Chilling Wort in primary

[thekulman]

I want to build a wort chiller, but because I boil in 2 pots at once (3 gal each), can I pour the hot wort into my primary (bucket) and chill it all at once then pitch?
I worried that the cold break will end up in my primary, but I see other guys chilling in their boiling pots and then just siphoning into the primary, so doesn't that carry over the cold break percipitaion too?

[mmmBeer...]

I use a plate chiller so there is always lots of cold break in my primary...never really hurt it IMHO. Some guys I know let it sit and then rack it off the break before pitching.

The only concern with chilling in the bucket is being worried about getting the chiller truly sanatized. Most people boil the chiller for 15 min in the wort before chilling.

[Lupulinitus]

You never want to "pour" your hot wort in to anything causing any sort of aeration. It will hurt the quality and the life of your beer. I would recommend using a counterflow or an immersion, but I wouldn't take my boiling wort and transfer it anywhere. Chill it and then aerate it.

[Mad Scientist]

Lupulinitis is right. For you, I'd say get an immersion, but I think if you step up for more cost now, a CFC or a plate chiller will serve your needs far better as you advance in your obsession.

[thekulman]

So if I make a counter flow instead, you just start a syhpon in it to get the beer flowing throught it right?

[Mad Scientist]

Yes, but you'll need to buy a stainless steel racking cane, and high temp. silicone tubing. hot wort tends to melt plastic racking canes and vinyl tubing.

[Lupulinitus]

Is there a reason why you're using two pots with six gallons? When I first went allgrain and did 5 gallon batches, I had an inexpensive system that worked great. The one thing I used(but you MUST take care of it and not scratch the inside) was an 8 gallon canning pot. The thing with this pot was it fit over two burners on my stove so I used one pot over two burners. At that time I had a 40 foot(or close to it) immersion chiller that worked great. After it's chilled you can rack it out with the stainless racking cane or carefully pour it in your fermenter. Those pots are probably about $30 to $40, yeah they're not fancy but taken care of they will work for now.