Why can't I have that trub cone?

I just saw a picture of Kai's trub cone and I thought "Why not me"? Time and again I am left with a thick layer of silt-like material spread across the bottom of my pot. I always have a fair amount of hot break, I use supermoss in the last 10 minutes of my boil and I chill rapidly with an IC. I then give it a minute of stirring around the edge of the pot and let it sit for ten minutes. Without fail I have no cone. I am thinking my problem may be that I use a ten gallon tamale pot which has a substantial indentation about two inches above the bottom. Perhaps it is messing with my whirlpool. Thoughts?

 

I have the same issue. I can never get the trub cone to work right. Best I have done is a little hill in the middle. Maybe Kai has a super stirring ability that we lack?

 

Well I have already spotted one of your problems.......

To get a good whirlpool you only need two things:

1) To get the WHOLE liquid mass spinning rapidly, stir for a while.
2) The patience to let it sit long enough. In my experience 10m will not do it. I wait 20m and have very good results.

If the bottom of your pot is convex, it will not help you any.

 

Which direction do you stir? Clockwise or Counter?

 

If you watched the Simpsons, you'd know all about the Coriolis effect, and this question would make more seance to you! :cross:

 

You should stir they way your toilet flushes.... CW for us Northerners

 

so this doesn't work well in a keggle?

 

That would be concave... and yes, it works well in a keggle.

 

That's a myth...Coriolis effect is far too weak to influence your toilet water or wort. Water swirls in a toilet in the direction it was designed to.

Coriolis Myth

 

I know, but it can't hurt.

 

Thanks for the replies. I do get the whole mass moving. I probably stir for a full minute or three. I suppose I'll just let it sit ten more minutes next time. I figured that once the liquid stopped moving I would not get any further benefit. More time can't hurt though.

 

There are a couple of threads going around about using drill driven paint stirrers to aerate and whirlpool. I've not tried it with wort as I'd want a new paint stirrer to do it, but last week I was mixing some grout. When I went to clean my mixer I cranked the beleebus out of it and pile a nice tall pile of funk at the bottom of the pail.

I'm going to be getting me a new one to use in my brewpot.

 

I use a huge paint mixer on a hammer drill in my keggle and get that stuff spinning something fierce!(ever seen the movie "Twister"?) I even have a pickup tube made of copper that draws from the lower side wall and I still end up with undesirables in my fermenter. A 30 min rest maybe the solution...

 

I've never gotten a good cone either. I suspect the bazooka filter in the kettle makes it impossible.

 

You freakin' naysayers! Next, you are going to try to tell me the Easter Bunny is a myth too?!?! JEEZ, you're killin' me here....

As a side-note, and to contribute a tidbit to the thread, I have never had any success with a trub cone either. As the previous poster indicated, a keggle with a bazooka t-screen in the bottom is not the best place for a productive whirlpool.

 

I don't wanna set you off, but the French believe that Easter eggs are delivered by flying church bells. Don't shoot the messenger!

I've never been able to achieve anything resembling a trub cone either, no matter how hard I swirl or how long I wait it all ends up in an even layer on the bottom. Perhaps the cone is a myth too, but I couldn't find anything about trub on Snopes.com. :cross:

 

I just get a really strong whirlpool going and then put on the lid and walk away for about 20 minutes I guess... It seems to be hit or miss for the most part, but I do it anyway.

I stir clockwise.

 

I remember reading that if the stuff at the bottom of the brew pot is mostly hot and cold break, it will just sit flat on the bottom. You need lots of hops to get a cone.
Because I use a paint strainer bag for whole hops and a knee high stocking for pellets, I don't get the cone either, so I don't whirlpool.

tom

 

(Shurggs) I get a whirl going every once in awhile, i have always wondered if its that bloody important? I mean as long as things get done and things are areated and mixed well then is it just a cosmetic thing, you know hey cool its a whirl pool, is its actully nessacary.... and i know this may seem stupid but ever try a wide profile egg beater? that might be interesting, but im pretty sure you get no whirlpool...

Theres no Easter Bunny? I guess that means i dont have an excuse to sleep with my .22 anymore...damn

cheers

 

Why would the bazooka screen make it impossible?

 

That would explain my trub-cone failures, as I use a hop strainer as well.

 

A bazooka filter is a stainless steel mesh tube. Since it sits on the bottom of the kettle, it creates turbulence right at the point where you need a smooth spin. It also makes the whirlpool slow down too fast.

 

Perhaps I will also take a shot at using whole hops without a bag. I siphon so I wouldn't have to worry about clogging a screen. This is probably one of those problems I'll be working at for as long as I brew.