AF1HomeBrew
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You could make a funnel out of an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper to pour the DME into the flask. That's what I've done several times.
How to get DME into Erlenmeyer flask without making a mess?
- Thread starter johnwpowell
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TravelingLight
Well-Known Member
That's good enough for me. I'm usually doing other crap at the same time anyway!
EarthwormJim
Well-Known Member
What do you do with the stir bar when you put it on the stove? I have thought about doing this but was worried about melting the coating off of it or demagnatizing it if I just left it in the flask.
I use a stir bar keeper magnet to hold the stir bar about 2" above the liquid in the flask during boil so the steam can sanitize the stir bar.
Brew on
Just boil away. Haven't had an issue with it.
TravelingLight
Well-Known Member
+1 I put the stir bar in the flask with the water and DME and boil it all up.
I drop it in near the end of the boil but like others menthioned... no problem with the magnetization, or more importantly, no slippage or loss of connection with the magnet.
Man, lots of different techniques here.
I measure out 1L of water, put that in a sauce pan and heat it up. I measure out 100g of DME and stir it into the warm water with a whisk. When it's completely dissolved, I pour it into a 2L flask with a food grade funnel. I get a really slow boil going in it for a few minutes, then remove from flame and cover with sanitized foil. Then I cool in the sink by swirling the flask in increasingly colder water. Then pitch, add the stir bar and the foam stopper, and put it on the stir plate.
I measure out 1L of water, put that in a sauce pan and heat it up. I measure out 100g of DME and stir it into the warm water with a whisk. When it's completely dissolved, I pour it into a 2L flask with a food grade funnel. I get a really slow boil going in it for a few minutes, then remove from flame and cover with sanitized foil. Then I cool in the sink by swirling the flask in increasingly colder water. Then pitch, add the stir bar and the foam stopper, and put it on the stir plate.
TravelingLight
Well-Known Member
I wondered if people still used the foam stoppers. I got one when I first started doing starters. The first damn time I dunked it in starsan and wrung it out, it was screwed. Wouldn't go back to shape. I trashed it and have been using a piece of sanitized foil ever since.
I use one. The key is to get one that is not closed cell. Breathes well, drains well, retains shape. The first one I had did what you mention - only lasted 2 starters.
For anyone who boils or wants to boil in the flask - try the bamboo skewer as a stirrer - it helps keep the oil under control!
Dry flask on scale. 100 grams DME into flask per 1000 ml starter. Use a funnel with a wide tip. Add 80% of needed filtered water, swirl to dissolve. Add stirbar. Put the flask on stir plate and turn on. Come back in 30 min and give it another swirl. Make sure all the DME is dissolved. Top up with filtered water to desired volume. 3 drops fermcap. Flask on low gas burner. Bring to a boil, low boil 10-15 min. Foil on the flask while still boiling so steam sanitizes the foil. Burner off. Flask into water bath then into ice batch. Ready to go.
I have two 2L and one 5L e-flasks, all (allegedly) borosilicate, but our current range is a coil-top.
The risk of an epic mess and loss of a flask vs saving 30 seconds to clean a pot is not compelling enough to me...
Cheers!
The risk of an epic mess and loss of a flask vs saving 30 seconds to clean a pot is not compelling enough to me...
Cheers!
I hate to be that guy that answers the question by changing the subject, but I'm gonna do it anyway. If you have a pressure cooker/canner, making shelf-stable jars of wort for starters is super convenient.
1. Add DME to quart jars
2. Add hot water, don't bother to stir
3. Loosely cap with lid and ring, place in canner
4. Process at 15 PSI for 15 minutes
5. Turn off the heat and forget about it for a few hours as it cools
6. Find a place to put your jars of ready-to-rock wort
There is more to know to safely operate a canner, but that's the gist. Having a half dozen shelf-stable jars of starter fuel feels like cheating, I love it.
1. Add DME to quart jars
2. Add hot water, don't bother to stir
3. Loosely cap with lid and ring, place in canner
4. Process at 15 PSI for 15 minutes
5. Turn off the heat and forget about it for a few hours as it cools
6. Find a place to put your jars of ready-to-rock wort
There is more to know to safely operate a canner, but that's the gist. Having a half dozen shelf-stable jars of starter fuel feels like cheating, I love it.
Am I the only one who takes the no boil approach? My starters are oftentimes 3 to 3.5 liters. I sanitize a 6 quart pot and lid, put in the water, add dme, whisk into solution, add sanitized stir bar, cover with lid, and onto the stir plate it goes.
Been doing this for several months now with no ill effects.
Been doing this for several months now with no ill effects.
TravelingLight
Well-Known Member
I've considered doing this. I just need to figure out the right ratios/gravities so I can can a pint of wort and dilute it to get ~1.040 of 2L of wort.
To get 2L of 1.040 out of one pint, the pint would need to be about 1.160 (a little higher if you do all the math.) More reasonable would be 2L from 2 pints of about 1.080.
Brew on
TravelingLight
Well-Known Member
To get 2L of 1.040 out of one pint, the pint would need to be about 1.160 (a little higher if you do all the math.) More reasonable would be 2L from 2 pints of about 1.080.
Brew on
Excellent! Thanks for the info.
dyqik
Well-Known Member
Ditto. There's very little benefit, if any, from using a conical flask. You don't want an airlock on a starter vessel anyway, so there's no need to use a vessel that can take an airlock. Just cover the beaker in foil.
Not only is a beaker easy to fill and clean, but you can put a small immersion cooler in it (I tightened up my original one built for a 5 gal kettle), and there's way more headspace for krausen on the starter - my conical flask used to overflow if I did a starter larger than half it's volume.
I dissolve DME in hot water from the kettle (filled with spring water from a bottle) before putting the beaker on the stove (with the IC and stirbar in place) for a short sanitizing boil.
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