richc

Recipes 

I recently got a new single coil immersion wort cooler and while thinking about plumbing it in I came up with a question.

Which way should the water flow, should the cold water go in the bottom of the coil and flow out the top or the other way round.

From an ex physicist's point of view it seems fairly obvious that if the wort temperature was the same at all depths then the direction of flow would not be relevant. But, in a real container of wort that was cooling I would expect the temperature of the liquid to be lower at the bottom than at the top, which makes the situation a lot more complicated.

I suspect I am thinking about this to much but has anyone considered this difference or done any experiments.

Rich C

earwig

Recipes 

I doubt it matters much but I do agree with you, top to bottom. The reason I don't really think about it much is because I stir the wort with the chiller to release more heat and move it around quite a bit so if there is a difference it probably isn't much.

keithster

Recipes 

In a standing body of water I would agree the bottom is cooler but your kettle is heated from the bottom, not the top. As far as the direction of flow, I don't think it matters. Just make sure your keep the wort moving as you cool it, it makes a huge difference.

Nova5

Recipes 

Heating direction matters not when your chilling. your heat source is off

Flow direction will matter in a static body of liquid. But not a mobile body. To maximize cooling efficiency stir your wort.

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Chenslee

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My pot is so wide, and my chiller so tall (50' on a corny) that often 3 to 6 coils will be exposed. In this case, it's better to run your cold bottom to the top, otherwise you are just cooling the vapors coming off the wort.

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keithster

Recipes 

The heat source has been turned off but there is still a lot of heat coming from the burner and surrounding frame. That's why you will see a cook turn off the flame and then move the pot/pan to an area of the cooktop that is cool.

Honestly your are only talking a few degrees difference.