Robobew and immersion chilling: lid? whirlpool?

[Veets]

How do the Robobrew owners who use an immersion chiller (like the one that comes with the Gen3 kit) find is the best way to chill?

I brewed my second beer on it this weekend, and had these concerns:
1. The lid doesn't fit on when the immersion chiller is in the kettle. It's glass, so there's no opportunity to cut out slots. I brew outside mostly, so when I drop the wort down to cooler temps, I'd like to keep out potential contaminants.
2. Recirculating while chilling doesn't seem to help with heat transfer. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I have the recirc hose drop into the hole in the center of the lid and the pump on during chilling. I run cold water from the hose through the immersion chiller. At first, the water exiting the chiller will be hot, but it soon cools off. If I shake around the chiller to stir up the wort in the kettle, the water will run warm again for a few seconds, but it very quickly runs cold again. I thought that using the pump would have helped, but it doesn't help much at all. Maybe it's pumping it right toward the drain at the bottom of the kettle, so most of the wort doesn't participate in the recirculation.
Ideally, I'd love to use it to generate a whirlpool, since I can't exactly put my paddle in the kettle and stir with that big immersion chiller in there. Has anyone figured out a way to use the pump/hose to generate a whirlpool and help with quickly chilling down the wort?

Thanks!

 

[Rev2010]

1. I've boiled outdoors for years and never once needed to put a lid on while chilling. If you're under a tree with falling leaves or something erect a tent over it or use a large outdoor umbrella to cover it. If it's bees or something just use your hand to swat them away.

2. Recirculating while chilling does indeed more quickly drop the temperature, just the same as stirring the water while chilling


Rev.

 

[jack13]

1. I've boiled outdoors for years and never once needed to put a lid on while chilling. If you're under a tree with falling leaves or something erect a tent over it or use a large outdoor umbrella to cover it. If it's bees or something just use your hand to swat them away.

2. Recirculating while chilling does indeed more quickly drop the temperature, just the same as stirring the water while chilling


Rev.

Yes, stirring make a huge difference when using an immersion chiller. A stirrer that attaches to a drill works best, but even manually stirring will result in much shorter chill times. I've never actually done a comparison to confirm, but my assumption is that stirring in the opposite direction the water goes through the chiller is better. If manually stirring, just figure out which way you'd naturally stir and hook up the chiller so the water flows is in the opposite direction.