About to Clean Immersion Chiller

[PatMac]

Just got my brand new copper immersion chiller out of the box and am going to clean it for the first time. I'm just looking to get all of the initial dirt and grime off of it right now so that when I brew on Sunday all I have to do is rinse it off and drop it in the boil to sanitize it. I found these directions here and was wondering if anyone suggests something different of if they sound good.

1) Rinse the chiller with hot water and remove any loose dirt. A light scrubbing with a soft cloth will remove any heavy soils. Never use copper, brass or stainless steel scrubbers to clean the chiller. They will scratch the copper coils and provide hiding places for bacteria. Rinse the chiller again with hot water.

2) Make a solution of one half cup of white vinegar and five gallons of cold water. Place the chiller into the solution and let it soak until it is time to place it into the brew pot. The vinegar solution will cause the copper coils to oxidize and finish the cleaning process.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

I usually clean mine with some PBW and a green/yellow scrubbie pad after each use, but I have never put it in a vinegar solution (never worried about it that much). About every third time I use it I will soak it in starsan for about 30 minutes but thats about it.

 

[Bassman]

I like the idea of using PBW to clean it but I do not get the reason to use Starsan. Since you place the chiller in your boiling wort for a good 10 to 15 minutes you are doing what Starsan does. I suppose you could soak the hoses in starsan to sanitize the outside, just in case it touches the wort after cool down, but that seems unlikely. Of course it will do no harm either, but then you should Starsan before you use it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Yooper]

I like the idea of using PBW to clean it but I do not get the reason to use Starsan. Since you place the chiller in your boiling wort for a good 10 to 15 minutes you are doing what Starsan does. I suppose you could soak the hoses in starsan to sanitize the outside, just in case it touches the wort after cool down, but that seems unlikely. Of course it will do no harm either, but then you should Starsan before you use it.

Just my 2 cents.

Star-san is an acid, and it works to get the greenish tarnish off. It's not really tarnish, but whatever it is that copper does. You know how you put your discolored chiller into the boiling low pH wort, and it comes out all shiny? That's because that stuff got washed off in your beer from the low pH of the wort. If you have that discoloration, instead of vinegar use some star-san, and it'll shine that copper right up!

I simply rinse my chiller very well, and then use as long as it's shiny. If not, I use some star-san and a little scrubby to get all the crud off before sticking it in the boil.

 

[Bassman]

Makes sense what you are saying then. I assumed ( always a bad thing ) that you were doing it to sanitize.