Wort Chiller into boil?

I'm just curious what people do with their wort chiller...Bought my equipment from Midwest and their little instructional video said to add the wort chiller to the last 10 mins of the boil to sanitize. I did that on my first batch and it almost stopped the boil completely(electric stove didn't help!). the brew came out just fine but i'm curious to know what others do. do you guys clean and sanitize it like anything else and just add it after the boil or do people add their chiller to the boil to sanitize.

thanks!

I just leave my wort chiller "chilling" in starsan the whole time I'm brewing.. The way I see it is that if its not in the boil it can chill a little fasted as the copper doesn't also have to drop in temp

I boil it for 15 minutes, and yes- it will lower your wort temp as soon as you put it in. If you happen to use a faucet and hose adapter, try running hot water through the chiller before it goes in the kettle. I've found that preheating helps maintain the boil. Kyle

I stick my chiller into my bottling bucket filled with Starsan while my boil is finishing up. I also take this chance to get my chiller connected to the bathroom faucet and make sure I don't have any leaks. (I can't fit a hose adapter onto my kitchen sink since it has a pullout sprayer, so I need to haul my brew kettle about 15 feet over to the bathroom sink to use the wort chiller. Good thing I like to do small batches.)

I dont do anything, I just put it in the wort post boil for a few minutes and I never had an infection so far. I do how ever make sure I clean it off with hot or warm water and then I let it sit in a sanitizing solution, just in case.

I'd suggest putting it in 10-15 minutes before the end of the boil. You could put it in starsan to disinfect it, but there are some advantages to having it in the boil. Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer had a brewstrong podcast that discusses how good copper is for your wort (Added in the boil, never ferment in it). The copper helps grow healthier yeast, and also reacts with some of the sulfur components to reduce the amount of sulfur in your final beer. And to put your mind to rest, the state of California did several tests to find how much residual copper was left in the beer due to a copper boil kettle. Supposedly they couldn't find any residual copper in the finished product, it all either drops out into the trub or is absorbed by the yeast (and drops out).

Conan above had a good point that you can always preheat your chiller, maybe even throw it in another pot with boiling water if you have the space.

Podcast: http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/Brew-Strong/Brew-Strong-09-29-08-Metals-that-Affect-Your-Beer

Conan said:

I boil it for 15 minutes, and yes- it will lower your wort temp as soon as you put it in. If you happen to use a faucet and hose adapter, try running hot water through the chiller before it goes in the kettle. I've found that preheating helps maintain the boil. Kyle

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I agree, run hot water through it first, then put it in 10 - 15 min before it's done.

I keep sanitizer and/or cleaner in my primaries until needed for use. The sanitizer then goes into a bottling bucket with the chiller early while water is heating. After the session the remaining sanitizer is disposed of or, if it is a cleaner, may go into a tub of bottles for hard cleaning after fortifying it a little. I often use some to mop up the floor. No need to waste anything.

NOTHING needs to be boiled for 10-15 minutes to be sanitized!! In 180 F + water bacteria and wild yeast die instantly.

Personally I throw mine in whenever I remember to, at 10 minutes to flame out, sometimes just 2 or 3 minutes before, yes the boil will die down for a few seconds but that's no big deal.