I'll admit I haven't really played around with whole hops in a boil yet. I've used them for dry hopping twice. I'm looking through the internet and it hits me. Some of the turkey fryers that are sold come with a kettle and a steam basket. I'm thinking to myself that this would be a good way to strain whole hops from a boil. Has anyone had any success using a steam basket to lauter whole hops out of their boil? The top of the basket would have to stay above the level of wort and the hops would have to stay intact. How plausible is this? Something like this, but maybe with smaller holes: http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-B300-Perforated-Accessory/dp/B00062VZOW/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1388719793&sr=8-11&keywords=steam basket
If you use pellets in the boil primarily, you will definitely want a very fine mesh for your strainer/hop spider. I use the 8" diameter from stainless brewing and absolutely love it. Very happy that I opted for the largest size, too, as I just made 10 gallons of IPA and needed the space. Here it is: http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/3-adapter-ONLY-for-Hop-SpiderDry-Hopper-kit_p_168.html Here is a similar product from another company: http://utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php
Hop leaves are pretty small, as long as the cones stay pretty well intact I think that would work. However, I've used them in the boil and found them to disintegrate enough that a strainer like that wouldn't be able to keep up. I've been eyeing one of the products already mentioned above, from stainless brewing. One of the reasons I've been hesitant to order anything along the lines of "hop spiders" is that for brews where using a lot of hops that make a hop spider helpful, are also ones that could end up being detrimental with its use. As people have reported decreased hop utilization due to decreased wort exposure. This is just what I've read.
I'm very sure this is a factor. I will say though that there is A LOT of space for the hops to roam around while they are being contained within the 8" diameter hop spider. (BTW, I used 14oz of whole flower hops in the 10 gallon IPA mentioned above and it could handle it fine.) Also, to give you an idea of how large the 8" diameter is, I boil in a 20 gallon Blichmann and there probably isn't much more than 4" between the outside edge of the spider and the inside edge of the kettle. There are also the nylon bag spider versions available which might be better in terms of hop utilization.
