Goofy question about brew pot accessories

[justonemore]

Ok I have only brewed one batch so far, but think i will really enjoy this "hobby".
I am seriously thinking about adding a weldless thermometer to my brew pot, just to make it easier keep an eye on the temp. Since I am only doing extract at this point and there is alot of stirring the pot, how do you "protect" the probe? Is it possible to break it, or should I just DWRAHAHB?

And also, I overheard someone at the hbsh talking about not using the valve on their brew pot anymore because they had a bad experience with a light colored wort coming out dark at first from residue in the valve from previous batches. Is it hard to keep the valves CLEAN? Is it really worth it to have the valve for extract batches?

 

[Yooper]

Well, I don't have a thermometer on my brewpot, so maybe I'm the wrong one to answer! But I just have to ask, "Why? Why do you want a thermometer on the brew pot?" If you're mashing in that pot, you'll need a thermometer, but if you're only boiling it it, I don't see the need for one. Boiling is boiling. I guess it'd be somewhat useful after the boil, while cooling, but I can't see the need for one in a brewpot.

I don't know why they'd have a problem with a valve. Maybe they used brass or something that interacts with wort? I dunno. Mine are all fine. You can just rinse them out when you wash the pot.

 

[dzlater]

I have been thinking of adding a valve to my kettle also.
I was wondering how does one sanitize the ball valve for
transfer of cooled wort into the fermentor?

 

[ajf]

I have a thermometer on my brew kettle, and find it very useful for heating sparge water and judging how long it will take to come to the boil. In both cases, just a quick glance is all that is required.
I use the Blichmann Brewmometer which has a fairly short stem, and it hasn't given me any problems.
As for the valve, I agree with Yooper, but I give it a quick brush with a tubing brush after each brew.

-a.

 

[SumnerH]

IMO, the built-in thermometer is more of a pain than it's worth because of the stirring and cleaning issues.

If you clean the spigot properly, you shouldn't have problems with it; OTOH, it's not something you really need, either.

 

[ICanHazBeer]

I've done extract with steeping grains and wished I had a thermometer on the kettle to keep steep temp steady. I have found that one that clips on the side of my brew pot with the probe extending into the pot worked great for me. When done steeping, could remove it and add extract and stir like crazy.

 

[jturie]

I would think that cleaning those valve is as easy as boiling up some water and running it through the valve.

Never saw the reasoning behind those brewpot therms (well, OK--they look really cool). Temp control is essential only for mashing--steeping of grains is no biggie unless you go way over 170 (I get it to 160 and then just turn off the heat). I'm not doing AG yet, but I think it would be preferable to use my clip thermometer so I can take the temp at a bunch of different points in the grain bed, and not be limited to the spot where the kettle probe is sticking out.