I had a lot of problems cooling my wort with ice and didn't have a wort chiller for my 5 gallon partial boil. I had to actively monitor and cool it down over several hours. In the end, I had to come back to it the following morning
I've read some inventive means to cool down a 5 gallon boil i.e icing PET bottles, used iced paddles and some concerns over putting iced bottles into hot water and if the wort is left in the open air.
If I'm looking at a very cost effective and hands off, easy approach, what about the following
1) Sanitize the inside of a gallon milk jug, fill with water, and maybe some rock salt and put in the fridge overnight prior to brew day
2) After wort has boiled, cut open the frozen milk jug, drop into the brew pot
3) Cover brew pot to avoid any bacterial contamination
4) By the time morning arrives (if not sooner) it should have reached 70 or below, but essentially room temperature and ready to transfer to the primary fermenter
In other words
1) No need to deal with a messy ice bath and constantly stirring i.e hands off approach
2) Water is already sanitized and ice is not contaminated
3) Ice is inside the brew pot and therefore should be faster to cool than an outside ice bath
4) Since brew pot is covered, it's not open to contamination
5) Easy approach with no cleanup
6) Minimal cost i.e milk jug would have been thrown away anyway
Sure I have to wait and it may be overnight, but everything is covered and it's minimal hassle and ultra cheap
I've read some inventive means to cool down a 5 gallon boil i.e icing PET bottles, used iced paddles and some concerns over putting iced bottles into hot water and if the wort is left in the open air.
If I'm looking at a very cost effective and hands off, easy approach, what about the following
1) Sanitize the inside of a gallon milk jug, fill with water, and maybe some rock salt and put in the fridge overnight prior to brew day
2) After wort has boiled, cut open the frozen milk jug, drop into the brew pot
3) Cover brew pot to avoid any bacterial contamination
4) By the time morning arrives (if not sooner) it should have reached 70 or below, but essentially room temperature and ready to transfer to the primary fermenter
In other words
1) No need to deal with a messy ice bath and constantly stirring i.e hands off approach
2) Water is already sanitized and ice is not contaminated
3) Ice is inside the brew pot and therefore should be faster to cool than an outside ice bath
4) Since brew pot is covered, it's not open to contamination
5) Easy approach with no cleanup
6) Minimal cost i.e milk jug would have been thrown away anyway
Sure I have to wait and it may be overnight, but everything is covered and it's minimal hassle and ultra cheap