Best bang for my buck? (so to speak)

[mpruett]

I recently got one of the Duda diesel plate chillers, and it works very, very well. Last Saturday, while cooling my wort with it, I happened to glance over at my old immersion chiller, sitting there looking forlorn, and wondered about the best way to still include him in the brewday.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Hook him up in-line with the garden hose water, and put him in a cooler of icewater, so as to pre-chill the water going into the plate chiller. Advantages- cooler water, lower potential temps. Disadvantages: reduces flow rate, requires more fittings.

2. Put him in the kettle, and recirculate the plate-chiller water through him (i.e. post-plate-chiller). Advantages: No fittings required, no extra cost, cooler wort into the plate chiller means closer to potential minimum temp. Disadvantages: may not cool wort much at all, final temp still limited by incoming water temp to the plate chiller.

Which one makes the most sense to you? Does it matter?

 

[wyzazz]

Are you not getting to pitching temps in 1 pass with your plate chiller? I've never had a problem with mine cooling to pitching temps with my cold well water. Either way, I subscribe to 1 philosophy K.I.S.S., the less you throw in to the mix, the less there is to go wrong.

 

[Doc Robinson]

Neither, and #1 only if you aren't getting down to temp on a first run with the plate chiller. I built a counterflow chiller this weekend that works too good. One pass had me down to 56 degrees.

 

[mpruett]

If I regulate the flow out of the kettle right, I get right where I want to be. I was more thinking in terms of speeding that up, and/or giving myself more options for brewing in August, when the water temp. out of the hose is lukewarm at best.

This time of year, it's not a problem.

 

[Hawgbranch]

Stick it in a HLT and you could recirculate your mash through it. But that aint K.I.S.S.