CFC and march pump Vs Gravity and plate chiller

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for peoples opinion on what they would buy. A plate chiller and use gravity or..... A CFC and a march pump set up? Thanks in advance for your input.

67

March pump and plate chiller. :rockin:

I would not push wort, hot break, & trub through a plate chiller. You'll clog that quicker than Dallas.

Go with a CFC. Easier to use, clean & sanitize. Use a plate chiller for picnics.

Well, Edwort is mostly right in my opinion. If you go with a plate, you're going to have to really evaluate your trub avoidance tactics. A hopstopper type screen and using whole leaf hops might be the only way to keep the plate from getting gummed up. The plate has the advantage of being small enough (and metal) to be oven sanitized. On the other hand, I sanitize my CFC by pumping boiling wort through and back into the kettle for the last 5 minutes of the boil. This recirculation is also a neat trick if your tap is not cold enough to get to pitching temp in one pass.

I vote pump and plate chiller. But as others have said, you need a really good filter in the pot to keep all the crap from getting in. I'm still tweaking my set up. I like the pump as then I can recirculate the cooled wort back to the pot to cool it all at once. This helps to preserve hop aroma and also helps to give you a final clear beer.

I've been using a March pump to push wort through my Shirron plate chiller and haven't had a problem yet. If anything, the pump adds enough force to push everything through and not allow anything to settle.