[ipaguy]

If you use the aerator then yes- you must run your wort through 3/8" tubing. Myself? I usually just use a strainer.

What euge said.  I've used an auto-siphon to do the transfer and it doesn't take all that long.  To be on the safe side I cover my kettle with aluminum foil after getting the siphon started to keep out any dust-fall.  You just set up your gear so that the siphon sprayer hangs near the top of your fermenting bucket.  The cone shaped part diverts the wort into a thin sheet that looks like it has really good air contact.  I have to admit that I'm going to stop using mine because I've got an oxygen injection system arriving any day now.

[bwn]

I'll try the strainer first maybe move up to that after a while

[ipaguy]

I'll try the strainer first maybe move up to that after a while

Just make sure that after you make the transfer you really shake that wort up.  Either rock the bucket back and forth (violently) for a good 15 or 20 minutes or stir the hell out of it with a sanitized spoon.  It's kind of a trade-off.  On one hand you want to get a bunch of air into your wort.  On the other hand you want to minimize the amount of airborne bacteria you might get in there.

[bwn]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their opinions and advice.  I had my first "Brew Day" Sunday and things went pretty well.  I shook my yeast starter up too much the day before and blew the top off, I grabbed it and stuck it back on without thinking about sanitation.  It was a foam stopper that I had soaked in starsan and I didn't touch the part that went into the flask. It was a natural reaction I guess.  When I steeped the grains the temperature got up to 176 at the 10 minute mark and I shutoff the burner and it went down to 166 by the end of the 20 minutes.  I didn't boil enough water(didn't take evaporation into consideration) and had to boil more and cool it after I had dumped the wort and water into the fermentor, luckily I had lots of snow to help with that.  I also had to wait about 3 hours for the fermentor to get cool enough to pitch the yeast.  I didn't have a thermometer that read low enough for the extra water and wort(I already ordered one for next time   So I hope those few things don't affect the beer.  When I pitched the yeast I had bubbling in the airlock 4.5 hours later and it is still bubbling away.  Now the hard part, waiting

[tygo]

Sounds about par for the course for a first brew day.  Congrats on getting one under your belt!

[euge]

Wait till you encounter the wort faeries...