I brew 3-gallon batches, doing full-wort boils in a 5-gallon pot. I did the ice bath thing for a while but got sick of lugging 12 lbs of ice up the several flights of stairs to my apartment and having to wait almost an hour for my wort to chill to pitching temps. So I bought an IC, after reading how they're quicker than ice baths and less wasteful of H20, etc. Well, my experience thus far has been unimpressive. It still takes me a good hour to get my wort to pitching temp, and I really can't seem to get it any lower than 76°F. The chiller's a bit too big for the pot, so there's usually a coil or two of the tubing sticking out, but I can't imagine that makes a whole lot of difference. My tap water is usually around 60 to 65°F. I adjust the water flow rate to maximize the temperature of the water exiting the tube; usually it's barely above a trickle. I'm also stirring the wort frequently, which I'd prefer not to do b/c of the contamination risks.
So, my question: I'm sick of wasting so much time chilling the wort, especially because the kitchen sink is tied up the whole time. Any ideas why it takes me so long to get the wort down to pitching temps with this setup? Would a chiller made from a longer length of tubing, and thus having more coils, make a significant improvement? Would compressing the chiller I have, so that all the coils are submerged in my shallow pot, make a significant improvement? Or should I just bite the bullet and get a CFC (which will also require a new kettle with a spigot)?
So, my question: I'm sick of wasting so much time chilling the wort, especially because the kitchen sink is tied up the whole time. Any ideas why it takes me so long to get the wort down to pitching temps with this setup? Would a chiller made from a longer length of tubing, and thus having more coils, make a significant improvement? Would compressing the chiller I have, so that all the coils are submerged in my shallow pot, make a significant improvement? Or should I just bite the bullet and get a CFC (which will also require a new kettle with a spigot)?