Thermometer for the plate chiller is on the way along with a Tee and cam-locks so hopefully my next brew will incorporate this new chilling system and I can run straight to the fermenter.
My first attempt yesterday was with just the pump and an immersion chiller in the kettle. I also had my Hop Rocket after the pump, and it had a 5-gallon paint strainer bag stuffed in it as sort of a filter. The hope was that while recirculating and chilling, I'd also be pulling all the gunk out of my wort leaving a nice clean wort into the fermenter. Nope, sorry, nothin'! Darn thing clogged within a couple of minutes and I had to pull it out of the circuit and continue chilling/recirculating without it. Next time maybe I'll try 3 or 4 stainless steel scrubbies stuffed into the Rocket and slow my flow down a little bit.