Best chilling option for small batch?

[Laser83Eric]

Typically when I do small batch I'll put my kettle in my kitchen sink and surround it with ice. Last night I did a batch and since I was low on ice, I just put the kettle in my fridge to cool. I made a point to watch it closely in case it cooled too fast, and it was the total opposite. It took forever to cool a gallon of wort.

Anyway long story short, I'm looking for a better way to do this. Obviously my chiller won't fit in a small kettle. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[bernardsmith]

air is a much less efficient conductor of heat than water which is why putting your kettle in the fridge won't cool your wort quickly. If you don't have ice could you not put your kettle in a plastic basin filled with cold water and place that basin in a large sink or the bath and allow cold water from the faucet to continually fill the basin - in effect transferring the heat from the kettle to the water and exchanging the warmer water with colder water so that the outside of the kettle is always in contact with cold, not warmed water... ?

 

[GHBWNY]

I made a point to watch it closely in case it cooled too fast, and it was the total opposite. It took forever to cool a gallon of wort. I'm looking for a better way to do this. Obviously my chiller won't fit in a small kettle. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

First, you want your wort to cool fast. Faster, the better. This the cold break where proteins are thermally shocked (precipitated) out of solution so that your beer doesn't end up with chill haze. A slow cooling is a sure recipe for chill haze.

Second, maybe get a kettle big enough to handle your chiller?

 

[Laser83Eric]

air is a much less efficient conductor of heat than water which is why putting your kettle in the fridge won't cool your wort quickly. If you don't have ice could you not put your kettle in a plastic basin filled with cold water and place that basin in a large sink or the bath and allow cold water from the faucet to continually fill the basin - in effect transferring the heat from the kettle to the water and exchanging the warmer water with colder water so that the outside of the kettle is always in contact with cold, not warmed water... ?

Good idea; I didn't even think about that (as would be obvious by my thread). I think I'll give that a try next time; I'm sure it will work much better.

First, you want your wort to cool fast. Faster, the better. This the cold break where proteins are thermally shocked (precipitated) out of solution so that your beer doesn't end up with chill haze. A slow cooling is a sure recipe for chill haze.

Second, maybe get a kettle big enough to handle your chiller?

Agreed, it needs to cool much more quickly than it did last night. I'm sure I'll have haze, which is what I was hoping to avoid. I was worried that if I didn't keep a close eye the wort would drop below 72 before I noticed. Apparently my science knowledge could use a refresher.

 

[wilserbrewer]

To use less ice, do most of the chilling with water, the add ice when the wort is around 100.

Using the ice right away will require much more ice.