Prepping New Copper Wort Chiller...

Got a new copper wort chiller for X-Mas and was just wondering what measures need to be taken to prep it before it's used. I was re-oxidizing my kettle today by boiling it and I dipped in the chiller for a bit (15 mins) to kill off whatever may have been on the outside and gave it a good scrub with a brush before hand. Would this be enough?

Thanks for the help.

Actually I think it's overkill. All I ever did was drop it into my boil kettle 15 minutes before I turned it on.

you mean 'off'?

Jota21 said:

you mean 'off'?

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No....You typically drop it into your kettle in the last 15 minutes of the boil to clean/steralize it. Then at flame out your turn it on....

So all I did to "prep" it the first time, was do what I always do now...drop it in, wait til flame out and turn it on.

I scrub mine down before and after brews, but it's just to get any wort that might have stuck to the sides of it or remove any bugs and spiderwebs that I don't want in my beer It's not an OCD scrub, just enough to get that nice shine on the surface and clean it up. I sanitize just as Revvy mentioned.

Revvy said:

Actually I think it's overkill. All I ever did was drop it into my boil kettle 15 minutes before I turned it on.

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Revvy said:

No....You typically drop it into your kettle in the last 15 minutes of the boil to clean/steralize it. Then at flame out your turn it on....

So all I did to "prep" it the first time, was do what I always do now...drop it in, wait til flame out and turn it on.

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Right. Sorry - when i first read your response, I interpreted it as you drop it in the kettle 15 minutes before you turn the flame on, and assumed you mean 15 minutes before flame-out.

I guess i never really considered the IC as being 'turned on'

there might be some type of oil or lubricant on the outside from the manufacturing process. Scrubing it with a soapy wash cloth would probably get it all off before the first time use.

I just got my wort chiller for christmas. It says to purchase some kind of cleaner (cant remember the name) at a hardware store, as there is a residue/oil left on the copper from the manufacturing process.

wulfsburg said:

I just got my wort chiller for christmas. It says to purchase some kind of cleaner (cant remember the name) at a hardware store, as there is a residue/oil left on the copper from the manufacturing process.

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Hmmm there was a few spots I had to scrub off on me, but it didn't appear to have any oil residue on it. I scrubbed well before and again after the boil and appeared fine.

I did like Revvy. Just dropped it right in the first time. Now I just rinse it off with water after each batch, tip over to drain the water out of it, and sit it on my drying rack until next time.

Same as Revvy- I got the standard Midwest 25' copper chiller, just dunked it in the wort 15 minutes before flameout. Rinse off, repeat next batch. Very low maintenance. I don't even remember anything being on the surface of the copper when it was new, but if a person was concerned, they could just put a half cup of something like Lemishine (citric acid, available at Wal-Mart) in a deep enough bucket of hot water and soak it a while, then rinse off. That should take it down to the metal just fine.