When to add the wort chiller?

[Rento]

Hi,

I’ve been playing around with my setup as I want to reduce steam venting in my garage. I recently rigged up a DIY extractor out of a bathroom shower vent which works great, but I’ve had to make the canopy tight to the top of the kettle. This makes it a PIA to put the wort chiller in at the usual time, so I’m thinking to just put it in at the beginning of the boil instead so I don’t need to remove with the canapy.

Any reason why I shouldn’t do this?

 

[AdeDunn]

The main reason I can think of is that you will be reducing the volume of your boiler by doing so, meaning less room for wort at the start. When you put one in near the end a fair bit has boiled off already, freeing up volume for your immersion chiller to fill.

If it bothers you that much, consider either a counter-flow or a plate chiller maybe. They don't go into the boiler/copper at all.