Turker Fryer-First attempt results..

[BucksBrew]

Well I went out and bought one of theose Morrone Turkey Fryers at Lowes for $20.00.

I set it up at the edge of the garage and fired it up. Got a card table set up with all my gadgets and a place for my glass of Homebrew fresh from the keg!

I did a full 5 gallon boil. I didn't blast it full, but rather at 60-70% and to reach 170 degrees it took about 25-30 minutes. The reason I did it this was to let my steeping grains sit in there to get as much out of it as possible. Old stove top method took 40-45 minutes.

I shut off the burner added Malt Extract with adding some hot water from the pot to get it all out. At this point I realized I needed a longer handled spoon.

Fired it back up and shortly there after had my first Boil over! No biggie since I was in the garage. The thing is their is a timing thing to contend with. The heat builds up in the wort, and even if you shut the burner off, the heat is still coming up. That is something to get used to. Other than that it seemed easier. Of course it is the summer, we'll see what I do in the winter with brewing!

I added the wort chiller at the last 15 min. mark. When it came time to cool, the heat from the wort and the pressure from my garden hose leaked into my wort! AAAAGH! The heat loosened the clear nylon hose. I had put pipe clamps on them before I started. But the heat softened them causing leaks. I quickly tightened and it stopped. I don't know how much hose water got into the wort. The temp was about 140-150 degrees at the time. The final ferment is going nicely so I'll assume it sterilized and is ok.

All in all it took 3 hours start to finish. Unpacking, cooking, cleanup, to sitting down.

I think I can do it faster, but I initially took it slow. Plus it is my time without the wife and screaming kids! I love them, but I need a few hours to myself once in a while!

[YamahaXS]

I had a similar experience minus the wort chiller, though I just built one, so I will remember to tighten the clampens prior to using.

cheers and beers!

[BucksBrew]

My wort chiller came with clamps on it. The style I don't know the name of. But they just are squeezed into place.

I put small pipe clamps with the screw on in addition to the others.

I also had to bend the inlet & outlet tubes in towards the center of the pot to eliminate any chance of melting the tubing either from the pot or the flame below.

[michaewa]

I've got a fairly good length of copper tubing coming out from the chiller over the edge of the pot, but I always hang a washcloth over the union of the hose and the copper pipe, because when I tested it it loosened and sprayed. That way if there is any spray the washcloth catches it so it won't blast into the wort.

I had a boilover yesterday too, right after I put my hops in - lost some of them. Oh well. I found that if you constantly stir the water from the bottom where it is hottest up to the top you can minimize the 'surprise boil' burst that will shoot over the edge. I always turn the propane way down when I get close to boiling after adding the extract, that way you can reach the boil slowly (and hopefully more controlled).

I love the turkey fryer, makes cooking and cleanup really easy.

Another thing that helped with the 'last mile' of cooling (my chiller gets me to about 90F) was a big ice cube on a stick. I boiled water in a martini shaker, covered with foil, then froze it with a sterilized plastic stick in it. Just stir in the wort, and you can pull it out if you get to the desired temp before it is all gone.

[Jeff]

I haven't built a wort chiller yet, but plan on doing so this weekend, and have a question. I was going to solder fittings on the end of the copper tubing that has the femail connection for a garden hose. Has anybody tried this? Does it work? Any help would be great.

[BucksBrew]

I have a well and my water temp is a constant 55 degrees.

It got it down to 72 degrees for me after about 15 minutes.

But the ice idea sounds good for those who need it.

[BucksBrew]

Originally posted by Jeff
I haven't built a wort chiller yet, but plan on doing so this weekend, and have a question. I was going to solder fittings on the end of the copper tubing that has the femail connection for a garden hose. Has anybody tried this? Does it work? Any help would be great.

That is a good idea. This would eliminate the overlapping of clear hose and putting on a clamp that might not work. A QD system sounds better to me. At least on the inlet side, the exhaust line isn't under the same pressure.

Sounds cool. You could solder a short piece of pipe between to space out piping to give you room to make your connections.

I might modify mine now!

[Beerconnoisseur]

I definitely recommend soldering on brass fittings, like the chiller MoreBeer has, WC23 or WC23A. Even though I tried the vinyl tubing chiller a while back, and had some leak into my wort, I've never had any problems with contamination, knock on wood.

If you do go the quick disconnect route, I would make sure to connect everything to your chiller BEFORE you place it in the hot wort. Sometimes the chiller has water left over in it, and the heat will cause it to boil out.

If some of you still want to go the vinyl tubing-chiller route, one thing which might help is to purchase additional hose clamps, and tighten these to minimize the chances of the hose coming loose.

That said, I have found that you can get better results by slowing down the flow of water. This is especially true once the wort gets below 120 F or so, since the longer contact time with the copper allows the water to absorb more heat before it flows out through the chiller. So you don't really need as much water pressure as you might think, at first.

[paul84043]

I had the same problem with my wort chiller, it came originally with the squeeze on fittings, and began to leak after about 10 or 15 batches. I added an additional hose clamp but it still loosens up from the heat ocassionally.
I bent my copper tubes back so that if they do leak, it doesn't run down the tube into the wort.

The problem that I see with soldering on hose fitting to the the tubes is that I have never seen a hose fitting that doesn't leak, at least a little bit....

When I put my chiller into the boiling wort, I usually drape the hoses over something to keep them from touching the burner and melting....

[wortchillergoal]

Originally posted by BucksBrew
I don't know how much hose water got into the wort.

If it was a potable water supply it shoul not be much of a worry. Most water for houses is pretty heavily chlorinated.

[Beerconnoisseur]

Originally posted by paul84043
The problem that I see with soldering on hose fitting to the the tubes is that I have never seen a hose fitting that doesn't leak, at least a little bit....

FYI, The wort chillers (with brass hose fittings) from MoreBeer don't leak, especially if you connect them to your hose with a set of brass quick disconnects.

[jsmurphy]

Just finished my immersion chiller. Thanks for the tip on possible hose leaks due to heat. I'm using double clamps on every connection, but I'll be ready for leaks now just in case.