I just got a Presto 23 qt. aluminum pressure cooker/canner yesterday and besides being used to can tuna, i was also planning on using the pot to heat my sparge water (currently I heat sparge water in SS pot, pour into 5 gal cooler, then runoff wort into pot, transfer mashout water from 5 gal cooler into mash...). My only issue is that there are warnings in the instructions to not use the pressure cooker on outdoor LP burners or gas ranges over 12,000 BTU's....

Is this warning due to pressure issues when canning? I can't think of why I couldn't heat up water on the turkey cooker in what is basically an aluminum pot. Anybody else use pressure cooker on turkey cooker setups?

Correct on warning.

I think my pressure canner has plastic handles, don't let them melt.

I do think that letting the handles melt would be detrimental to the operation of the seal. I'll do what I can

Other than plastic handles, its basically an aluminum pot. I can't melt that, right?

Yes you can melt the aluminum. Don't run it full blast on the burner while the pot is empty. The warning is because it can over pressurize real quick on big burner.

and over pressure can cause big explosions.

Check and check.

Are you planning to heat the water with the cover on? If not, only the plastic handle warning applies but considering that the pressure cooker is used to temps up to around 250°F, I don't think you have to worry about the handles.

I have used my 6 qt Pressure Cooker on a propane burner (P cooking the first runoff was supposed to give a maltier flavor)but it tends to get soot on the bottom of the pot..as with ALL PCs one should drop flame when appropiate pressure is reached for safety and efficiency.
Lately (yesterday,BTW)I have used it on my propane BBQ grill.I cut the top of the grill grate in half vertically so the grill grate could be put in the dishwasher and then trimmed off a bit of one part horizontally so that that half of the grill sits low-about 1" above the flame rather than the usual 4" .I am getting good heating but not too much and no soot

My plan was just to use the pot part of the PC - That way I don't run the risk of scratching/denting/dropping a new PC lid and it cracking or the pressure valve breaking. Just heating water in the pot. Good point Dan, it should be able to handle it the heat. Should.

If U use a diffuser (small piece of X shaped metal across centr of jet) or keep it low flame U will reduce the risk of warping which can be a factor if the flame is very high

Hey Hank, how did pressure cooking the first runoff work for you? See any difference in maliness? I was planning on doing myself. I pressure can work for starters and ends up much darker, and sometimes if the seal doesn't take, I end up running a jar through a second time and that one ends up much darker. At some point I would assume those additional malinoidins change the flavor.