Immersion Chiller Cleaning

[pbrosnan]

Hi all,

This is really about getting rid of the tarnishing on the copper. Is it a problem if the chiller goes into the ort with the tarnishing on it? And what's the best way people have found of storing copper to minimise tarnishing.

 

[jgriffin]

Dry it straight away after use should limit the tarnish. If you want to bring it up shiny new, sit it in a mild phos acid solution for a couple of hours, and then rinse. If you leave it too long, it will corrode again

 

[pbrosnan]

Thanks j, do you make sure there's no tarnish before it goes into the wort?

 

[TidalPete]

Hi all,

This is really about getting rid of the tarnishing on the copper. Is it a problem if the chiller goes into the ort with the tarnishing on it? And what's the best way people have found of storing copper to minimise tarnishing.

[post="61215"][/post]​

Is the tarnish going to affect your health? :blink: Look at all the people with arthritis who wear copper rings, bracelets, etc in the belief that this will help their problem. To the best of my knowledge there has never been any adverse reactions to people such as the above from absorbing a minimum amount of copper into their bloodstream.

 

[nonicman]

Ordinary white vinegar works well, that's what I've used to cleanup secondhand copper, and a bit of elbow grease.

Many kettles were traditionally be made from copper. I have read but cannot verify (e.g could be dodgy info) that a small amount of copper can benefit the yeast.

 

[TidalPete]

Ordinary white vinegar works well, that's what I've used to cleanup secondhand copper, and a bit of elbow grease.

Many kettles were traditionally be made from copper. I have read but cannot verify (e.g could be dodgy info) that a small amount of copper can benefit the yeast.

For anyone interested,
Quoting from "It's so natural" by Alan Hayes ----
0.75 litres of vinegar added to a bucket of hot water acts as a universal cleaner for almost all surfaces.
Stainless steel can be cleaned with a cloth dampened in vinegar. Rinse throughly.
To clean the inside of electric jugs, urns, etc --- add one cup of white vinegar per 2 litres & boil for 10 minutes. Rinse out throughly.
Simmering a strong solution of white vinegar in aluminium pots for 20 minutes will remove stubborn stains, etc. Rinse throughly.
Never tried any of the above so no guarantees here. h34r:

 

[pbrosnan]

I wasn't really concerned for my health, only the effect the tarnished coper may have on the flavour. I mean what else matters