Rediculous equipment question

[andrewmurray00]

I'm a noobie brewer. I bought an 8 gallon Megapot from northern brewer and had them install a thermometer and a ball valve. I also bought an XL wort chiller from a brewer friend at work (3/8" x 70'). Such a large wort chiller is overkill for my pot (indeed I had to crush it down to fit it in the pot), but hey, I figured it would cool things down in a hurry.

Here's what I found when I went to to put the assembly together: the inside diameter of the pot is 14 1/4", the outside diameter of the wort chiller is 10 1/2" and the probe of the thermometer is 6" long. The means I have to set the wort chiller doesn't fit into the pot if the thermometer is there. I have to spread the coils of the wort chiller so I can slide the thermometer in from the side and then tighten it down.

This just doesn't seem right. Do people leave the wort chiller in the pot for the whole boil process? There's no way I could get mine out without disassembling the thermometer and thereby opening a hole in the side - bye bye beer!

By the way, I bought a stuby Blickman brewmometer with a three inch probe, but it requires a 1/2" hole and my pot was predrilled with a 3/4" hole.

What are your experiences with this? Is there a problem with leaving the wort chiller in the whole time?

 

[djsethall]

Why do you need to know the boiling temperature of your wort? Water boils at 212f. No thermometer needed.

 

[buffalobrewer]

probably to know when the wort is chilled. That's what I use mine for.

I just put my chiller on top of thermometer and not worry about it. Pick up off thermometer to get a good reading while chilling.

 

[1ratdog]

leave the chiller rest on the thermo probe or plug thermo hole and buy a pocket thermo i personally would not boil my chiller the whole hour in the pot.

 

[arturo7]

remove the probe

dip it in by hand for checks on cooling

 

[Bobby_M]

Shorter probe. I bet you could easily sell the 6" probe version nearly for the price of a 2.5" one. I have a 3" dial with 2.5" probe for $25.

 

[iaefebs]

Why do you need to know the boiling temperature of your wort? Water boils at 212f. No thermometer needed.

I like my thermometer in the BK because it helps me know how much time I have before I have to be on the look out for a boil over.

 

[Vuarra]

The size of the wort chiller is only limited to the amount of heat absorbed by the fluid going through the chiller. If you only have so much fluid going through at one time, it will not be any faster than a smaller one with the same amount of fluid going through.

Just my two cents. I personally only use a thermometer for AG / PG, but that's just me. I've found that I have started to be able to judge when the wort is going to boil by looking at the pre-boil foam. Circular stirring will allow a slight reduction of the pressure of the wort in the centre of the pot, and you will start to see boil at that point.

 

[Shaneoco1981]

I went out to lowe's, got my stuff to build a counter flow chiller. I shoved 20' of 3/8" flex copper inside of a garden hose. I cut the hose so that it was approximately 8" short of the end of the copper on each end. On each end I did this. I had a 1/2" copper tee, Out of one copper tee, I put a 2" piece of 1/2" copper. On the opposite side, I put another 2" piece of 1/2" copper with a 1/2" by 1/4" reducer. On the 1/2" by 1/4" copper, I had to drill it out so the 3/8" copper would go through. There is a small edge that will hold the 3/8" flex copper from going all the way through. And out of the side of the tee, I put another 2" piece if 1/2" copper. The first side of the tee, I put into the hose with a hose clamp. The side with the reducing copper, went over the 3/8" copper which I soldered at that point. Out of the side of the tee, I cut the end of the hose to about 6" and put it there with another hose clamp. I then wrapped the hose around a corny keg. I am not home or I would post a pic. That eliminates the need of Immersion chiller. I do have an immersion chiller, but I use that to cool the water in an ice bath before it hits the counter flow chiller. I built both myself. I built the counter flow chiller for about $25 bucks or so. It works great and I now can cover my pot when it's done boiling as I have my wort flowing to my carboy, I am chilling it. It also opens up the inside of my pot for my future thermometer.