Food Safe Coating For Steel?

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mikec

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So I'm putting together a single vessel rig, bucket in pot style.
I've come up with a way to suspend the bucket in the pot using metal shelf brackets (rental apartment, can't mount pulleys).

Only problem is the brackets are steel with some kind of powder coating, and as is, not very food safe.

bracket.JPG

I tested this by sitting one in hot water for an hour and observing the results. Some orange-brown gunk has formed on the inside of the bracket and near the edges (can rust form that quickly?).
Anyhow, I don't much fancy the idea of it being in my wort.

Does anyone know of a good, inexpensive way of coating or treating them to make them safe for sitting in my malty goodness?
A few web searches for "food safe coating for steel" has returned one or two ideas, what do the collective think about these?
1. Shellac paint.
2. Clear lacquer.
3. Powder coating, telling the powder coating place what you need it for.

Whatever I use will need to be fairly hardy, the brackets will be mounted onto the buckets using stainless steel bolts, which may break the surface of the coating.
 
they are going to rust very quick

liquid will get between the coating and the steel and then rust...

thickish ally sheet is pretty easy to cut, might be a better option?

what about some small brackets that hang from the lip of outer pot to support the mash bucket pot ?

eg lift mash bucket up
drop in brackets
lower mash bucket back down
you could hand bend some SS flat and make them ?
 
Maybe just wrap the brackets in large food safe plastic bag(s) eg. vacuum bags, multiple layers of freezer bags etc.
 
Any reason why you can just sit the bucket on a cake rack or upside down bowl within the pot?

I'm not seeing how your proposing to use the steel brackets? Prob just me tho...
 
OK the picture I posted is only half the, er, picture.
The other part of the bracket is the vertical run that normally bolts to your wall. Then the bracket I've shown is slotted in to suspend a shelf.
So I'm putting the vertical run on the bucket, and the shelf bracket upside-down into the run. This means I can insert the shelf brackets at any position on the bucket to rest it at any height within the pot.
So wrapping them in a bag is not an option, because there are bolts holding the vertical run to the bucket, and the shelf brackets need to slot in to the vertical run.
Over-engineered? Maybe...
 
Surely you could just re-design something with food grade materials? You would better off doing it properly the first time.
 
Got it, what size buckets/pots are talking 100l or 20l?
 
40L pot, 20L bucket.

Another option could be to get some SS rods, stick two on the bottom of the bucket (protruding out), and use two more to make a suspension style bracket to clip over the pot. The rods on the bucket just sit over the bracket.

Cambrew - that would be the smart thing to do... I went to Bunnings looking for SS hinges, ideas, or whatever. Saw these and thought "yeah! I'm a f'kin genius!" Bought 4 brackets, grommets, bolts, wingnuts everything to make it happen.
Then I got home and thought "hold on. you can't just dump this stuff in your brew".
So if I can make it work with the stuff I have, cool. If not, back to the drawing board.
 
OK, second stab.

Make a duplicate piece out of food grade plastic chopping board? Use the thick stuff, perhaps two pieces screwed together, because it might soften a bit with the heat.
 
40L pot, 20L bucket.

Another option could be to get some SS rods, stick two on the bottom of the bucket (protruding out), and use two more to make a suspension style bracket to clip over the pot. The rods on the bucket just sit over the bracket.

Cambrew - that would be the smart thing to do... I went to Bunnings looking for SS hinges, ideas, or whatever. Saw these and thought "yeah! I'm a f'kin genius!" Bought 4 brackets, grommets, bolts, wingnuts everything to make it happen.
Then I got home and thought "hold on. you can't just dump this stuff in your brew".
So if I can make it work with the stuff I have, cool. If not, back to the drawing board.

I know what its like, half the time I try and save money by making it my self and end up spending way more than I planned... but at the end of the day it is a lot more rewarding brewing beer with something you designed yourself.
 
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