Best way to clean a copper immersion chiller?

[Doliss]

My guess would be to just wash like normal on outside post use and run some star san through it. Any issues with doing this?

 

[Trail]

I don't even wash mine. After I unhook it I give it a jet with the hose and hang it back up in the shed.

When it comes time to use, I rinse it again if there's cobwebs or anything, and chuck it in for the last 15 minutes of the boil. This sterilizes it completely, far better than Starsan would do.

 

[stpug]

I wash mine after use and blow out excess water in the tubing. Next use I just drop it in the boil for last 15 minutes like Trail does; no rinsing or anything, but I also keep it in a plastic trash bag between uses.

 

[Trail]

I hang mine upside down to let it drain. This is really important if you're keeping it outside over the winter... as my first chiller can attest!

 

[wailingguitar]

Sometimes I wash it with dish soap, sometimes not... as long as it isn't grimy, it's ok... and, as said above, dropping it in the kettle for 15 minutes sanitizes it very well. Just make sure you are prepared for the hot water that will come out of it when it gets warm

 

[NTXBrauer]

You don't need to use any sanitizer inside, as the wort will never come in contact with it.

I also just rinse after using, blow it out and put it away. 15 mins in the boil will take care of the rest next time you use it.

 

[user 21663]

I hand upside down to drain what water I can. If you are asking how to clean the outside, I will soak it in star san (same concentration I use for sanitizing) for a while and it comes out nice and shiny.

I also clean it off after using (dunking in my bucket of oxiclean and hot water from the chiller) so it doesn't get that dirty to start.

 

[feinbera]

I soak in oxy-clean while I'm scrubbing down other equipment, then spray it down, to get hop gunk off the outside. I don't worry about the inside at all; garden hose water isn't fit for any brewing purpose anyway, so why bother?

Warm water with a couple glugs of white vinegar will get rid of corrosion and leave the copper nice and shiny, but it's been a while since I've bothered with this step; the oxy-clean-and-rinse alone leaves it clean enough for me, at least so far.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I leave min in the boiler. I spray it off when rinsing the keggle prior to boiling wort, but otherwise it's in there during the entire boil.

 

[Jipper]

I just rinse mine off both before and after. If it gets real dirty or I just want to shine it up I'll take some raw starsan to it with a hand towel. That's a good way to make a 3 year old chiller look brand new again in about 1 minute!

Cheers!

 

[BigFloyd]

You don't need to use any sanitizer inside, as the wort will never come in contact with it.

I also just rinse after using, blow it out and put it away. 15 mins in the boil will take care of the rest next time you use it.

This ^^^^^^.

 

[kh54s10]

Rinse off after use, put it in the BK with 10-15 minutes left in the boil and everything will be sanitized by the steam. As said there is no reason to do anything to the inside of the IC.