Candle & Soap Making Techniques

Built in thermostat to regulate heat. Never set the thermostat beyond 250 F.

Sooner or later you may find that a double boiler just can't keep up with your demand for hot wax. While commercial wax melters certainly have their place in a production environment, prices for a commercial melter may set you back at least $600. For many candle-makers that kind of investment simply isn't practical while they are trying to grow their business. Enter the Presto Kitchen Kettle, often simply referred to as a Presto Pot.

A Presto Pot has a few features that make it attractive to candle-makers that are looking to expand their wax melting capacity beyond the traditional double boiler. First of all, it has a built-in heating element that is able to melt seven or eight pounds of wax in about 20 minutes. It has an adjustable thermostat to regulate the temperature and get you in the ballpark of your proper temperatures (you still need to monitor your temperatures with a real thermometer). It has a non-stick surface that is easy to wipe clean with a paper towel while it is still warm. And the most attractive thing about them is that they are cheap, and as your needs grow you can scale up the number of Presto Pots that you use.

You can find them at your local discount stores like Wal-mart or Target for about $20-30. Many second-hand stores will also have used ones for a few dollars. Just be sure that it has the adjustable thermostat. Non-adjustable deep fryers, like fry-daddy's, are not to be used for melting wax as they have a fixed heat setting that is dangerously high for wax. Don't even think about it. Never let your wax exceed 250 degrees F and never set your thermostat beyond that. It will not speed up the melting process.

In this article, we are going to attach a spigot to make a used Presto Pot handier for our purposes. With a spigot attached, we can easily dispense molten wax directly into our pouring pitcher. Some candle-makers will prefer to mix dye, fragrance oil, etc. directly in the Presto Pot. Others will prefer to do the mixing only after the melted wax is in the pouring pitcher, in essence leaving only clean wax in the melter. It is really up to you and probably depends on the size of the batches you typically do. Here we go.

In addition to a Presto Pot, we'll need the following brass parts:

• 3/8" Hex Nipple
• 3/8" Full-Port Ball Valve, ball valves are preferred over any other kind of valve because of the heat tolerance and because of the short motion required to open and close them.
• 3/8" Elbow

All of the images in this tutorial are click-able. You should probably click on the image to the left so you can print it and take it to the store with you.

We'll also need some tools:

• Power Drill
• Crescent Wrench
• 19/32" Drill Bit
• small drill bit
• center punch
• Thread tap to match the size and threads of the brass fittings
• teflon tape

Begin by using the center punch to mark the location for your pilot hole. Because of the non-stick surface of the Presto Pot, this step is important to guide your drill bit. Position it as close to the bottom as possible, but keep in mind that the resulting hole will need to be slightly above the heating element (don't want to end up drilling into the heating element).

Make sure you are wearing proper eye protection.

Using a small drill bit, create a pilot hole to guide the larger drill bit. The size of the smaller bit is unimportant, the point is to creat a pilot hole to guide the larger bit. without a pilot, things can get sloppy.

Place the presto pot upside down on a firm surface. Then, using a 19/32" drill bit, bore the hole out for the larger diameter.

Using a thread tap that is suited for the size of the brass fitting, tap threads into the pot.

Using some teflon tape, prepare the fittings as shown. Wrap the tape in a clock-wise fashon around the threads.

With the nipple fitting wrapped in teflon tape, screw it into the pot. The wrench comes in handy here.

Using a wrench install the ball valve. Pay attention to the orientation of the ball valve. The ball valve is installed in such an orientation that the valve will open as the handle is pulled AWAY from the pot.

Tighten securely. Some rotation of the nipple will occure here and that is a good thing. Tighten until the entire assembly feels relatively tight and secure. Remember though that the pot is constructed of aluminum so you will not want to use excessive force. It is easy to strip the threads in the aluminum pot.

Here is the almost finished melting pot.