Hey all,
The last few brew days I've done a little something to noticeably speed up my wort chiller. Not too long ago I switched from a stovetop 4 gallon kettle to a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer setup. Being a cheap grad student, I didn't feel like springing for a new chiller, and stuck with the tiny one. Remembering my godawful heat transfer class, I realized that moving the wort over the coils of the chiller would greatly increase its efficiency. So, I stirred, and it sped things up a bit.
A bit later, I got into mead making, and got a mix-stir. When I utilized this, it gave me an even greater increase in chilling speed, getting me to pitching temps in about half the time.
The caveat here, of course, is oxidation. The faster you spin the wort around the chiller, the faster it cools, but you don't want to go so fast that it starts to froth and bubble until your temperature is below 80, or you risk hot-side oxidation.
This may be old news to you guys, but I couldn't find mention of similar techniques anywhere, so I thought I'd post it and hope I didn't re-invent the wheel.
Have a good night!
T
The last few brew days I've done a little something to noticeably speed up my wort chiller. Not too long ago I switched from a stovetop 4 gallon kettle to a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer setup. Being a cheap grad student, I didn't feel like springing for a new chiller, and stuck with the tiny one. Remembering my godawful heat transfer class, I realized that moving the wort over the coils of the chiller would greatly increase its efficiency. So, I stirred, and it sped things up a bit.
A bit later, I got into mead making, and got a mix-stir. When I utilized this, it gave me an even greater increase in chilling speed, getting me to pitching temps in about half the time.
The caveat here, of course, is oxidation. The faster you spin the wort around the chiller, the faster it cools, but you don't want to go so fast that it starts to froth and bubble until your temperature is below 80, or you risk hot-side oxidation.
This may be old news to you guys, but I couldn't find mention of similar techniques anywhere, so I thought I'd post it and hope I didn't re-invent the wheel.
Have a good night!
T