Question About Pitching

I read some where that after the boil rack, let the wort settle for 4 hours or so and then rack again and pitch. Does this do anything to help clarity? Seems like it would only eliminate hops trube and put the wort at risk for 4 hours. Does anyone do this if so does it help?

It's to let the break material settle out more. However, I agree with you that 4 hrs is a really long time for that. I've seen 30 minutes mentioned as a good #, most recently in the latest issue of byo. So the process mentioned there (for an immersion chiller):
- Chill wort
- Whirlpool wort for a few minutes
- Cover wort in kettle and wait for the whirlpool to stop
- Rack to fermenter avoiding break material mounded in the center

The process for a counterflow chiller involved chilling into an intermediate bucket and whirlpooling/settling in that, then racking to a fermenter.

I agree with you about putting the wort at risk, leaving it to sit for that long. I've had a few that ended up with a fair amount of goo in the bottom a few hours after racking, but I always pitch as soon as I can to get the yeast rolling before any nasties can move in.

If you strain, or better yet... double strain (small hole strainer sitting beneath and catching what a bigger holed one doesn't), the hops will filter out a lot of the goo anyway. I have over an inch of trub in the bottom of the primary of my current batch and it doesn't seem to affect anything.

I'd say it ain't worth the risk.