Creating A Cfc In The Laundry Sink

[Steve]

During a glass of beer on Saturday with Trough Lolly (very nice they were too I might add) the topic of my impending first real partial came up. He gave me a great tip to cool the 16 or so litres of wort down quick as I dont have a CFC. Normally i just put my pot in the sink with some ice blocks and go do something else for an hour. He suggested putting the pot of wort in the laundry sink (with ice blocks) and create your own cfc by using two spoons. One in the pot stirring (gently) clockwise and another in the sink stirring anticlockwise around the outside of the pot. So I thought - yeah give that one a go. So the time came for the chill I re-attached my newly acquired Mashmaster (thanks Ross) and started stirring. Well bugger me! I could actually see the temp drop before my eyes. I stopped stirring the needle stopped. I started stirring the needle started dropping. I got it down from high 90's to high 20's in about 15 mins. He did give a technical explanation but I've forgotten the finer details. Im sure he'll elaborate. Bloody amazing little trick that I thought I'd share if you dont have a CFC.
Cheers
Steve

P.S. My wife now has lost all hope for me after witnessing this event. :lol:

 

[Ash in Perth]

I noticed the same kind of thing when i put a pump in my chilling tub to get water circulating. i wasnt stirrign the wort so it wasnt quite as fast.

 

[Airgead]

He did give a technical explanation but I've forgotten the finer details.

Normally when you cool by sitting a pot in a sink of water two static layers of liquid form around the inside and outside of the pot - a cooler layer in the hot wort round the inside of the pot and a warm layer of water in the sink round the outside. Heat flows very slowly through these static layers and they act as insulation so cooling is very slow. By stiring you break up these layers and let heat flow more efficiently between hot and cold.


Edit - the same effect can be seen in actual chillers - you get much faster cooling if you move an imersion chiller around in the pot (or move the wort around) as this breaks up any boundary layers. In a CFC the idea is to have the flow rate in both the water and wort pipes fast enough to be turbulant as this prevents a boundary layer from forming. Sone chillers even use special copper pipe with ridges on the inside to increase turbulance.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Trough Lolly]

During a glass of beer on Saturday with Trough Lolly (very nice they were too I might add) the topic of my impending first real partial came up. He gave me a great tip to cool the 16 or so litres of wort down quick as I dont have a CFC. [snip]
He did give a technical explanation but I've forgotten the finer details. Im sure he'll elaborate. Bloody amazing little trick that I thought I'd share if you dont have a CFC.
Cheers
Steve

P.S. My wife now has lost all hope for me after witnessing this event. :lol:

My beer addled brain logic worked thusly;
I have a counterflow chiller and between a layer of metal (copper), hot wort travels in one direction and cold water flows in another. So why not treat the pot as that same layer of metal, grab two spoons and do same with wort in the pot and the chilled water in the sink!
It's not as sexy as Randall the enamal animal (that's an organoleptic hop transducer in case you're wondering h34r: ) but it gets the job done! Mind you, it's more work than sitting down and watching the tele after the boil...but it will get a quicker cold break and chill (and quite possibly reduce DMS buildup).
P.S. Glad you like the beers!
Cheers,
TL

 

[jimi]

I do mini AG's of the same volume and the laundry tub full of ice does the trick for me in the same time. I don't stir the water or the wort though. I place my 20Lt pot in the tub in cold water for 5 mins or so, drain, then fill again with all the ice i have at my disposal (3X2Lt ice cream tubs and 3 or so plastic milk bottles). I'm at pitching temp within 20mins.
It's one of the upsides to playing with these sort of volumes

 

[Trough Lolly]

Just a small addition to the info posted earlier - once you've got the wort down to yeast pitching temps - or at least below 30C, you can use a small pyrex or plastic 1 litre jug, scoop up a jugfull and splash pour it back into the pot - repeat ad nauseum and you'll have well aerated wort to give to the yeast which will substantially reduce your lag time and give the yeast a fighting chance against any bacterial infection from elsewhere!

Cheers,
TL

 

[Agarn]

I used this method on the weekend. I found a layer of warm water in the sink formed very quickly. I just gave the sink water a quick stir and saw the wort temperature drop. Just as a matter of interest, the middle of the wort was cooler that the outside and I could actually see circulation in the wort even though I wasn't stirring it. Bizzare!!!

 

[Trough Lolly]

I use a metal backed thermometer in the pot that doubles up as the stirrer. A long handled teaspoon does the job in the sink and as long as you stir one clockwise and the other counterclockwise, you'll get good heat exchange between the two mediums.

You probably saw the cold break form and if the sink water is cold enough, it will precipitate off the relatively cool kettle wall as the cold water passes by the outside of the kettle, giving the impression that the wort is moving.

Regardless, it's another trick that knocks some time off the length of your brewday...but so does a march pump and CFWC!!

TL

 

[lucas]

I missed this when it was posted, but that's a very interesting tip. I will give this a go in the kitchen sink next time im mixing up wort for a starter

 

[voytekl]

I'd be paranoid about all the time the pot's uncovered and the wort's vulnerable to airborne nasties... h34r:

Maybe I should relax...

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

For full batches, stick your kettle in the backyard pool with an electric mixer in it whilst the neighbourhood kids all run around the pool in the opposite direction :lol:

All jokes aside, not a bad idea at all

PZ.

 

[Bizarre]

I saw this post a while ago and took it on board. I fill my trough with water and stick ice or frozen water bottles etc in it, I use a fish tank power filter head as the pump (a cheapie at $20 or so from BigW) to create a round the trough flow and every 5 to 10 minutes or so I stir my wort the other direction with a sterilised spoon. I generally do 24 litre batches of all grains, but after boiling I find I often end up with 17 or 18 litres of wort. I wanted to try and make something to stir the wort all the time during cooling but havent had time to ponder it so far. It definately works - nother TL top tip lol