How dangerous is it?

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Excuse my ignorance, what is the advantage of using these over just leaving the wort to cool in the boiling vessel with the lid on?

For example one issue I would forsee is the zero dissolved oxygen in the wort.

It's all about when do you want to use it.

Sterile wort, into a sterile container, with little/no air space should last for months at ambient (let's not get into the gas permeability of HDPE)

Let it cool in the kettle overnight, pitch next day. Which works for me for me everytime, so I consider cubes unnecessary if you are pitching next day.
 
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As it cools it will become susceptible to airborne nastys 🦠
I cool in my boil pot. It is a 17l one which fits in the kitchen sink.

First I add some cool water, then add ice from the freezer. This way I get the temperature down to about 85°.

Then I fit a heat proof plastic bag on top of it, which is closed off airtight with a rubber band. The remaining heat and steam disinfect the remaining air, and the wort can cool without inlet of air. The bag itself is fitted loosely, so that there is room for the air to expand first due to the heat.

Next day I can pitch yeast, and then fit a cheesecloth and ferment open.
 
I just turn off the BM and pop the lid on (vents had been taped up)
Do you change the hop additions to account for the no chill? Otherwise the beer would be a lot more bitter wouldn’t it?
I’m assuming there are online calculators for this.

Very interested in no chill as I hate wasting water although with winter coming the immersion chiller works faster due to colder ground water.
I plan on retiring to the Philippines in a few years and would benefit from no chill there I’m assuming.
 
I actually stopped using mine and replaced it with a hop plate instead as I got worried the hop spider was preventing the hops from getting sufficient contact with the wort. May have been a complete red herring though.
The holes in the hop plate are much larger than in the spider, so it'll probably only work with whole hops.
 
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