Blichmann Therminator. Sterilize with hot wort?

[AshtrayDinner]

I'm changing the way I operate my home brewery, and upgrading some parts of it. I'm putting in a vorlauf/sparge line to improve my mashing and lautering. This has involved taking the march pump from my kettle/whirlpool and installing it on my mash/lauter tun.

I'd like to avoid buying a second march pump, so I am hoping to just switch the lines to the pump after I have the kettle full. However this will keep me from sanitizing the pump and wort chiller the way I usually do. Normally I would pump sanitizer through the whole system and then leave it in the cast out line. I'm thinking if the line is clean I could just recirculate the hot wort though it for the whirlpool to sterilize the line and pump/chiller.

Does anybody do this with their therminator? In the past I've always turned the chill water on before casting out with hot wort. Do you think the Therminator is designed to be used in this way?

 

[eastoak]

i sanitize my plate chiller in the last 10 min of the boil, i think lots of brewers do this.

 

[Monster Mash]

I think I would recirculate hot PBW through it the day before to make sure it is completely clean and then stick it in a bucket of sanitizer while your pump is being used for brewing. As long as it's clean and gets filled with sanitizer you should be fine.

 

[daksin]

I believe that most brewers sanitize their plate chillers by recirculating hot wort through during the end of the boil. I would also clean it and rinse thoroughly after every brewday.