IC coils above the wort...thoughts?

[LRS_Brewer]

I am looking at buying a Jaded IC, but am torn between the Hydra and King Cobra. If I buy the Hydra and brew a 5 gallon batch, it looks like there will be about 2 inches of its 8 inch height above the wort. The King Cobra is only 4 inches tall, but I am concerned with it's performance in larger batches. Anyone have thoughts or direct experience with either scenario?

 

[govner1]

Have you considered a CFC?

 

[Bschiltz]

My homemade IC sticks above the wort on 5 gal batches. I make sure to splash hot wort over the exposed copper pipe a couple times before cutting the flame. Haven't had a problem with it yet.

 

[Sadu]

I would have thought the steam would sanitise any bugs since steam is hotter than water. Main concern is having 25% of the chiller not exposed to the wort, those things are all about surface area.

 

[Landers]

A couple inches of my coil sit above the wort on 5 gallon batches and i have not seen any significant loss in efficiency. I build mine for a specific kettle but when i upgraded the new kettle was wider, dropping the wort level below my top coils and i cant tell a difference in cooling time.

Landers