Home Distiller

Hi
I am very new to all of this. Bought some chickens for the back yard so thought I better get a still and a rocking chair to boot.
So got myself a pot still and am about to start my first runs. I saw some info about boiling chips and wondered if the the same effect could be achieved by simply scoring or scratching the the bottom of my boiling pot giving a rougher surface for bubbles to form.
Am I barking up the wrong tree or could this work, my initial idea was that it would obviously stop the noise of loose items moving around during boiling operation.

Boiling chips don't make a lot of noise, just a pleasant rattle telling you that the temp is OK and that everything is going well.

Hi
Thanks for that I'll give it a whirl then. Luckily my wife finds it all so amusing at the moment so I am sure a gentle rattling wont rattle her nerves too much.
All the best

Just a few bits of copper or perhaps a small hand full of broken TEMPERED glass.

As blanik mantioned, will also help you with an audible tool to gage your boil.

Drop by any hobby store. They have these flattened disks of glass/ceramic in various colours. They make fanatastic boiling chips. But if you dont want to do that, then just cut some copper pipe into about 3 inch lengths and drop them in. Works very well.

Thanks guys I will definately try out your suggestions.

boiling chips should be irregular, jagged not smooth.something with a bunch of holes is ideal.(traps air)there is a difference between
something to"rattle" and "braking the boil".

Dnderhead wrote:boiling chips should be irregular, jagged not smooth.something with a bunch of holes is ideal.(traps air)there is a difference between
something to"rattle" and "braking the boil".

These actually have fairly irregular surfaces on the bottom. The bottom often looks like it was melted on a piece of cast iron. I think they do this in case someone want to glue them to something. It makes good nucleation points and is chemically inert.

would a couple wads of copper mesh work or does? it need to be something alittle heavier

I've got 100lbs of 1/4" boiling stones and over 200lbs of 1/2" boiling stones, all ceramic. If anyone's interested in a few quart jars full, send me a PM. Let me know how much you need and we'll work out a price. Then again, if you want me to send you 300lbs of boiling stones, I could do that too.
ls

nevermind i found the answer to my question about the copper, i am curious to know if a handful of pennies would be ok to use? and what years the pennys need to be in order to be safe to use them?im going to be running a wash around 6 tonight anybody got a quick answer for me?

no to the pennies there not all copper, scrap pipe would be better.

How about some small 3/8" and 1/4" copper sweat fittings???? those are irregular and can trap air...

I use those copper crimp rings I had laying around from some job I was supposed to do but never got around to it bd.

I made some springy looking things out of some leftover 12 awg copper wire I had layin around.

what is all this about any way, most do not need them, Iv run for years with out. most pots/boilers are not that perfect.
unless it is smooth as glass there not necessary.

I use a length of stainless steel chain I picked up from home depot.