can i use the kitchen sink for sanitizing?

i am new to brewing. will be bottling for the first time this upcoming weekend.

thus far, i have sanitized in one of my buckets after washing it. this is a bit of a pain since i must march off to the bathtub to fill the bucket to wash it and then fill it again to use for a sanitizing tub.

i was wondering if i washed up the kitchen sink well and then filled it with water and idophor, would it be okay? sure would make sanitizing my bottles this weekend easier. this could also make sanitizing some other equipment (airlocks, bottle fillers, rubber stoppers, hydrometer, thermometer, etc...) easier.

of course sanitizing the buckets will still have to be done in the tub...


also,
can't remember where on this site i saw it now, but i also bought a 30 inch long planter to use for sanitizing all my siphoning equipment/racking canes... thanks to whoever said use a wallpaper tray. the planter accomplishes the same result.

That would be fine, the iodophor would sanitize the sink as well as the bottles.

However unless you have a stainless steel sink I would be concerned about staining from the iodophor.

I sanitize my bottles in my big cement sink in the basement. Each side must hold about 8-10 gallons of water.

I always use my kitchen sink for all my sanitizing. I clean the sink well, then sanitize it with the sanitizer from my bucket. I fill a few bottles with the sanitizer solution, and then sanitize the racking cane and bottling tube. Then, drain those bottles and do a few more. The sanitizer is no rinse, so I just place them in the clean side of the sink upside down to drain slightly. As I soak a few bottles in the sink, I get other things ready so I'm not wasting any time waiting for the sanitizer to work. Make sure you sanitize your bottling spigot by removing it and soak that, too.

I use the dishwasher to bottle. That is, I put the bottling bucket on the counter above the dishwasher. I open the dishwasher and line up the bottles on the door (about 10 at a time). I fill the bottles one by one. Any spill or drips stay on the dishwasher door, and when I'm done I just close the dishwasher and all the mess stays in there!

I've never used my bathtub for cleaning/sanitizing. I just use my spray hose from the kitchen sink to fill and clean the buckets, dumping them in the sink. I wash the outside by placing the bottom in the sink.

Happy bottling!

Lorena

ok, cool, i was hoping that's what i would hear. The iodophor would sanitize the sink after washing it.

i do have a stainless steel sink, so it sounds like a plan.

btw, the dishwasher sounds like a great idea for bottling, which leads me to another question about bottling...

can i fill about 10 bottles at a time before capping? or should i bottle one and then cap that one?

thanks for the replies

BrewProject said:

btw, the dishwasher sounds like a great idea for bottling, which leads me to another question about bottling...

can i fill about 10 bottles at a time before capping? or should i bottle one and then cap that one?

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First, get help bottling if at all possible--one to fill bottles, one to cap or something.

You can fill several at a time: it's not a bad idea to place the sanitized cap on the bottle right away, though: to prohibit any nasties from floating in there before you seal the cap.

I usually bottle/cap in groups of 12, stirring beer with a sanitized spoon to make sure the priming sugar is well mixed every 1-2 batches of 12.

cweston said:

First, get help bottling if at all possible--one to fill bottles, one to cap or something.

You can fill several at a time: it's not a bad idea to place the sanitized cap on the bottle right away, though: to prohibit any nasties from floating in there before you seal the cap.

I usually bottle/cap in groups of 12, stirring beer with a sanitized spoon to make sure the priming sugar is well mixed every 1-2 batches of 12.

Click to expand...

another great idea about placing the sanitized cap on the bottle immediately.

btw, should i sanitize or boil the caps?

P.S. i am gonna try to get a friend to help out. if not, i will try to talk the SWMBO into it.

Sanitize the caps.

Allegedly, boiling can warp the plastic sealing liner.

cweston said:

Sanitize the caps.

Allegedly, boiling can warp the plastic sealing liner.

Click to expand...

thanks, i'm all over the sanitizing then :rockin:

cweston said:

Sanitize the caps.

Allegedly, boiling can warp the plastic sealing liner.

Click to expand...

I think I read somewhere that if you used an oxygen-based sanitizer...like One-Step, you shouldn't use it on oxygen absorbing caps.

And this is my favorite bottle-washing and drying tool:

I thought I heard that you weren't supposed to boil those types of caps... I;m confused....

The "no-boiling" thing strikes me as something which somebody is worried about in theory but that doesn't actually happen in practice. I've had zero problems boiling, you're only bring them up to 212 degrees, remember.

the_bird said:

I thought I heard that you weren't supposed to boil those types of caps... I;m confused....

The "no-boiling" thing strikes me as something which somebody is worried about in theory but that doesn't actually happen in practice. I've had zero problems boiling, you're only bring them up to 212 degrees, remember.

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Which is hot enough to damage the soft plastic liner inside the cap. If you've been doing it and it works for you, great. However, it is not a recommended practice. Most of the references I've read advise heavily against it.

Exo said:

I think I read somewhere that if you used an oxygen-based sanitizer...like One-Step, you shouldn't use it on oxygen absorbing caps.

And this is my favorite bottle-washing and drying tool:

Click to expand...

i've got a bottle tree...

i have idophor for sanitizing.

TWolf10 said:

That would be fine, the iodophor would sanitize the sink as well as the bottles.

However unless you have a stainless steel sink I would be concerned about staining from the iodophor.

I sanitize my bottles in my big cement sink in the basement. Each side must hold about 8-10 gallons of water.

Click to expand...

I have a SS sink but that is why I use One Step. Hey does this stuff stain your hands too when you work with it?

BrewProject said:

i was wondering if i washed up the kitchen sink well and then filled it with water and idophor, would it be okay?

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While some on the forum seem to think it's okay, IMO . . . Oh, um, dude . . . that's truly friggin' disgusting. May as well fill the toilet bowl with idophor to clean your equipment. Why not just sanitize a couple of turds while your at it, you can use them to cork your bottles instead of using bottle caps. Sanitizer isn't magic. The whole idea of it is too much like Cosmo Kramer preparing dinner in his shower. I'm sorry to be so sarcastic here and maybe I'm a bit of a germaphobe, but really--that is nasty. Washing vegetables in a clean sink is okay, but I think beer should be as clean as possible at every point in its development. If your equipment will not fit under the faucet, get an adapter for it with a piece of hose or tubing. A sanitizer injector and bottling tree are worth every penny.

well i did clean the sink, very well before doing this. it was sparkling big time. i did sanitize my bottles in the sink and hope it went well. i believe it was fine.

first batch of brew bottled and conditioning now.

I hear you on the sanitizer injector, might look into one as well as some hose/fittings for the future.

Always seem to use my sink..... Prost! just may faint when I say my bird takes baths in it all the time.

Prost! said:

While some on the forum seem to think it's okay, IMO . . . Oh, um, dude . . . that's truly friggin' disgusting. May as well fill the toilet bowl with idophor to clean your equipment. Why not just sanitize a couple of turds while your at it, you can use them to cork your bottles instead of using bottle caps. Sanitizer isn't magic. The whole idea of it is too much like Cosmo Kramer preparing dinner in his shower. I'm sorry to be so sarcastic here and maybe I'm a bit of a germaphobe, but really--that is nasty. Washing vegetables in a clean sink is okay, but I think beer should be as clean as possible at every point in its development. If your equipment will not fit under the faucet, get an adapter for it with a piece of hose or tubing. A sanitizer injector and bottling tree are worth every penny.

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Well, since I don't have a dishwasher I guess I just live in nasty conditions, since thats where we wash our dishes as well. And we don't use Iodophor for them, just some soap and water.

Yeah-- I'm thinking the same thing: sinks are intended to be used as a place to make things sanitary. It's where one washes dishes and food.

'Sanitizing' isn't some magic, it's jsut making things clean as possible. If your sink is 'gross' I"m thinking you need to spend some time cleaning it. If a non-porous surface is clean and you use sanitizer on it then it is sanitary. I don't see any problem

Sanitation is a very personal thing, I guess...

I've never used the kitchen sink, but I see no reason why you couldn't, as long as it's clean.

I use a small plastic dish pan or a 2-qt measuring glass when I only need to sanitize small things (like a turkey baster for drawing a sample or something).

The Bottle-Tree thingy looks awesome, if for no other reason than to speed things up a bit. For now, I use the sink for bottles and the tub for buckets. The wife is teasing me for finally cleaning the tub.

I use a 15 gallon white food grade container and fill it with Iodaphor. You can put all sorts of things in there to sanitize whether it is on brew day or bottling day. After everything is done it makes a fine container to hold all your stuff. On bottling day you can just drain your bottles on the top rack of the dishwasher and fill them on the door. It makes things quite easy.