Plans - Kettle

Comment by martin w on June 15, 2011 at 10:12pm

think about if you really want a thermometer in there, after all,when its boiling its boiling, i know it helps with cooling but you can use a handheld, my reasoning is anything in the kettle that disrupts the flow when whirlpooling spoils the crap cone you get in the middle of the kettle

Comment by Chris on June 16, 2011 at 10:30am

Hi Martin. A very good question. I have seen many rigs with a thermometer installed and didn't question it (other than for hygeine reasons, but I'm satisfied the hour-long boil will handle that, along with using weldless for easier thorough cleaning). Do you know how much of an effect the thermowell will have on whirlpooling? And also is it possible to filter the sediment out whilst racking into the fermenter instead of whirlpooling? I'm thinking a sieve or similar to catch all the hop crap etc. Would also aerate the wort no? Is the really fine stuff worth worrying about too much as it would settle out in the fermenter?

Picked up the kettle yesterday by the way, it's awesome, bombproof steel base must be half an inch thick. Pictures to follow 

Comment by Tim Stewart on June 16, 2011 at 3:31pm

Yeah I think martin is right ,Im not putting the thermometer in my kettle im using them in the mash pot ,Hot water pot for sparging and fermenter .

The kettle is going to be a rolling boil so knowing the temp isnot so important just as tho you have a good steady roll but I wouldnt think it would have much effect on the whirlpool

If you are going to do BIAB you will need a thermometer in the kettle

Comment by Chris on June 16, 2011 at 4:07pm

Hmmm, that's got me in a dilemma. I would like a thermometer in my boil kettle so I can monitor how quickly it's heating up and cooling down, and keeping the burner going efficently. And yes Tim my next step will be BIAB.

 

Have either of you seen how much of a  difference a thermometer makes to whirlpooling in your own kettles? Wonder if anyone has done any experiments. Might be worth me starting a forum discussion about it.

 

Main thing that would bother me is smacking the thermowell with the stirring spoon, although putting the thermowell down fairly low would minimise that problem.

 

By the way do you guys do your whirlpooling on hot or cold wort? I would think cold would be better to prevent oxygenation?

Comment by Tim Stewart on June 16, 2011 at 9:01pm

well you could put a welding nipple on the pot then a socket on that and thread the thermometer into that ,that would proberly only expose the very end of the thermometer and also it should stop the BIAB getting stuck on the probe .

I whirlpool hot and leave the wort for 15-20min before I transfer to the fermenter

Comment by Chris on June 16, 2011 at 9:59pm

Sorry for my ignorance, but would a welding nipple need welding on or can you get threaded ones that can be screwed on? I'm trying to avoid welding if possible, want to do everything myself and without shelling out on gas for s/s welding i would have to take it to an engineer.

Comment by James P on June 16, 2011 at 10:20pm

Chris, get a threaded nipple instead, or what I think they call a barrel nipple (thread on both ends, and a blank in the middle). Add a nut, washer and silicon washer and you have a weldless nipple.

Comment by Tim Stewart on June 16, 2011 at 11:37pm

A BSP hex nipple and a backnut with some washers and seals will do the same job no welding needed

Comment by Chris on June 17, 2011 at 8:37am

Thanks Tim & James P, will go down that route.

 

Was lying in bed this morning and the thought suddenly occured to me that the wort chiller's not going to fit with the thermometer stem in there. Thanks for bringing this up before I went and made holes in my new pot!!

Comment by Chris on June 17, 2011 at 8:44am

This is what you mean I think?

 

Only problem is my Thermometer and the barrel nipple have male threads, so will also need something like this. That's assuming you can't get a male-female barrel nipple, I haven't been able to find any on Google.

 

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