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I have ran up on some 55 gallon drums. He said a magnet sticks to them. They are not painted. What do yall think?

I don't know. I would say 304 or 316. Look on the bottom I bet it will tell you what it is. South Africa is a crap shoot.

If a magnet sticks it could be 400 series stainless. Try putting a small blot of water on it over night. If it rusts its carbon steel if not its probably stainless as it won't rust that easily. If it had high acid food in it it might have a liner inside like a soda can.

If they was gonna rust with a drop of water over night I would think they would have done rusted. And he said there was a liner inside when hauling the lemon juice

All matter is "magnetic", matter is made atoms which have electric and magnetic fields as properties. Not all matter has strong enough field to stick to a magnet.

Austenitc is the kind of stainless steel we prefer to use.
304 and 316 are Austenitic types of stainless steal as such it would not be magnetic. The 300 series in general is Austenitic. This type of stainless steel is very corrosion resistant and is used in dairy and other food processing applications.

If your barrel is stainless steel it would be a ferretic or martensitic as these types are magnetic (a magnet will stick to it). These types of stainless steel are not as corrosion resistant as Austenitic.

I cannot say whether or not your barrel is stainless steel, but if it is magnetic it is not Austenitic and may not be suitable for distillation.

MitchyBourbon wrote:All matter is "magnetic", matter is made atoms which have electric and magnetic fields as properties. Not all matter has strong enough field to stick to a magnet.

Austenitc is the kind of stainless steel we prefer to use.
304 and 316 are Austenitic types of stainless steal as such it would not be magnetic. The 300 series in general is Austenitic. This type of stainless steel is very corrosion resistant and is used in dairy and other food processing applications.

If your barrel is stainless steel it would be a ferretic or martensitic as these types are magnetic (a magnet will stick to it). These types of stainless steel are not as corrosion resistant as Austenitic.

I cannot say whether or not your barrel is stainless steel, but if it is magnetic it is not Austenitic and may not be suitable for distillation.

Mitchy is correct. I do not understand why many on this forum post something about a magnet test being that a magnet sticks to the metal it must be stainless. To my knowledge both 304 and the better 316 are non magnetic.

From Bosun Supplies Company.... http://www.bosunsupplies.com/StainlessInfo2/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

"304: The basic alloy. Type 304 (18-8) is an austenitic steel possessing a minimum of 18% chromium and 8% nickel, combined with a maximum of 0.08% carbon. It is a nonmagnetic steel which cannot be hardened by heat treatment, but instead. must be cold worked to obtain higher tensile strengths."

"316: For severe environments. Of course, there are many industrial processes that require a higher level of resistance to corrosion than Type 304 can offer. For these applications, Type 316 is the answer. Type 316 is also austenitic, non-magnetic, and thermally nonhardenable stainless steel like Type 304. The carbon content is held to 0.08% maximum, while the nickel content is increased slightly. What distinguishes Type 316 from Type 304 is the addition of molybdenum up to a maximum of 3%."

Why is the magnetic stainless steel not suitable for distillation?

Hi, the simplest answer is that stainless 304 or 316 is definitely not magnetic, if a fairly powerful magnet, ie an led worktorch wont pick it up its good stainless the other grades rust very badly and could rust in places you may not be able to easily access after you build it
Cheers
Stainless

Hi again, ok a magnet sticks means its low grade and no use to you.
I found on google lemon concentrate juice from spain and it had 500gpl in 200 litre 45 uk 55 us gallons by refrigerated road transport
It also said that concentrate was packed inside in a double skinned plastic? bag.
Now I have a question or two???
What is the copper colored strip on the inside of the barrel?
Why does the base of the barrel appear to be totally a separate item? could this be a peltier effect cooler/heater?
haha, would be a cracking fermenting drum if you could throw in 5-10 gallons of water and have a liner with 30 gallons wash/mash in it, an and pid controller to hold temps on the peltier?

WOW
I want one
Cheers
Stainless

The copper colored strip on the inside if the barrel is the weld seam location from an automated welder.

The bottom looks different because it is a separate piece that is mechanically flanged into the bottom of the drum by rolling the edges together. These multipart steel drums have crevices at the bottom due to this assembly technique that make them near impossible to ensure they get cleaned properly.

Way too many doubts about the grade of material, impossible to clean the crevice areas.... i recommend you take a pass.

304 ss is typically magnetic, though less than plain steel. 316ss is not. 304ss is an acceptable grade of ss for stilling.
Good point about the rolled seams, though if I got one for a really good price it's get a 2" Star-San soak overnight. Don't use bleach on 304 or 316 for a long soak, it'll cause cracking.

I try not to go around correcting people if not necessary, in this case I think it is important that we are clear about the vessels we use for distillation are resistant to corrosion.

Any Austenitic type SS can be manufactured so that it becomes magnetic including 316. In order to achieve this the SS must be cold worked. The more cold working done the more magnetic it will become. Also, the lower the alloy content the more susceptible the SS is to becoming magnetic. While 304 SS is more susceptible than is 316, you must go out of your way to make it magnetic. Just a little cold work is not going to do it. As for this discussion there does not appear to be a much cold working required to build a pot or a milk can.

I would think finding a pot made of 304 that a household magnet would stick to would not be typical.

We use a lot of 304ss at work. Tubing, sheet metal, pipe, fittings. All of the stuff we use is magnetic and typically used for high temperature alcohols and hydrocarbons. We do come across bad batches of 304 and/or 316 sometimes, but typically stop using that supplier afterwards.

A few years back I scored 2 55 gallon drums that I thought were stainless steel. They had previously contained eucalyptus oil and I intended to make them into an smoker. BUT they were simply tin plated. Not saying that is the case here, but these cans looked gorgeous and nice and shiney, as soon as heat was put to them, the finish began to fail. Test a spot on the outside with a torch, if it is plated you will know.

Turned out these was galvanized. Went ahead and bought them for $10 a piece to resell. Is galvanized alright to ferment mash in??

I wouldn't.

"For most foods, contact with galvanized steel is perfectly safe. Only acidic foods should not come in contact with galvanized steel according the the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The acid in some foods reacts with the zinc coating to form salts that are readily absorbed by the body and in excess could cause a very mild sickness. So, where is galvanized steel used in food production operations? There are two primary and distinct areas, for the structural supports of a building, such as a bakery or slaughterhouse, and for trays, racks, conveyor, freezers, refrigerators, and counter-tops in direct contact with the food. Qualifying all of this discussion is the fact zinc is a necessary part of our RDA, approximately 15 mg should be a part of your daily intake. "

Based on that, I would say no...... but if you were making a batch of Granny's famous cold remedy, the extra zinc in the hootch may help if you can get over the metallic taste. YMMV