Minimum Distillable Amount in a T500 Boiler.

[Saltbush Bill]

Over the years Ive seen a few people ask what the minimum amount that can safely be distilled in a T500 or similar boiler is.
These boilers are designed to be used with a 25L charge......from memory they will hold 28L at a crunch.
As some of you will know I started out in this hobby with one of these stills, I soon found that to make a decent neutral I needed to strip washes before making a spirit run.
That resulted in me buying the equipment needed to solder , then learning to solder and building my first pot still head.
At the same time I also bought a spare lid for the boiler so that I didn't need to be constantly swapping the pot head and the reflux head back and forth between the one lid. This was way before anyone had thought to invent or manufacture a bolt on tri flange / clamp accessory to suit these lids.
One of those is now a couple of clicks away if you want to buy one on line,no soldering skills needed now.
The reflux head is long gone , but the boiler and pot still head that I made back then has become my main Gin making still for the last 8 years or so.
Photo below.

In that time Ive made a fair bit of gin, The gin Is made by macerating the botanicals in 2 Liters of neutral for 24 hours, this is then added to the boiler and another 2 Liters of neutral is added. Total boiler charge 4 Litres plus botanicals........the botanicals are not strained from the neutral before it is added to the boiler.
There is no scorching or any other associated problems.
Below are photos of what is left in the boiler after a 4 Liter run.

This is how it looks without any washing......still clean. The black spots are just bits of Juniper and other botanicals that have been floating around.....they will just rinse out with a squirt of water.

This is what is left in the still after a 4L run

These stills have the element under the boiler , not in the boiler, hopefully this will help anyone wondering how little they can run in one of these boilers when making Gin.

[Yummyrum]

Nice to see your old boiler’s getting a second lease of life Salty , IIRC those T500 boilers had a 2kw element in them .
Do you run it as is, or via a power controller when doing such a small Gin run ?

[Saltbush Bill]

I let it go full bore Yummy , Ive tried hooking my controller to it a few times and distilling the gin at a much slower pace, the only difference seems the be that I sit next to the still for 5 times longer the product is no better or worse.
People can decide on what speed they want to run at for them selves.....object of this post is only really to point out that you can run as little as 4 L without any worry and that there is no need to remove the botanicals before distillation.
They are a handy little boiler in many ways .......Ive also built a very fine stainless mesh false bottom for it.
Using that Ive managed to strip a few very thick / soupy type grain and fruit ferments for experimental purposes without ending up with a scorch.

[BrewinBrian44]

I too started the hobby with a T500 boiler. I wanted to
Increase the usefulness of my time, so I quickly upgraded to the keg boiler I use today.

I still use the T500 for small runs when I know I’ll have very little left behind in the boiler. In the keg boiler, my threshold of comfort means I’ll always need 2 gallons to keep the element covered.

[Renhoekk]

Must’ve read my mind Bill….I have one of those boilers and I was literally wondering just this morning how low it could go.

Have you noticed any difference in flavour with a smaller charge and a higher headspace vs a fuller charge and little headspace?

[Saltbush Bill]

I've done up to 8L charges of gin Renhoekk.
Never tried to do larger as I don't like the idea of cooking the botanicals for extended periods.
I'd rather do 4 × fast 4L runs than one single run of 12L or more.
I've never noticed a difference caused by head space using those quantities.
But that's just my way......I'll leave it to you to experiment.

[bunny]

Over the years Ive seen a few people ask what the minimum amount that can safely be distilled in a T500 or similar boiler is.
These boilers are designed to be used with a 25L charge......from memory they will hold 28L at a crunch.
As some of you will know I started out in this hobby with one of these stills, I soon found that to make a decent neutral I needed to strip washes before making a spirit run.
That resulted in me buying the equipment needed to solder , then learning to solder and building my first pot still head.
At the same time I also bought a spare lid for the boiler so that I didn't need to be constantly swapping the pot head and the reflux head back and forth between the one lid. This was way before anyone had thought to invent or manufacture a bolt on tri flange / clamp accessory to suit these lids.
One of those is now a couple of clicks away if you want to buy on on line,no soldering skills needed now.
The reflux head is long gone , but the boiler and pot still head that I made back then has become my main Gin making still for the last 8 years or so.
Photo below.
20230926_183940.jpg
In that time Ive made a fair bit of gin, The gin Is made by macerating the botanicals in 2 Liters of neutral for 24 hours, this is then added to the boiler and another 2 Liters of neutral is added. Total boiler charge 4 Litres plus botanicals........the botanicals are not strained from the neutral before it is added to the boiler.
There is no scorching or any other associated problems.
Below are photos of what is left in the boiler after a 4 Liter run.
20230926_183109.jpg
20230926_183120.jpg
This is how it looks without any washing......still clean. The black spots are just bits of Juniper and other botanicals that have been floating around.....they will just rinse out with a squirt of water.
20230926_183216.jpg
This is what is left in the still after a 4L run
20230926_183506.jpg
Thes still have the element under the boiler , not in the boiler, hopefully this will help anyone wondering how little they can run in one of these boilers when making Gin.

A little more detail might be helpful.

What is the approximate ABV of your neutral?

Your beaker says you might have collected 2300ml of gin at what ABV?

What is the ABV of the 1700ml left in the beaker?

[Saltbush Bill]

What is the approximate ABV of your neutral?

Approximately 40% give or take a point or two.

Your beaker says you might have collected 2300ml of gin at what ABV?

You could assume that the keep was 2.3, but that would be wrong as a small cut is take at the beginning of the run, not because of taste , but that first small bit is what causes a lot of the louching in gin. Isolate that first small cut one day , add water .....repeat with following jars and you will see what I mean.
There is also another cut at the other end of the run, I run until the distillate leaving the still is cloudy. That cloudy jar and the one or two before it don't make the grade. too much earthy flavour from the cassia. I could do it another way by using less cassia , but I dont.

What is the ABV of the 1700ml left in the beaker?

I don't know , its of no interest to me , its the slops that are left over......the ABV would be very low.

[GrumbleStill]

Thanks for posting SBB.

It’s great to see master distillers share their experiences with entry level gear like the T500 boiler.

These concealed element units are simple to use, easy to clean, relatively safe and incredibly versatile.

And when you move onto bigger and better things down the track, the ability to do really small batches means the investment isn’t wasted.

Cheers

[shadylane]

Is there a thermal switch on a T-500 to protect the element from the pot being boiled dry?

[Saltbush Bill]

Yes there is

[Chauncey]

The t500 boilers I've seen have a minimum fill mark. I wouldn't go under it. I melted the plastic on mine using it outside of the manufacturers guidelines. I'd love another one though, the problem with mine was me and my crazy ideas.

[Saltbush Bill]

Never seen one with a minimum mark, might depend on country and age.
10 years using it for gin and ouzo on a fairly regular basis and not a problem.
99% of that time running 4L.

[shadylane]

Yes there is

That would help survive dry fire mistakes.
Some folks have looked down a T500, I figure it's great for beginning homedistillers.
The more folks safely distilling, the sooner it will become normal and legal.

[Saltbush Bill]

They are not a bad little beginners still shady.....mine taught me a lot about running CM stills when I first stuck a toe into the distilling waters.
They are fiddly little buggers to run so you either sink or learn to swim when learning on one.
Knowing what I know now they wouldn't be my first choice as a beginner's still, thesedays there are better things out there for similar money.