Can you cool down the brew pot in the fridge?

[avillax]

So as I mentioned before, I had problems to cool down the brew pot quickly and I was wondering if you would recommend to place the brew pot in the fridge?

 

[ol-hazza]

You can, but its really slow.

What method areyou currently using to cool?

 

[avillax]

I'm putting the brewpot in the shower which is not too deep, perhaps 2.5 inches of water deep and putting some ice on it, I mention some ice because here in Czech Republic they dont sell ice and I make ice cubes with the tiny freezer I have. and putting some cold wet towels around it fastened with a string.

By the way, if some mod can edit the title, I meant cool down, not call down.

 

[ol-hazza]

hmmm thats not a bad method given your resources. How long is it taking to cool to pitching temp (20°c)? You can improve the Cooling by stiring the wort to mx the hot/coolspots.

Another cheap improvement is a big bucket which holds your brew pot, which you run water through, known as a swamp cooler.

If you plan on sticking with the hobby of brwing i recommend an immersion chiller or counterflow chiller though.

Back to your question im pretty confident your curent methid will be quicker than putting it in the fridge.

 

[Homercidal]

If you can, consider spending the $$ on a small Copper immersion chiller. Might be a bit of work where you live, but it's really worth it, even if it's not super efficient, it's got to be better than what you're doing now.

 

[TheCADJockey]

So as I mentioned before, I had problems to cool down the brew pot quickly and I was wondering if you would recommend to place the brew pot in the fridge?

My friend did. It melted the entire interior of his refrigerator.

 

[Calypso]

Yeah, I would be very careful putting a large pot of hot liquid in a refrigerator. Even if it doesn't damage the interior, that much thermal mass might send your fridge's compressor to an early grave.

 

[mbobhat]

Yea if you have any food in there it may spoil also.

 

[aprichman]

If your water is cold a decent immersion chiller can get 5 gallons of wort to pitching temps in under 20 minutes

 

[Kahless]

There are a lot of tutorials on how to build your own using plumbing supplies as well.

While it is a lot of physical effort, you can stir constantly while cooling in the ice bath and this will make a big difference. Adding salt to the ice bath should also help heat be absorbed from the pot.