Buying a new brew kettle

I’m ready to get into brewing great homebrew so I thought I would start with a nice stainless steel kettle since I have a few bucks now to get one. And a good gas burner too. My electric stove is way to small.

I am thinking of getting a 10 gal kettle with fittings and thermometer so I can do full 5 gallon boils.
I will start out with extract kits and then partial mash before trying out all grain. Will this be a good size kettle if I do go all grain in 5 gallon batches down the road? I thought I read on the forums that some brewers like a bigger 15 gallon kettle.

Once I cool the wort with an IM cooler, I just empty it out through the drain valve into the primary. What is a good filter setup to use?

Thanks for the advice and any tips you can give me.
Cheers
Jimbobrewer

10 gallons is a great size for 5 gallon batches. You will start with 6.5 to 7 gallons of wort. And you have some space for the hot break to form.

15 is need if you want to do 10 gallon batches.

For filtering: if your pot will accommodate a false bottom, they work well.

You can design a pickup tube that goes to the edge of the pot. Stir the wort for a couple of seconds and allow it to sit for 10-20 minutes for a cone to develop. Then drain.

Or, ever so slightly tip the pot (think 1/8th inch). And stir the wort. This should get the hops/trub to settle at the opposite side of the pot of the drain/pickup tube. Then drain. Just factor in the wasted wort to your water calculations. Which you will have some “waste” with any option.

I have read mixed results with the bazooka screens. And some have used SS scrubbies for filters with mixed results.