Best way to clean used plate chiller?

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TeufelBrew

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Got a Schirron plate chiller in CL score along with my kettle and burner. Folks I bought it from did 5 gallon batches in 60qt pot and it looked like they only rinsed the inside of the pot after every use. Had to take the kettle and burner to work and use large 3 comp sinks to be able to soak and clean all the burned wort on the stand and in the pot.

My concern is, if the visible stuff looked that bad, what's the inside of that chiller like? I'm thinking of a long soak in hot (120-130) PBW solution then using small pump to force solution through wort side. I'd go normal flow direction and reverse to hopefully discharge any stuck on gunk.

Once I'm sure I have it as clean as possible, I'm going to give it a nice bake to get as close to sterile as I can. Then I'll do routine cleaning (that previous owners never did) like I do with the rest of the brew equipment.

Think this will be sufficient? Other tricks I ought to try? Other techniques that work?
 
I've actually boiled my plate chiller for 15 minutes in PBW. Following the boiling for 15 minutes I turned off the burner and then went about doing stuff for 4 hours. If you have a pump rated for at or near boiling temperatures I'd recommend the plate chiller submersed in the hot PBW and recirculating the 200+ °F for awhile. Next, I came back and backflushed with the waterhose attachment from BigBox store. Following any type of cleaning with the plate chiller I always toss it in the oven and bake it for 30-45 minutes at 400°F.
 
just a side note,,, just because the outside of the stand has burned wort on it is no reason to think the plate chiller wasnt taken care of. Of course it not a reason Not to too. I've got some crusty, nasty burned sugars on the outside of my boil kettle, but my shirron is clean as a whistle! I would just recirc a hot solution of pbw or oxiclean for a half hour or so. Then keep it clean with back flushing and recirc. of cleaning solution as you clean everything else.
 
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