Can I put Boiling H2O in an Igloo Cooler

[Netflyer]

Just wondering, how hot of water can I put in my Igloo HLT?

 

[The Pol]

Should be HDPE, so sure, though expect the walls to permanently buckle inside due to expansion.

 

[Pappers_]

I can't say definitively - have never put boiling water in my cooler/tun, but wouldn't think it would be a good idea, being made out of plastic. I'm curious why are you asking?

 

[Netflyer]

Asking because I know that the water that needs to be 168F has to travel out of the igloo and sprinkle onto the grainbed at 168 so I want to put really hot water in the HLT was thinking like 200F but just wondered about the plastic melting...

 

[Pappers_]

In my experience, the cooler/tun holds the temperature really really well for a long time. I would put the water in at a degree or two over my target temperature. I don't use mine as a hot liquor tun but I'm sure if you preheat the tun with a little hot water, it would hold your temperature just fine. The tubing from the tun to the fly sparge arm would not lose much, either, in such a short amount of time, I would think. But, I don't fly sparge, so perhaps someone else can weigh in with actual experience.

Cheers!

 

[DavidSteel]

I wouldn't. You're plastic O rings may snap off, plastic may crack, may warp. Not worth it. just put heated water in.

 

[gerbache]

I've never done water at boiling in one, but I have used Igloo type coolers before for holding hot coffee, which I assume was probably in the 180-190 range without troubles.

 

[Netflyer]

Yeah, it is an interesting fly sparging derivative... x temp H2O travels through yft. of hose arrives on the grain bed at z Temp. I'm going to do an experiment to see how much T I lose... I'm preheating my HLT (10G. Igloo) and will add 170F water, put it through 3 Ft. of PVC tubing special made for hot food grade liquides and I'll measure the temp of the sparge rain... I'll report back..

Thanks for all you'se guys help

 

[david_42]

I haven't gone over 180F with mine, but the plastic is okay to that point.

 

[bradjoiner]

my hlt is an igloo and i do it all the time i have no problems. the only thing you need to worry about is you need to have high temp silicon o-rings in your ball valve not the cheap rubber ones they will produce off flavors with high temps

 

[jezter6]

speaking from experience, you'll probably warp the crap out of the inner walls.

I usually put some hot water (180F) in to preheat my tun, but any hotter and you get a little warping and melting. The inside of my cooler is forever warped, but doesn't seem to cause any real damage other than looking at your warped arse cooler.

 

[Ohio-Ed]

My 10 gallon, round cooler liner cracked. I never put boiling water in it but did 180+. After a few time, it developed a bulge on the inside. And after the last use, I noticed a crack that runs nearly top to bottom. I think the repeated heating and cooling flexed the liner until it finally cracked.

I think there are enough variables in these coolers that some will withstand it and some won't.

You might be one of the lucky ones.

Good luck,

Ed

 

[budbo]

I routinely put boiling water in mine, never had an issue(except the time I spilled some on my foot with flip flops on)

 

[snowchester]

I wouldn't put hot or boiling water into plastic containers, it leaches Bisphenol A. This chemical may or may not turn you into a woman...but hey it's your testicles.

 

[northernlad]

I wouldn't put hot or boiling water into plastic containers, it leaches Bisphenol A. This chemical may or may not turn you into a woman...but hey it's your testicles.

Man am I tired of all the misinformation bull**** about plastics and aluminum.
Not all plastics contain BPA.
Please make your 2nd post something factual and helpful.

 

[Tech211]

Very hot water may damage more than just the plastic lining. The first time I used my Rubbermaid 10 gallon, the plastic warped badly, but worked fine for awhile longer. However, about six months after that, I dropped in some 190 degree water to preheat and heard a loud crack. The plastic was fine, but I suspect something happened to the insulation. After that it lost something like 10 degrees per hour and temperature measurements varied greatly depending on where I measured.

 

[mmonacel]

I wouldn't put hot or boiling water into plastic containers, it leaches Bisphenol A. This chemical may or may not turn you into a woman...but hey it's your testicles.

I've worried about this myself. It seems that Rubbermaid's at least are BPA free. Many people have talked about warping of the plastic, etc however and who knows what if any other chemicals are leeched out during this process, but at least we don't need to worry about BPA!

http://www.rubbermaid.com/Pages/LearnAboutBPA.aspx#bpa

 

[klondikekd]

HDPE or High Density Poly Ethelene plastic has an amazing temperature range, and is considered safe for short periods up to 248°F (120°C) or for long periods up to 230°F (110°C.) Since boiling water never gets above 100°C, this means that anything boiling and below is safe for a food grade bucket.

 

[pvpeacock]

I use an Igloo cooler as an HTL, but I don't put water over 190 degrees in it. I have never had a problem with warping or o-ring failure. However, the sparge temperature is not as critical as the mash temp. so being a few degrees below what you're shooting for won't make any difference.

 

[Sparge]

What you can do is put some hot water into the HLT cooler beforehand to warm the cooler up. When you have your water ready, pour out the pre-heating water and put in the water you are going to use for the HLT. Then you don't have to put water into your HLT that is too hot and wait for it to cool down. Preheating can save some work and time.

In fact, the night before I brew, I put a bucket heater on a timer in a kettle full of water so that I don't have to use a lot of propane to heat up water. When I wake up, I usually have 15 gallons of 125 degree water. Only have to bump it up to my mash temps to use it. It is a good time saver.

 

[wolfdenbrewco]

Sorry, wrong thread...

 

[Hoofer]

Dont put boiling water in your cooler. I ruined mine and gad to replace it. DONT!