how to cool wort to yeast pitching temperature?

Probably people are already sick of me...asking about chillers, ice bathes, etc....

but I need a system that is fast and effective and wont cost a lot.

I could have about 30 pounds of ice ready for chilling the wort....so maybe for my 5 gallon batch...and ice bath would be the best option.

How long will it take to cool 5 gallons of wort in an ice batch with 30 pounds of ice? Or shall I get a chiller that uses icy water for chilling too?

An immersion chiller is probably the easiest option.
You could just put the kettle in an ice bath, but it's a pain in the ass to get all the ice, lift the really hot pot,and stir the wort.

If you use ie, do be sure to use cold water and add ice. Swap out the water/ice regularly, if you can, for maximum chilling.

That being said, a copper immersion chiller - while a bit pricey - is a superb value for a piece of brewing gear.

I started out using the ice bath method but as it goes with the home brew bug it didn't take long for me to upgrade. I use a home made immersion chiller with an inline chiller that sits in a bucket of salted ice water. l picked up both used from craigslist so just keep your eyes open.

Got a bucket fermenter? Sanitize the lid, dump the hot wort into the bucket and put the lid on. It will take some time to cool for pitching (mine took about 30 hours) but the hot wort will sanitize the bucket and if you use starsan in the airlock (not too much or it will suck back as the wort cools) nothing bad will get in.

I have yet to build a chiller. We have a two compartment sink in the kitchen so I submerge my pot in cold water a couple of times (alternating sinks) before finally adding ice to the 3rd or 4th dunk (depending on batch size). I can chill 3 gallons down to pitching temps in about 20 minutes thanks to ice cold, tap water. I stopped buying ice and started collecting ice from the trays into a small ice bin during the week.

I've got a larger kettle now and need to move things outside to the burner. When I do finally build a chiller, I plan on pumping ice water through the chiller via a submersible pump and small ice bath.