I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a pump cause my arthritic hands don’t like to stir for 15 minutes straight while cooling. Initially I don’t have any plans to drill my kettle and install a whirlpool arm and was hoping to be able to just clamp the end of the silicone hose from the pump outlet to the kettle at an angle and hope to create a whirlpool.
I was wondering how feasible this would be or if I should just go all out and install some sort of whirlpool arm on my boilermaker. I realize this prevents me from being able to keep the lid on while whirlpooling but I’m not too worried.
Anyone have any pictures of their whirlpool setup so I can get some ideas?
Is the purpose of whirlpooling simply to chill faster? If yes, why not just use a plate chiller or CFC? As long as you have decently cool water to run through it, even a gravity feed will get the job done in less than 5 minutes. Seems simpler.
That’s basically how I do it. I bent a piece of 1/2" copper tube to hook over the edge of the pot then another bend inside the pot to turn it down the side. It works great, it’s easy to clean and it works on all my boilers.
You could probably get away with a piece of a 3/8" OD copper flex coil, bent in the right shape, like you would use for a homemade IC or CFC. A hose and small clamp should fit right over the OD of the coil. A short piece should be stiff enough that it’ll maintain its shape if you don’t bang it around too much (that sounds wrong…).
Awesome, that looks simple enough. Did you solder that garden hose fitting on or did you buy it like that? I like the idea of getting 3/8" OD copper pipe and just inserting it in the hose with a clamp (cause ive never soldered anything in my life) but it doesn’t make it very modular. Though I can’t see myself using it for much more than pumping from the ground to the top of the kettle.
Soldering fittings is a lot easier than it sounds. I figured it out, so it can’t be that difficult! Just thinking as I type, you could clamp a short piece of hose to a 3/8" tube, put a barb on the other end of the hose and thread a QD fitting on the barb. Boom, modular.
Seriously, soldering isn’t that bad. Just have a good paste-type flux, not the runny stuff that just drips off.
[quote=“mattnaik”]I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a pump cause my arthritic hands don’t like to stir for 15 minutes straight while cooling. Initially I don’t have any plans to drill my kettle and install a whirlpool arm and was hoping to be able to just clamp the end of the silicone hose from the pump outlet to the kettle at an angle and hope to create a whirlpool.
I was wondering how feasible this would be or if I should just go all out and install some sort of whirlpool arm on my boilermaker. I realize this prevents me from being able to keep the lid on while whirlpooling but I’m not too worried.
Anyone have any pictures of their whirlpool setup so I can get some ideas?[/quote]
That’s exactly what I’ve dine for the last few years. Works fine.
[quote=“porkchop”]Soldering fittings is a lot easier than it sounds. I figured it out, so it can’t be that difficult! Just thinking as I type, you could clamp a short piece of hose to a 3/8" tube, put a barb on the other end of the hose and thread a QD fitting on the barb. Boom, modular.
Seriously, soldering isn’t that bad. Just have a good paste-type flux, not the runny stuff that just drips off.[/quote]
I’m sure I could figure it out, i just don’t have the torch and don’t feel like dropping another $20 on a tool I might use only a couple times in my life.
Soldering isn’t hard but it takes some practice to make nice looking joints, then again I’ve been in the plumbing and heating biz for over 30 years, I tend to take it for granted. But yeah, there’s no need to buy a torch you may never use again, also a small roll of solder and flux will cost around $10.
The compression fittings work great just don’t over tighten the compression nut, get it hand tight and then give it a 1/4 turn, if it drips just snug it up until it stops, don’t crank it down.
You all would laugh at me… I’m the anti-plumber. I’ve never even gotten a compression fitting to work properly. My fancy fridge will never make ice or dispense water because I’m the unfortunate combination of incompetent and very very cheap.
At least my torch has found use in making creme brulee…
This good to know. I’ve been rebuilding my brew set up and have pondered the idea fin to put in two ports in my boil kettle. I think this solves my answer. Now instead of drinking a home brew just looking at this boil kettle and wondering, turning stones over in my head, I’ll be able to move forward. :cheers:
I tested this (just with water) with just clamping a hose to the side of the kettle and it kinda worked. It seems to get a good whirlpool going you really need to angle the hose about 30-45 degrees away from the inside of the kettle. Without sticking some sort of a spacer between the hose and the kettle it just seems to rest against the side of the kettle shooting water along the side of the kettle.
I may have to get some copper tubing or something more rigid so i can more easily control the angle with respect to the side of the pot.
Has anyone with more experience found the ideal angle to get a really good whirlpool going?
