Wort Chilling Question......

Ok, I don't have a wort chiller and my last batch has chill haze from what I think was an inefficient cold break (it took forever to get the wort down to pitching temps).

We just had a new freezer delivered yesterday, and the thought came to me that with my next batch I should just put my kettle in and let it cool to pitching temps.

Bad idea? Good idea? Or should I just stick with the ice bath?

 

The problem is that a freezer really isn't meant for dealing with that much excess heat. By the time you put something in a freezer, it's usually already cold or frozen already so it doesn't have to work so hard. A few gallons of boiling wort is a lot of thermal mass. Also, you have to worry about stratification where the outside of the pot will cool but leave the inner column hot. An ice bath will work faster if you stir the wort and the ice water (not with the same spoon).