Food mill as a hopback/Randall

[pcampo]

I found this SS food mill that my wife has never used nor never will.

I was thinking of using it as a sort of hopback, by putting whole hops in at setting on top of the kettle while chilling, then recirculating hot wort on top.
For you hopheads, will this actually work in contributing good hop aroma? Or am I just wasting time and hops?

I was also think of using it as hop infuser/Randall and siphoning it right on top of hops on the way to the bottling bucket.

What are your thoughts?

 

[chocotaco]

The point of a hopback (as I see it) is:

1. Hot wort encounters hops
2. Aromatics attempt to vaporize off, but they can't as they're in a closed environment
3. Wort and aromatics are immediately chilled, and anything that wanted to be vaporized gets nice and cool so it changes its mind.

In this setup, the aromatics will escape easily. IMHO, you are better off doing whirlpool hopping - where the aromatics are *able* to escape, but since they are bashed against the chiller, they change their mind. In your setup, there is no chiller in place to give those aromatics an offer they can't refuse.

Edit: IOW, in a typical hopback setup, you are going through a plate chiller right after the hopback which keeps the volatile aroma compounds in the wort. If it's just going back into the BK, the aroma will be lost. Whirlpool hopping is similar, but depends on A) getting the wort below 180F before hopping and B) bashing the extra hoppiness against the chiller right away to prevent isomerization and vapor loss of aromatics.

 

[poptarts]

The bottling bucket looks like a fast way to add O2 to you beer so I would vote not on that. and I dont see the difference of just adding hops to the kettle in the first idea. Generally with hopbacks the wort goes threw the hops then directly into the chiller. your pretty much doing whirl pooling with a hop spider at that point. Obviously I've never tried this so this is all a guess.

 

[pcampo]

Ya, good point. Thanks for the reply

 

[pcampo]

poptarts--How I was thinking of setting up for the bottling bucket, was to add a silicone tube to the bottom of the funnel that way there is no splashing on that end, and also going at a slow rate ( I use the spigot on the Speidel fermenter) to avoid splashing in the funnel.......but if this technique before bottling does not contribute to anything or much, then yes I will definitely scratch it and not risk the oxidation.

 

[chocotaco]

As far as the infusing pre-bottle is concerned, I think you would be better off just dry hopping with those hops.

 

[chocotaco]

Also that food mill (assuming you have the other half of it) is useful! Try using it! Mashed potatoes, berry purees, tomato sauce, even spaetzle. It is a great kitchen tool for making tasty food. Food mills let you easily separate things from their skins and seeds which is something a blender or food processor can't do.

 

[pcampo]

Thanks Choco, I didnt even know what the food mill does....As far as using it for hops, I think you are right. It would probably be a waste of hops and money

 

[chocotaco]

Thanks Choco, I didnt even know what the food mill does....As far as using it for hops, I think you are right. It would probably be a waste of hops and money

Try this:

Take 1 lb of yukon gold potatoes and throw them in a pot of water. Boil them (skins and all - food mill saves time point #1) until fork tender. Throw them in the food mill and crank them into a bowl. Fold in some chopped chives, 3 tbsp of butter (it will melt) and 5 tbsp of sour cream or yogurt. Total work: 5 mins. Best mashed potatoes you've ever had on your table.

Then try this:

Take a grip of cocktail tomatoes (campari tomatoes if you can find them) and roast them on a sheet pan at 450F until the skins are just starting to burn. While that's going down, chop up some onions and mince some shallots and garlic. Sweat those in an enameled dutch oven (or a stainless pot) with enough butter and salt where you feel like it's good. When the tomatoes are ready, put them in the food mill and crank it into the pot with the other things. Add some chicken stock and a boquet garni (take some fresh sprigs of thyme, oregano, hell maybe some tarragon if you wanna get crazy, and tie the stems together with some butcher's twine and that's a boquet garni) and simmer for a little while. While you're doing that, take a skillet and melt down 2 tbsp of butter at medium-low heat until it stops foaming. Turn the heat down to low and sprinkle in 4 tbsp of flour. Whisk that until it's nice and pasty and then cook it (whisking often) until it smells toasty and turns golden brown (or you can keep going until it's brick colored, if you wanna get fancy, but don't burn it).

Then take a ladel full of the simmering stuff and put it in that skillet. Whisk it all up like a boss until it's smooth. Then pour all that good stuff back into the simmering pot and stir it all up. Simmer it some more until it gets all thick and velvety.

You now have sauce tomate which is super fancy French tomato sauce - it's good on everything. And it's also the most complicated of the mother sauces which are pretty much the only thing between you and restaurant food. And it was really easy thanks to your food mill - without that your sauce tomate would be crap with all those tomato seeds and skins!

Tune in next week where I'll tell you the three biggest secrets that restaurant chefs don't want you to know! Err, wait, sorry about that, got caught up in the moment there.