What is the proper way to use an immersion chiller
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You want to have the cooling water going fast enough to pull the heat from your wort. I adjust my water flow as needed. I, also, keep my wort moving around in my kettle. THe idea is the same as a whirlpool, the colder wort will sink to the bottom of your kettle, by keeping it moving in the kettle it will continue to cool evenly.
- Maximum water flow. Anyone who says otherwise didn't understand the question.
- Stir stir stir. If you stop stirring you can feel the out-flow water temperature drop within seconds because of the thermal boundary layer hugging the IC tubing. That's time and water wasted.
- Lid off - because you can't stir with it on...
Cheers!
- Stir stir stir. If you stop stirring you can feel the out-flow water temperature drop within seconds because of the thermal boundary layer hugging the IC tubing. That's time and water wasted.
- Lid off - because you can't stir with it on...
Cheers!
This. I run the water full on. I sanitize my wine degassed and hook it up to my cordless drill and get the wort spinning. Drops temps very quickly.
That's the way I've always done it.
Man, I always cover with tin foil and let the chiller do its job. I am afraid of it getting bacteria after flameout. It only take 30 minutes tops to get to pitchable temps
Cold water at max flow with constant stirring took 8 minutes to chill my last 5.5g batch to 65°F. Even in the dead of summer my IC gets that size batch to the same temperature in under 15 minutes. I've never had an infected batch...
Cheers!
The10mmKid
Well-Known Member
Chiller in at Flameout-15 min to sterilize.
Cold water supply rate varies according to temp of water exiting the chiller; fast at first, just a trickle near the end.
I leave my kettle undisturbed and check back every 5-min or so to read temp and adjust the flow rate.
It's a nice feeling siphoning down to that cold break/trub firmly sitting in the bottom.
Clean and rinse the kettle and chiller together.
'da Kid
Cold water supply rate varies according to temp of water exiting the chiller; fast at first, just a trickle near the end.
I leave my kettle undisturbed and check back every 5-min or so to read temp and adjust the flow rate.
It's a nice feeling siphoning down to that cold break/trub firmly sitting in the bottom.
Clean and rinse the kettle and chiller together.
'da Kid
SpeedYellow
Well-Known Member
Indeed the quickest cooling is max water flow and max stirring. Yet I still turn down the water after a few minutes (since 100% flow isn't that much better than 50% flow once the wort gets mostly cool) and instead of uncovering and stirring, I keep covered with foil and simply grab one copper tube and bounce the coils. This still gets 4 gal of wort to 80F in 8 minutes.
mooshimanx
Well-Known Member
Max water flow, and stir the wort with the chiller itself. But that may or may not actually be feasible depending on your kettle setup. But you don't actually *need* to do this. Its always going to get slower and slower as you get closer to equalizing the temperature between the chilling water and the wort.
I used mine for the first time Wednesday and I had it pretty much full-on, stirring both inside and outside the IC and in about 10-15 minutes, my wort was around 60* F.
Black Island Brewer
An Ode to Beer
Whirlpooling while you chill is essential. I have a whirlpool port, and about 5 minutes before the end of the boil, I start the pump going and begin getting the wort moving. At flameout, I turn on the valve to my chiller (I use a pre-chiller in an ice bath when the tap water temp is too high) and start chilling. At 140F I put the lid on, because below 140F the wort stops creating the DMS precursor, and continue to final temp, usually 65F for most ales, 50F for most lagers (prechiller always used for lagers). Once I'm to pitching temp I turn off the chiller valve, stop the pump, and leave it for 30 minutes to allow all the break material to settle in a cone in the middle. My drain port takes it from the side of the keggle, usually leaving a half-gallon to a gallon of break material behind.
Times vary dramatically depending on temp I'm trying to get to, and temp of tapwater. My city publishes a brewer's water report that includes the average tap water temperature month to month (I live in a brewer's paradise - soft water AND great customer service). This month I expect my 11 gallons of doppelbock will chill to 44F in about 30 minutes.
Times vary dramatically depending on temp I'm trying to get to, and temp of tapwater. My city publishes a brewer's water report that includes the average tap water temperature month to month (I live in a brewer's paradise - soft water AND great customer service). This month I expect my 11 gallons of doppelbock will chill to 44F in about 30 minutes.
One thing I often do not see mentioned, which makes a HUGE impact on my chilling, it having the output of the IC pointed at the side of my (8 gallon aluminum) pot, which thankfully BARELY fits in my kitchen sink. I also stir pretty much the whole time, but using the side of the pot as extra chilling surface area takes a few minutes off my chilling.
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