli and it was a huge staple when I lost like 75lbs in a year. Still crush broccoli with dinner at least 4 times a week.

I see you have a mash paddle in there, but I don't see a mash tun. Are you going to BIAB or use extract? Then I don't think you need the paddle.

Or do you already have a tun lying around?

If you want an even sweeter all-grain system, consider an extra pot - I'd get one a little oversized, maybe this 36-quart Bayou classic. Then use your smaller pot for hot liquor, and the big pot for boiling a full volume.

You're going to have a hard time boiling 5 gallons of wort in a 20-quart pot. At best I could fit 4.5 gallons in mine, and I had to be very careful for boilovers - I recommend Fermcap-S to help control the foam; 2 drops per gallon as you heat to a boil.

An 8 gallon pot is probably a bit too small. Most 5 gallon all grain recipes end up wanting 6.5-7.5 preboil gallons of wort, so at 8 gallons, you are in some real boilover danger. I have this 44 quart stainless pot from Amazon as my kettle, and couldn't be happier with it. It goes on sale pretty regularly - my wife bought it for me for $68.

I actually use my old 6 gallon pot as my hot liquor tank (aka pot to heat hot water in). Most people use 1.25 - 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain for their mash, so you only end up actually lifting ~4 gallons at any given time. You then drain that into your brew kettle. Next, you sparge with another ~3-4 gallons or so of water.

You could use your 8 gallon pot as the HLT, though if you were very careful, I uppose you could get away without it ad use it to boil in. You could heat water in smaller pots, say, on your stove.

A valve is a nice thing to have, I'm sure, but I do just fine without one. I can handle four gallons of water just fine for the mash/sparge. The only heavy part is the 7.5 gallon pick up, but that's only from the ground to my burner... and if I was smart, the kettle would already be on my burner. I don't have a fancy brewstand, but I put my mash tun/cooler up on sawhorses. Puts it at a nice height for access and draining.

For the record, I love all grain.

This pot rules. Hands down, I love this pot and the price for its size is great. Used it a ton, one of the best purchases I've made.

Rotini Arrabbiata for a busy bachelor:

Buy a Fasta Pasta at Amazon.


1 box of Rotini

1 jar of Rao's Arrabbiata marinara (expensive but worth it)

2 mild uncooked Italian sausages.

1 wedge of Fresh Parmesan.

1 loaf of garlic bread (fresh, or even Pepperidge Farm 5 cheese garlic bread from the frozen aisle).
___
The Fasta Pasta needs no explanation -- it's a microwaveable dream-come-true for al dente pasta for dummies. Throw the garlic bread in the oven (15-20 minutes at 350, typically). Put the sausages in a large pot (membrane off mind you). Mash them up as you brown it over medium heat. Once it's cooked thoroughly, pour the sauce right in the pot over it and stir. Rao's Arrabbiata already has some good kick, but add red pepper flakes if you like it spicier. Grate your Parmesan and add a bit to the sauce. Simmer that up while the pasta's finishing (17 minutes makes a serving for 4 with the Fasta Pasta. Done. Absurdly easy and awesome.

To get her started, I would get her a book like this one, and depending on her stove top a water bath canner for gas/electric or flat top, also this set, and don't forget the jars. There are probably other stores than Amazon to buy these things, I usually get great deals at Ace hardware. There are some other great books out there, and depending on what she is interested in, a pressure canner is a big one too.

If you're doing BIAB, this one is pretty spiffy.

You don't need a false bottom in the kettle to BIAB. Use a cheap stainless vegetable steaming rack ($10 max). Use it to keep the grain bag off the bottom of the kettle, that's all you need it for with BIAB.

The thermometer is nice. But long as you've got a good handheld thermometer anyway it isn't hard to take temps. And with BIAB you'd have to deal with the probe poking the bag as well, which I'd personally pass on.

The valve is nice to have though.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. The silicon basket sounds like a good idea - would it be something like this?

Let's do it in the kitchen.

This contest was MADE FOR ME. My wish list is 90% stuff I want for the kitchen. Edit: I am only linking things that I have tried for myself so I can recommend them.

Have you seen these gloves? Never cut your finger off again! Need to steam stuff but you're tired of burning your fingers removing your veggies? I got you, girl! Love cooking with garlic but you're tired of your hands always smelling like it? No sweat! Tired of always fishing your spoons out of your spaghetti sauce? No worries!

For me, I just need my cast iron pans and I'm a happy girl. My dutch oven is probably my favorite one, I can make ANYTHING in it.

For my own recommendation I would say do an extract beer can kit. You'll get about 40 bottles of beer out of it.

Almost everything below you can get at your local homebrew shop. In fact, many of these items might be part of a "beer starter kit" etc. I do recommend getting the 5 gallon carboy instead of a kit with pails. You'll thank me later. pails can get messy.

1. Coopers Brew Can Kit ($15) *comes with yeast you need
   
2. A 5 gallon carboy (I recommend a big mouth plastic one) ($20)
   
3. An Airlock for your carboy ($5)
   
4. A 4 foot blowoff tube to attach to the airlock center column ($5)
   
5. An empty 2L pop bottle to use as the blowoff container. (free)
   
6. 1KG of sugar *and some more for bottling later ($2)
   
7. A Hydrometer to take your Specific Gravity readings and a container for the hydrometer $25
   
8. A 5 Gallon pot $30 (I highly recommend you follow the kit or use 3 gallons of water during the heating/boiling as I have done...dont try to boil 5 gallons in a 5 gallon pot)
   
9. An Auto-Siphon for siphoning the beer. $13
   
10. A Wine Thief for stealing the samples from your beer (which you read with the hydrometer and then drink) without disturbing the beer too much and risking infection. $13
    
    Total $128 by my guestimates, but you do get 2 cases of beer out of it and $113 worth of brew equipment. Hell, in Ontario the two cases of beer can easily be more expensive than $128 lol... Not cheap, but everything here you will use over and over and over again (except of course the sugar and the brew kit)
    
    ---------------------------------
    
    The Coopers Can Kit comes with instructions to make your beer, a hopped extract and yeast.
    
    After you make your beer it'll be a few weeks before the fermentation is done (which you'll know by hydrometer readings)
    
    In that time you can start getting your stuff together for bottling and carbonating them.
    
    You'll also need (for bottling) 48 empty clean bottles (cleaned and then sanitized with star-san solution) NON TWIST OFF TYPE
    A handheld Beer capper
    Bottle caps (box)
    
    
    I gotta run, but this was fun to type out. If you need any help, glad to help ya.

A few reasons, some real, some myth that is still considered real. There is always an argument, but there are 2 main problems:

You can't use an oxygen based cleaner like oxyclean or one-step, which makes it a pain in the ass.

You have to bake the thing for a few hours before you use it because you need to build up an oxide layer.

There are some myths about them causing Alzheimer's and some other bad things, there are studies showing it is not true, but TBH if there is even a small chance I want no part of that.

I guess to each his own. When I was doing 5 gallon batches, and I still occasionally do, I used 2 of these

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1044-44-Quart-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000VXHKMC/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1410760703&sr=1-2&keywords=Bayou+classic+pot

For the price and quality, you can't beat it. 11 gallons is a good size for 5 gallon batches because of boil overs ( depending on the weather, out here in a 90 min boil during a 100 degree day in the summer I easily boil off 1.5 gallons, so an 8 gallon pot doesn't work as I can start anywhere from 7.5-8 gallons of wort. Depends on where you are and stuff like that, but IMO 11 gallons plays it safe. )

If you are going to be serious, get a good SS pot and it will last forever. Might be a small bit pricier at first, but the quality, longevity, ease of cleaning, and not having some question in the back of your head that you might get Alzheimer's, if it is true or false, is worth it

It will be fine, but it will have less alcohol and probably a thinner body than if you would have topped off with the appropriate volume of water.

One simple way to avoid this in the future is to get a pot big enough to boil your full volume of water (minimum 8 gallon pot for 5 gallon batches imo). There are other advantages to doing a full-volume boil as well. Amazon has a pretty good deal going on some stainless pots right now.

I've only had the Costco rotisserie chicken (2,640 calories) once and ate two thirds of it at one sitting, but I have once finished off a whole Costco combo pizza (about 4,000 calories) by myself in one meal; and another time ate two of them by myself in three days.

I'm like /u/henrysleepingbag; 6'1", 160-165 pounds, run 10-15K three times a week. The running helps a little, but what really keeps me thin is simple calorie counting; there is no magic, and no such thing as a "fast" or "slow" metabolism. I splurge like that for fun every so often (yesterday, 2,300 calories from McDonald's plus 36 oz of diet soda for dinner), but I normally tightly adhere to the roughly 2,000 calories a day I need to maintain my weight. Something I've posted before:

----

How to make a filling meal for $1 even if you don't know how to cook

I am 6'1", weight 160 pounds, and run 10-15K three times a week. I love pasta, and often eat a pound of cooked pasta for dinner:

• $1 for a one-pound box of uncooked pasta (turns into two pounds cooked)
  
• $1.50 for 24 ounces of pasta sauce (six ounces per pound cooked pasta)
  
  $3 for 8 servings of pasta sauce + $4 for four boxes of pasta = $7 for eight meals of one pound of pasta + sauce, providing about 1,000 calories per meal. A woman or smaller man would eat less, so would get up to 16 meals from the $7.
  
  Variation 1: Instead of pasta sauce, use salad dressing. $1.50 for 16 ounces of Italian dressing (four ounces per pound cooked pasta), or the same amount of ranch dressing (2.5 ounces per pound cooked pasta).
  
  Variation 2: Add tunafish to the pasta and sauce/dressing. One $1 5 oz can is enough for two meals.
  
  With pasta sauce, the meal has 935 calories, 182 g of carbs, 9 g fat, and 32 g protein for $0.88.^1 Tuna adds 90 calories, 2 g fat, and 20 g protein for another $0.50.
  
  And yes, there is no cooking involved other than filling a container with water. I highly recommend Fasta Pasta to cook pasta in the microwave.
  
  ^1 It's not hard to find lower prices. Around here canned pasta sauce is $1 for 24 oz, and 64 oz of ranch or Italian dressing is $3.50-4.50.

I got tired of holding the bag over my brewpot while it dripped, but I didn't want to lose any of the wort. It occurred to me to put it in the super fancy double pot that we got for our wedding and never use (well, we never use the pasta insert). It's some version of this.

There's at least a half gallon of space for additional liquid. I like being manly and scalding myself, but I also like not scalding myself.

I could also press it with a colander (that I was using for skimming), to get maximum liquid out of the mash.

You'll need a bigger kettle. 18 liters is about 4.8 gallons. You are going to want an 8 - 10 gallon (30 - 40 liter) kettle.

Luckily, they aren't that expensive. Here's a couple:

44 qt Bayou Classic SS for $83. This is what I user for BIAB. I paid $77.

40 qt Winware Aluminum for $47. You'll probably want to add the lid to help keep in the heat while mashing.

You'll also want to insulate the kettle during the mash. An old blanket can work to start. I use reflectix.

try this:
http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-175-Stainless-Vegetable-Steamer/dp/B001FBCP7O/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1426356535&sr=8-7&keywords=steam+cooking

just put frozen vegs in, eggs on top, ready to go

you can also add potatoes but you to chop those a bit first because otherwise they are not done at the same time

staple meal of mine because its easy to cook and clean (just single pot) and u dont have to watch it plus lots of veggies and protein

edit: does not work w/ frozen fish for some reason, the boiling water spills over (not sure why, has to be the fish obv)

How about a pot for $140 for 10 gallon batches?

I've got this guy, but I only use him for mashing because he doesn't fit on the stove.

I use a tall boy 8 gallon, which is like $100 or so, but I think if you want to pay a little more go for the ones with a ball valve so you can use a better chiller.

If you feel like you need a thermometer get a javelin for another $25. I don't see much use -- by the time I'm going to upgrade enough to warrant a huge thermometer on the pot and do something with it, I'm probably going to have a HERMS anyways so I'd need a digital one.

Edit: are you talking about the kettle fryer or the burner? Lol

Tri Ply Pros:
Less chance of scorching the wort. Less cleanup due to nothing caking on the bottom of the kettle. It's mainly a concern if you have a powerful burner. I have a Kab4 on natural gas and I do experience some light scorching since I run it on full blast. I'm uncertain, but I believe it has a slight impact on the color of lighter wort, and even less so on flavor. Grab a tri-ply if you are OCD about these things.

With that said, I have a 16 gallon version of this, and it's really hard to beat. Consider the cost of a ball valve, weldless bulkhead, and hole drilling bits.

This version:
Pre-drilled bulkhead (mine had a weldless)
Ball valve
Ready to go out of the box

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1032-Stainless-8-Gallon/dp/B007TV9LSU/

If you have those already, there are cheaper options also from bayou on amazon, like this

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1118-32-Quart-Stainless/dp/B0009K8SJ6/


Edit: for those wondering about the 16 gallon - my main complaint is that it is so tall that smaller batches will be problematic with wort chillers since they are so low in the kettle. It's not much more expensive.

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1064-Stainless-16-Gallon/dp/B007V493PG/

You also may have good luck on your local craigslist

I've recently bought nicer equipment to homebrew with. I now have a nice propane burner, and 16gal stockpot with weldless spigot. (For reference this is the burner: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JXYQY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

and this is the stock pot:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007V493PG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00)

The last step for moving my brewing setup outside is a wort chiller.

My first question is do I need a wort chiller at this point if I still want to do some 5gal extract brews? I figure with a 2.5-3 gal boil volume, the burner and 16gal pot might be extreme overkill.

At some point I would like to do 5gal all grain batches or at least BIAB, which I think needs the wort chiller at a minimum to cool properly.

My second question is will a 25in premade wort chiller fit properly or do I need to make my own, assuming the chiller needs to hang above the sediment, and not lay on the bottom of the pot.

Edit: I was doing some more research, and I decided to go with this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004D50LO8/ref=s9_simh_hd_b14JJvX_p79_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=0X0PBZVYQ8CGW12NKNBN&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=2223253542&pf_rd_i=979843011

I think it will do the job, and avoid any issues fitting or making an immersion chiller.

So, just to clarify, most homebrewers will start out by doing a partial boil. This basically means that you will only be boiling ~3 gallons of water to brew the beer, and then adding cool water to your wort once it is in the primary before you pitch the yeast. Because of this, most homebrewers will start with a 4 gallon kettle and then upgrade to a bigger one later on down the road.


I did something very similar to Ardentfrost. I definitely agree with what he's saying about kettles. On one hand, you're trying to save money for your first batch by not buying a 7.5 gallon kettle (and wort chiller). On the other hand, you don't want to have to buy a 4 gallon kettle and then a 7.5 gallon kettle in a few months. I ended up buying a 3 gallon Graniteware kettle, a 7.5 gallon aluminum kettle from craigslist, and finally a 36 qt. stainless from amazon. Fortunately, my first two pots were only $20 apiece, and I can probably sell them both on craigslist for just as much.

Like Ardentfrost said, my 36 qt. kettle is too big for an ice bath in my sink, but I already have a wort chiller.

Question 1 - I just finished my 11th Extract Brew. The majority have turned out amazing, but I think I am ready to start upping my game. I have seen all the tiered-mashing systems on here recently, but I think the next step for me would be to do BIAB. I currently have a 6 gallon aluminum pot which I don't think will be big enough.

I am debating between getting the 8 Gallon or the 16 Gallon. Pros and Cons of going bigger from the start? Or will an 8 Gallon do for what I want and be usable for the future?

EDIT: If it helps - this is currently what I am brewing on: Brinkman Turkey Fryer. It probably won't fit a bigger pot inside the ring, but I assume as long as it sits on top of the ring, it should still work?

You could use frozen but I like to buy fresh so that it steams faster. If you don't have a steamer you can get one REALLY really cheap at any home/kitchen store, they're like $5-7. Here's one on Amazon as an example:

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-175-Stainless-Vegetable-Steamer/dp/B001FBCP7O/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1413872936&sr=1-1

If you absolutely can't get one, boiling is OK... just put the vegetables so that they're maybe half-submerged in water. Cover and cook on medium heat for a bit. Check every so often. Depending on how soft you want your veggies it could take 5-15 mins.

Another option is the microwaveable veggie bags, though personally I can't eat THAT much in one sitting.

Cast Iron, preferably the old Griswold or Wagner as it doesn't have the more rough surface of lodge, it's great especially for skillets and dutch ovens. As for other pots and pans you need a small sauté pan and a large sauté pan, a small sauce pan and a larger sauce pan, you also need a pot for boiling large quantities of water in (pasta, stock, and such). For the sauté and sauce pans it's hard to beat All Clads lifetime warranty though I am a big fan of Paderno or better yet save some money and look at Vollrath. For the pot I'd go with any something cheaper than the All Clad like the pot and steamer set here: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-77-412-Classic-Stainless-12-Quart/dp/B0000UV01S/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1412954973&sr=1-5&keywords=cuisinart+pot but again Vollrath from a restaurant supply store could be an even better option.

I have one that’s a basket, like this:
OXO Good Grips Silicone Steamer, Green https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A2KD8IY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Ar8RAbBPBYF14


Works great inside a glass bowl in the microwave, tablespoon of water in the bowl. Super quick to do broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower etc.

I would get a KAB4 burner. It straddles the line between performance and price IMO. $80.00

For the kettle I would go a little bigger than 8 gallons, because the price difference isn't all that great. Plus if you plan to do BIAB you really need a bigger kettle. If your handy you could buy this one and add your own valve. If your not confident about drilling the hole and doing the work yourself, heres one with a valve included obviously that a little more expensive. $114.00

I like the vintage shop fermonster carboys. They are plastic and easy to clean. These are actually cheaper at my LHBS. $34.00

And Last you need either need a Bag for your kettle for BIAB or you could go the cooler route and get a bag for your cooler for MIAB.

The MIAB option is a little pricer but I prefer having a separate vessel for Mashing because theres less lifting to do and doing a sparge is a bit easier that way. So Another $43.50

And you can pick up a cooler at most Big box stores for like $20.00

That clocks in at $291.50 so just under budget.

Thanks for the reply!
That option seems like a good one. I'm still convinced that there's a way to make a folding directional 2.4GHz antenna that'd be packable, though...I could probably build a Yagi myself. I'm also thinking of some sort of folding quasi-parabola, sort of like those collapsible steaming baskets: https://www.amazon.com/Amco-Stainless-Steel-Collapsible-Steamer/dp/B000Q4N2LO

It won't get the same effect but you can. You just want to invest in a large metal stock pot, it's about the same price as a crock pot and allows you to make massively oversized crockpot meals. I love these, I just scale the recipe up as big as I can go into the pot, low on a crockpot is 190 and high is 250. I go to 200 which is about as low as my oven goes and just simulate a slow cooker on a bigger scale. Hope that helps and if you have any questions DM me or something.

Steam your eggs!
Of course you can buy a dedicated electric eggcooker, but it’s exactly same as steaming...

Get a steam basket, maybe like this and use it to steam your eggs. I steam for exactly six minutes, but try out your own preference!
Cold water after steaming, easy to peal!

> Proteins are what you're feeling in a 'full' beer, and taking care to ensure they stay in the beer will get you the body/mouthfeel/head retention you're looking for

What would you recommend to do in order to achieve this?

I haven't taken the pH of my water, I've just been using it from the tap. My neighbor brews some of the same exact recipes I did (same LHBS) using his faucet water as well. He does partial mash, but I don't believe he's treating his water/adjusting his pH.

My cleaning process has been pretty light, as far as I can tell. I bought everything new, but I did a PBW clean of my kettle and fermeters before I used any of them. I fill the fermeter with StarSan on brew day and dump that into the bottling bucket just before I transfer from the kettle. I have never used dish soap or anything aside from PBW and StarSan (and then a rinse with water after cleaning) on my equipment.

Well, if he can get past the gadgety-ness of it, an electric grill (so he can do it year round!) and rice cooker might be good.

http://www.amazon.com/George-Foreman-GR136B-2-Serving-Classic/dp/B00LU2HXRK/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1449489548&sr=1-2&keywords=george+foreman+grill

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-RC3406-Cooked-Cooker/dp/B000UWD9OW/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1449489490&sr=1-5&keywords=rice+cooker

That with a vegetable steamer (if they don't already have one) opens up the door to lots of easy and healthy meals.

http://www.amazon.com/Sunsella-Vegetable-Steamer-Stainless-Steel/dp/B00KYDZHSI/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1449489827&sr=1-9&keywords=steamer

Also, maybe a simple cookbook could help?

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Cooking-Two-Cookbook/dp/1936493837/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1449463366&sr=8-4&keywords=cooking

As for Blue Apron, I wouldn't recommend it. Their meals are delicious, but most of them have a lot of steps and might be overwhelming for someone that doesn't cook much.

Winco Aluminum. Cheap, good enough, qualifies for prime shipping and pretty sturdy (I've worked in commercial kitchens with these and trust me, they'll hold up). Remember to "prime" them by boiling water in them first and never scour them down to bare metal.

Check out /r/Homebrewing and just start saving. Even 2 dollars a day with you and a friend and you could be rolling in a couple months.

edit: also start saving glass bottles that require a bottle opener. Those are reusable.

edit2: Things you'll need. Feel free to find similar products.

cooler with spigot

valve(I'm not sure of the size on that igloo)

bazooka screen

bottles(make sure they're brown)

caps

capper

some sort of gas stove. say a propane stove, a turkey fryer, or a kitchen stove.

a large pot

starsan

I'm probably forgetting things.

If I were to start over and buy new equipment, one of those all-in-one systems would be very attractive. My only concern with them is I don't have a high voltage outlet and I wouldn't want to deal with an under powered system.

For a traditional system I'd do something like this:

• $ 55 Hot Liquor Tank
  
• $105 Mash Tun
  
• $240 Kettle
  
• $100 Burner
  
• $200 Fermenter
  
• $250 Ferm Chamber
  
• $ 35 Temp Controller
  
  Total $985
  
  Bonus Upgrades:
  
  
• $ 25 Dolly
  
• $120 Water Filter
  
• $110 Grain Mill
  
• $ 15 Flask
  
• $ 30 Stir Plate
  
• $ 20 Yeast Ranch
  
• $490 Kegerator
  
• $ 95 Keg
  
  Total $905
  
  And you'll want various fittings and hoses and more kegs and a stir paddle.

Bayou Classic 1064 Stainless 16-Gallon Stockpot with Spigot and Vented Lid - $222.48 $129.65 with Free Shipping

This is a very good option is you are interested in brewing larger batches! You save $92.83, or 42%.

^1/5/2017 ^12:31pm ^EST

I'm sure your looking to buy used but I just bought an 11 gallon (44qt) SS pot on amazon for under $100. It works great for 5 gallon all grain batches and fits on my stove and even in the sink.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VXHKMC/ref=oh_details_o03_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought this steamer basket. Works pretty well and fits in the DUO60.

Doesn't seem to be available on Amazon.com, sorry if you are from the US :(. But I'm sure something like this or this would be almost exactly the same.

What the others said. They peel ridiculously easy, the texture of the whites is ideal, and the yolks are creamy and delicious. I do 5 minutes on high vs 6, but the real key is the ice bath immediately after quick release. I let them sit in a bowl of ice water for about 15 minutes to completely stop the cooking process. Perfectly yellow yolks with no hint of green.

Oh, and a vegetable steamer basket like this one allows me to cook about 18 eggs at a time in a nice little stack.

For the fire bowl - A collapsable steamer

http://www.amazon.com/Amco-Collapsible-Steamer-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000Q4N2LO

The grill is going to be trickier, but just about every department/home improvement store sells inexpensive replacement grills that would easily fit in a backpack

I would go with a Kettle, the link is the one i use and love. With a step bit you can drill it out and put a spigot in it and site glass.

A chiller is also nice. So is fermentation temp control... it makes a huge difference in your final beer if you are used to random fermentation temps.

Yup - you're not really going to be able to do BIAB in your kettle, at least not a 5 gallon batch. The good thing is that you don't have too much invested in it (it will make a great extra kettle to heat your sparge water though!), so upgrading won't be too painful. Something like this could work well, but there are plenty of options out there. Add in a bag (I've heard nothing but amazing things about The Brew Bag products) and you're good to go!

Pot 44qt and Burner Same price, free shipping and better in every way imo. If you plan on doing all grain I would recommend dropping an aditional $30 and getting this concord 60qt pot instead.

Yep, steamer basket like these fit in everything and work better than most included steamer baskets.

I have a steamer insert that i put on the bottom of a stockpot, then fill with enough water to bring it just to the bottom of the insert. I put the lid on and bring it to a full boil. Add as many eggs as you want (I've done up to 2 dozen this way, but you could do more), replace the lid, and steam for 11 minutes. You could do more or less time depending on your preferences, but thats's the perfect time for me. I found that a pasta server is the easiest way to remove the eggs to an ice water bath, and that an ice water bath is essential to stopping the cooking so I don't get that green ring around my yolk.

The Multiclad Pro is a little different from the French Classic, and IMHO is designed more smartly with rounded edges. Their handles are much better than All Clad too.

I'd get a handful of pans over a set. There's often too much overlap. TBH although this stockpot looks pretty, this multipot is so versatile.

I got me an 11 gallon kettle and burner for decently cheap on the ol interwebs it was a bayou something or other. I brew in a bag and I can fit about 20 lbs of grain in it without it spilling but it's close. I'd go that route personally it's cheaper than a conventional all grain but brews are cheaper and more in control than extract. You can get by with one carboy one chiller one burner and one kettle.

I actually bought my kettle exactly one year ago today. I paid only $54 for it though, and it looks like it's now $94 USD. They have used ones for $48. It's a pretty solid kettle, not the best but it works for me and plenty of others.

https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1044-44-Quart-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000VXHKMC

should look into irritable bowel syndrom symptoms, lots of stuff you can do, but a lot of irregular gut activity like this can lead to serious health problems down the road. Things that will help off the bat are drinking 2L+ of water each day, if you have diarrhea that often it's also very likely you're constantly dehydrated. Dehydration further inflames your digestive organs which could agravate the problem.

Once you have water figured out slowly work in more fibre. If you do it too quickly or increase your fibre without being well hydrated enough you're going to plug yourself up. Fibre is indigestible, its function is to add graininess to fuel/waste moving through your gut. That graininess keeps it together at the end and scrapes build-up off the sides of your intestines to improve your digestive health. Easiest way I've found is a microwave vegetable steamer. I dislike raw greens, aside from spinach and lettuce, so I keep a bag of pre-cut broccoli in the fridge, grab a handful, wash it, and throw it in the microwave steamer for 1min 30s, season with salt/pepper and have it as a side. Altogether it is an extra 2min to cooking and will make you feel a lot better overtime.

Do you experience acid reflux at all or frequently?

Here is the one I bought:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FTLY1K/ref=twister_B007QWO94S?th=1

The quality is pretty good. There is also a basket included and they have different sizes. If you are planning on doing all-grain or BIAB 5 gallons I recommend buying 44qt.

Since beginning to count calories, I have purchased and frequently used my food scale (this one), measuring spoons/cups (I bought this set of 19 spoons/cups), a veggie steamer, a mandolin for thinly slicing veggies to put in lasagna instead of noodles, a spiralizer for pasta-like noodles, can covers to keep canned foods fresh after I open the can (like artichoke hearts, black beans, etc)., and a slow cooker/crock pot.

Purchase a 5.5 gallon pot you want but without anything added to it.

https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Stainless-Steel-Stock-Pot/dp/B000FRJJSM/ref=pd_sim_79_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B000FRJJSM&pd_rd_r=6PQ2AMFEHC2QZZ0F78MZ&pd_rd_w=34FEi&pd_rd_wg=um6x3&psc=1&refRID=6PQ2AMFEHC2QZZ0F78MZ

Then purchase a weld less ball valve. https://www.amazon.com/Weldless-Stainless-Steel-Valve-Spigot/dp/B0028ZLEE6

and a weld less thermometer
https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-800-770-Brew-Thermometer/dp/B008FEPE18/ref=pd_bxgy_328_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B008FEPE18&pd_rd_r=222Q1R1CKYW4HFP57VT9&pd_rd_w=m7gkT&pd_rd_wg=pyRcb&psc=1&refRID=222Q1R1CKYW4HFP57VT9

Then purchase a step bit: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dlawngarden&field-keywords=step+bit

Make sure it has the correct size.

Then purchase this bit for drilling pilot holes in metal: https://www.amazon.com/Century-Drill-Tool-26208-Cobalt/dp/B004UUFAYW/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1481229448&sr=1-1&keywords=1%2F8+stainless+steel+cutting+bit

Drill the pilot holes where you want the ball valve and thermometer, then use the step bit to widen the hole to the correct size.

I have been using this exact setup with an 8 gallon pot for 5+ years and it doesn't leak one little bit. Also you can choose whatever size pot you want, just remember that you should probably leave the thermometer at least an inch or so from the bottom and keep in mind the bottom water will be hotter than the top.

http://www.amazon.com/Fasta-Pasta-The-Microwave-Cooker/dp/B000YT2XOI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314785013&sr=8-1

That thing has been a life saver. There are holes on the top that let you measure serving sizes. Comes out of the microwave just like you boiled it. Awesome stuff.

My solution is this rack
https://www.amazon.com/Zicome-Stainless-Steel-Steamer-Steam/dp/B06XBFZGYV/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1
Note the 2.75 height
and a generic steamer
https://www.amazon.com/Chef-Craft-Stainless-Steamer-9-5-Inch/dp/B0029728H0/ref=sr_1_6?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1498274594&sr=1-6&keywords=steamer
Combined with the trivet that comes with the iP it is great for steaming two things at the same time. for my default fast meal, i steam chicken on the bottom and greens or veggies on top (with a veggie chicken broth resulting on the bottom.
One option that may work is this used as staked steamer stand.
https://www.amazon.com/K-Steel-Electric-Pressure-Steaming-EggAssist/dp/B01NA6H0WR/ref=sr_1_5

It is elevated on legs, but the sides fit snugly against the sides of the pot. It's an OXO Good Grips and I'm using it in the 3-qt Mini.

How much are you looking to spend, and how many ports did you want? Bayou Classic has a pretty good SS 16 gallon pot for 160. Spikes Brewing has a few more options for about the same price.

http://spikebrewing.com/collections/10-gallon-stainless-kettles

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1064-Stainless-16-Gallon/dp/B007V493PG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1419922175&sr=8-3&keywords=bayou+classic+pot

Kettle, not burner.

someone just posted this on r/homebrewing, amazing price for a good brand.

https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1064-Stainless-16-Gallon/dp/B007V493PG/ref=sr_ph_1

You can drain your runnings into a fermenting bucket, and then pour that into the kettle when you have the correct volume. It's what I do.

I have a 36 qt (9 gal) brew kettle and that's fine for a 5 to 5.5 gallon boil (starting with about 6.5 gallons, usually). $72 with Amazon Prime (not sure how much if you don't have Prime).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JXYUA/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just got this kettle
Bayou Classic 1064 Stainless 16-Gallon Stockpot with Spigot and Vented Lid https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007V493PG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_it7myb8PP9N4Y

At 16 gallons with weldless value it's not a bad price to do a mashturn and boil kettle for $260 I believe it's a single ply bottom so you would have to watch closer about scorching but that saves you some money to buy other toys and fittings.
I spent a few bucks on modding my kettle with temp probe, down tube and a recirculating fitting. I would like to add maybe a hop blocker to it.

Maybe pick this up for up for your sparger

Bayou Classic 1032 Stainless 8-Gallon Stockpot with Spigot and Vented Lid https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007TV9LSU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Qx7mybGFYBFKT

I run an outdoor gourmet 24" but it's only 55k btu so it takes few mins to get to temp, I been wanting to get a banjo type burner maybe a anvil or blichmann hellfire.

I still like the false bottom you picked out as I don't care for how bc does theirs.

My next step is I am building a keggle for my hlt and adding a herms coil to it.

Thank you! Any type of steamer could work, you just want to make sure it has a (substantially) flat base so that you can space the dumplings from each other, so they don't stick together. Something like this might work - you might just need to steam them in batches because the flat part is relatively small.

Nothing wrong with a good (cheaper) stainless steel pot for making pasta. I have one like [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-77-412-Classic-Stainless-12-Quart/dp/B0000UV01S) that I use all the time. It's got a steamer basket also which really makes some delicious vegetables.

Microwave spaghetti with this.

Make hard-boiled eggs with this.

Make microwave bacon with this.

They're small and cheap, and you can't argue with those amazon reviews. Makes great stocking stuffers.


Also, make microwave eggs.

Mmmm... now I want a bacon-egg-and-cheese croissant sandwich.

Something as simple as the link below should work ($23.99). But I would first check out your local market and verify the instructions on the box and they might even sell them freshly made. My not-so-local (45 min drive) market sells them fresh, though refrigerated. I would love to have these delivered hot if that were an option for me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000058AKE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484791375&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=steamer+cooking&dpPl=1&dpID=41Uf9OZ90oL&ref=plSrch

I use a cheap $20 stainless steel 5 gallon (actually I use 2 of them to get a full boil now).

http://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Stainless-Steel-Stock-Pot/dp/B000FRJJSM

Looks like 7.5 gallon pots get you above $50. Mine are that thin stainless steel material (not the super thick you find in $200 pots) and my first one has held up for 5 years so far.

I like to use a mix of stuff, simply because some things hold water, or produce steam, better than others.

• 5 gallon stock pot (cooks large amounts of pasta, potatoes, cauliflower, etc.)
  
• 4 quart steamer (great for steaming vegetables)
  
• Set of pots and pans, with lids (heat up, or cook, just about anything, and multiple things at once)
  
• Portable casserole dishes, with lids (bake'n'go)
  
• Set of cooking utensils
  
• Set of measuring utensils
  
• 2x Locking, freezable, storage/transport containers, large
  
• 2x [Locking, freezable, storage/transport containers, small] (http://smile.amazon.com/Popit-Little-Big-Box-Container/dp/B00CMTDVD0)
  
  Everything I linked is made from metal, and rates highly on Amazon.

Is a hand blender really essential? I would add these things:

non-stick skillet

enameled dutch oven

normal kitchen tools

stockpot with steamer insert - many other options for this kind of thing too

And then probably a couple of normal saucepots.


If you want to roast poultry it's nice to have a roasting pan, too.

Hi! Thanks! Ask as many questions as you like.

The pots are these and the valves are these.

Kettle question - Is there much difference performance wise between something like this and this?

Does it need to be 12qts? I've had good luck with this brand. You might also consider this Cuisinart.

.9mm = ~20 gauge, the same thickness as midrange pots such as this, which have been deemed good for brewing. :)

I may have just gotten too cautious with the trub as I was siphoning, but I stopped as soon as everything I was sucking up was extremely cloudy, which could have been about a .5 - 1 gal left still. Also I don't know if 85 degree humid weather in the south caused any faster boil off. But my kettle is definitely a good bit taller than wide (like this one) and I had 12lbs of grain.

There's a pretty common collapsable Metal Steamer that seems ubiquitous. It has little fit on it and hoists the vegetables up out of the water.

Also, that meal looks tasty!

Pretty much this kit: http://www.homebrewing.org/Beginning-Homebrew-Kit_p_352.html

and a pot like so:
http://www.amazon.com/Winware-Professional-Aluminum-24-Quart-Stockpot/dp/B001CHKKZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420572656&sr=8-1&keywords=winware+3+gallon

would be cheapest. You need a bucket, pot and capper at the very least, the rest you can kind of fudge.

I built one and it was pretty easy and not very expensive considering. Warning: The following instructions are probably dangerous. This is what I did, and it's to demonstrate how simple it was to make.

1. Get a 10 gallon pot with a steamer basket.
   
2. Drill one or two 1" holes across from each other with a hole saw in the bottom of the pot, depending on how many elements you're putting in. Put some scrap wood inside the pot while drilling for support. One hole if you're doing it for 220, two for if you only have 110.
   
3. Drill another hole for the bulkhead valve.
   
4. Attach your electric elements. If you have 220. If you have 110.
   
5. Assemble everything.
   
6. Wire up the heating elements with some heavy duty wire. I covered the whole element backside with j b weld so that it won't short out.
   
7. Put some GFCI plugs on there to be extra sure.
   
   It's maybe two hundred bucks and when combined with an inkbird it makes biab a breeze.

Decisions to make regarding my BIAB brew kettle, and hoping you can help.

Go with a Bayou Classic 16 gallon kettle with spigot for $161, or a keggle with a welded full coupling followed by a 1/2" compression NPT to 1/2" compression fitting to a diptube for $150.

I think it depends on what you want to do. If all you are going to do is 5 gallon extract then what you are looking at is likely fine.

If you decide to go to BIAB and want to do a full volume mash, then 8 gallons is going to be tight. You could always go the route of a separate mash tun in which case the 8 gallon boil kettle would be fine.

I was about to buy the same combo you are looking at when the Bayou Classic SS 44 qt was offered for sale on Amazon for $52. At that price it was a no brainer. It is currently offered on Amazon at $82 - not sure how often it goes on sale. https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1044-44-Quart-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000VXHKMC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481464938&sr=8-2&keywords=bayou+classic+44+qt

For a burner I picked up the bayou classic sq14. Seems like plenty of homebrewers use it with no problem. So far I have only fired it up to burn off the paint on the stand. I heated around 8 gallons of cold water to almost boiling (small bubbles) in around 20 minutes. I didn't take it to a boil as I was only interested in burning off the paint and didn't want to waste propane. I am confident this burner will work just fine. It runs around $40 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-Single-Burner-Patio/dp/B0009JXYQ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481465286&sr=8-1&keywords=bayou+classic+sq14

EDIT: I should probably add that I bought the combo above with the intention of continuing to extract brew then look to get a BIAB bag and try some all grain. The 11 gallon size should let me do both.

EDIT 2: Just finished a full boil extract kit (a porter) with steeping grains. The sq14 burner has no problem bringing 6 gallons to a rolling boil on full blast. Once it was boiling it was no problem to back off on the regulator quite a bit to maintain a boil. The wort is in an ale pale with a packet of safale 04 yeast. I'm looking forward to tasting this in a few weeks. I had no worries about a boil over with the 44 qt bayou classic ss kettle. If you can wait you might want to keep an eye on pricing on Amazon to see if it drops again in price. I'm glad I went this route to give me flexibility.

Just ordered a 44 qt bayou classic yesterday. It was a tad cheaper yesterday,but is still a screaming deal at $72. Mine actually came with the steamer basket as well which I'll probably use as a false bottom for a BIAB bag. Ordered a low profile elbow diptube true bulkhead from brew hardware and a valve and a Wilder bag. Looking forward to giving it a go soon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000VXHKMC/ref=sxl1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468443021&sr=1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65

Get you something like this and steam it instead of boil it. Much better flavor IMO, and much less watery.

I was looking at this one a few months back, but I wound up getting a much larger kettle without the built-in thermometer for roughly the same price.

It seemed like the ones with a thermometer were massively more expensive for the same volume, and on the handful of times I've used other people's built-in thermometers I haven't found them terribly accurate (although I'm assuming they can be calibrated). I just use a $10 candy thermometer that I check every so often so make sure it's still accurate.

I got really bad gas when I first started with paleo and eggs. So bad I would get that gas bloating pain just below my stomach. I kept eating them because I have chickens and eventually the bloating went away. Must have been that the bacteria in my gut wasn't setup for it. Now I can eat eggs anytime in any amount with no problems. I've even eaten a dozen in a day.

Otherwise here is a good breakfast that can be cooked in 16 min. It seems like a lot but it's very quick once you do it a few times.

Fill steamer with water and some salt and set on stove under high heat. Set timer for 16 min. Peel some sweet potatoes, chop them and put them into the almost boiling water. Add frozen veggies to the top of the steamer (carrots, peas, brussels, green beans all take 10 min of steaming, broccoli, kale, spinach, take about 5 min). At this point the timer should be around 11 minutes. Grab a skillet and put over medium heat. No oil. Dump in some ground beef. Add salt and spices (I do chilli, garlic, onion and turmeric powder, then top off with ground mustard seeds and ground peppercorn (ground in mortar and pestle). Turn to medium-low and cover. Stir once in a while. Timer should be around 5 min. Get your butter out and cut up 2 TBSP. Get your plate and a cup of ice water. Clean up what you can. Everything should be about done. Add ground beef, veggies to your plate and drain the bottom of the steamer of water and dump chopped sweet potatoes to the plate. Add butter to veggies and sweet potatoes. Add salt as needed. Eat.

Alternatively do all of that the night before and warm it up in the microwave in the morning.

I have been doing 5 gallon batches, but I will probably move up to ~7.5 My kettle. I brew outside pretty much exclusively now.

The best way is to steam them, you can buy pots made especially for this.

http://www.amazon.com/Farberware-Classic-Stainless-3-Quart-Saucepot/dp/B000058AKE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376985179&sr=8-1&keywords=steaming+pot

I suppose you could also just thaw them out and eat them cold.

Ya know, a cheap and easy to find solution might be a veggie steamer basket or steamer rack.

>What do you mean by steaming it?

I have a platform, something like this buts flat. I put that in the bottom of a large pot, put a little water in there, slap on the lid and you have enough space to reheat an entire plate of food in a few minutes.

It's better too because you avoid the scalding outside and frozen inside you get with a microwave.

We use a big pot like this for canning jam; it's deep enough for the jars to be submerged and the wire rack holds the jars so they can be pulled out of the water easily. If you don't actually can the jam, it should keep in the fridge for a few weeks until the shower as long as it is going to be eaten there. You can also freeze jam instead of canning it.

I've brewed maybe 20 all grain batches in one of these and it's held up great, especially given the price.

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1036-Stainless-Steamer/dp/B0009JXYUA/

This is a great kettle for 5 gallon batches. Lots of us use this exact one. http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1044-44-Quart-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000VXHKMC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420666782&sr=8-1&keywords=44+quart+stainless

$8 steamer basket works great.

https://www.amazon.com/Chef-Craft-Stainless-Steamer-9-5-Inch/dp/B0029728H0

I got this one which is 16 gallon with a spigot and it works great. it is about the same price as the one you are looking at and if you decide to do 10 gallon batches or biab then you can.

Looks like a collapsible steamer.

Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Amco-Stainless-Steel-Collapsible-Steamer/dp/B000Q4N2LO

This works outstanding for me. I can do 10 eggs at a time.

Norpro 175 Stainless Steel Vegetable Steamer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FBCP7O

I just bought this one that's twice the size for about the same price:

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1064-Stainless-16-Gallon/dp/B007V493PG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413908290&sr=8-1&keywords=bayou+classic+16+gallon

you lose the thermometer, but that's not a problem for me. Like other's are saying, you really want at least a 10gal for 5 gallon batches.

That's exactly what I did.

Actually, if you already have that much budgeted, this is the kettle I got for BIAB, and I'm very happy with it after 2 brews in it.
http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1044-44-Quart-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000VXHKMC/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1419971421&sr=1-2

Any recommendations on a 10 gallon kettle that isn't too expensive? LBHS only has Blichmann stuff for $400+ or "economy kettles". I don't want something terrible but hoping something exists around $100 that can last me a few years at least that I can add my own spigot to down the road.

Not sure what to even look for really, so does anyone have recommendations or any feedback on this one?

https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-1044-44-Quart-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000VXHKMC

Or should I go for a turkey fryer?

A stockpot is pretty simple -- you don't need anything horribly fancy, doesn't need to hold heat like a dutch oven, etc. No need to go crazy on quality. But features can be handy -- I'm using https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-77-412-Classic-Stainless-12-Quart/dp/B0000UV01S/ these days. The pasta insert is really handy -- works for boiling vegitables and making stock too. I probably use it as a steamer as much as a traditional stockpot as well.

What's reddit's opinion on Alum vs Stainless Steel? I did a comparison search for a SS pot and found this for $72 on the 44 QT size and $98 for the 62 QT size. Is it worth paying 20 bucks more? I was a little worried about the quality of the originally linked item due to a few reviews that said their pot came with holes or failed after a couple uses.

I picked up this aluminum pot (cover separate) and have been happy with the last 2 batches.

http://amzn.com/B001CHKKZK

Bayou Classic 1044 44-Quart Stainless-Steel Stockpot might save you some money. I have the 9 gallon of this pot and it is working great, but I haven't moved to all grain yet.

If you don't want to buy all of the electric countertop appliances listed here, OP, consider at least a steamer pot. Very versatile and the healthiest way to cook anything. Vegetables, chicken. Will cook perfect rice et al very simply. Put rice in a small bowl with water. Steam.

I found I could make rice noodles in one of those microwave pasta cookers. I got mine from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Microwave-Pasta-Cooker-Original-Sticking/dp/B000YT2XOI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425995818&sr=8-1&keywords=Fasta+Pasta). From there, I can add leftover veggies and spices (onion and garlic powder, soy sauce, chili sauce, etc.). Makes a quick and easy meal. Add leftover fish or other precooked meats for non-veg)

You can use those for brewing as long as the enamel stays chip free. Once it chips, you're going to want a new pot. Here's a stainless pot at 40 quarts for ~$50.

Roasting is good, but this also works well http://www.amazon.com/Sunsella-Vegetable-Steamer-Stainless-Steel/dp/B00KYDZHSI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1452469837&sr=8-3&keywords=Steamer+basket

I think most stainless steel stock pots in the size you are looking for would do the trick just fine. You're going to have to look for the disc bottom types if you want to avoid absurd prices. This is the 'Best Buy' stock pot recommended by the fine folks at Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen. Cuisinart also made/makes a 16 qt. version, but it seems difficult to find.

Also check any restaurant supply stores you might have in your area. They will have large, thick aluminum pots that would work well, though may be pricey.

I prefer to use an old fashioned steamer basket. Serving is easier and I can always find it!

Chef Craft 100% Stainless Steel Steamer Basket, 6-Inch Expands to 9.5-Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029728H0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i1aBybT1786NW

A collapsible vegetable steamer or a steamer pot combo. Maybe your kitchen set already has this, but my boyfriend hadn't even seen one, ha.

Get one of these, use it to steam your veggies until they are soft, and sprinkle some of this on em.

So. Friggin. Good.

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Collapsible-Vegetable-Steamer/dp/B005IEGQH4

Basically this one, but not sure of the size. The nice thing about this one it fits in any pot!

Woo! I know this one - it's a collapsible steamer : http://www.amazon.com/Amco-Collapsible-Steamer-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000Q4N2LO