Question about pasteurizing

My oven can be set at temps as low as 170. Instead Of using a pot of hot water can I just leave them n the oven for 20 mins or so

donjonson said:

My oven can be set at temps as low as 170. Instead Of using a pot of hot water can I just leave them n the oven for 20 mins or so

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Please define "them"

step said:

Please define "them"

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Sorry them = bottled full of carbinated not fully attenuated cider I want to kill off the yeast so that I don't get bottle bombs

the temp of your oven is not reliable enough to ensure you had your liquid you are pasteurizing at the correct temperature for the proper length of time. You could easily overheat/boil or underheat and not get the pasteurization you are trying for. Using the pot of water and a thermometer basically guarantees you get the right temps.

I agree, oven temps are not reliable.

Assuming it is, the oven temp may be 170 to start with, but when you add in the cool bottles, they will suck the heat out of he air, and the heating element will come on. The bottles will get radiant heat which will be well above 170 while the temp is coming back up.

I just tried this today with my oven, I put a bunch of bottles of cider in with the oven off. Turned it on and let it come up to 170º. 170º is the minimum for my oven. Once temp was reached I set the timer for 25 min. About 12 min in I started hearing a hissing noise coming from the oven. I shut it off and opened the door to let them cool. After letting them cool I determined that half of the bottles were fizzing and leaking air. One bottle was actually leaking cider. Is this normal, or is it because my oven was too hot?

de5m0mike said:

I just tried this today with my oven, I put a bunch of bottles of cider in with the oven off. Turned it on and let it come up to 170º. 170º is the minimum for my oven. Once temp was reached I set the timer for 25 min. About 12 min in I started hearing a hissing noise coming from the oven. I shut it off and opened the door to let them cool. After letting them cool I determined that half of the bottles were fizzing and leaking air. One bottle was actually leaking cider. Is this normal, or is it because my oven was too hot?

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I believe so. I had a similar problem when my water got up to 215* (Ooops!)


I have had some good luck with an alternate but similar method to Pappers. I plug my sink's drain, and I lay out the bottles. I can get about 18 bottles in at a time. I then run some hot water over them (my hot water heater puts out 130*) meanwhile, I have two large pots on the stove heating to 200*. I then take the 200* water off of the stove, and slowly poor it into the sink. I let it sit for 12 minutes just to be safe. I then use my tongs to pull the drain on the sink, and I let the bottles sit for 2 minutes or so before moving them out of the sink to cool.

I have done a few batches like that, and it has worked out well so far. I even pasteurized some still cider (half batch still, half sparkling) just to verify that this method was indeed working as anticipated. So far so good. The carbonation levels have not changed, and I havent had bottle bombs at all.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that tonight.

If you're going to try that, be advised that there is always the possibility that a bottle will explode and douse the inside of your oven in cider.

I was too late. The bottles are way over carbed now. I noticed a lot of them were leaking CO2 pressure around the caps and when I went to open one it shot out of my hand like a rocket. Flew across the kitchen hit the oven door and shattered the glass. The glass on the oven, not the bottle. The bottle then bounced off and flew into the living room. It was a huge mess. And could have been quite dangerous. I put the rest of the bottles outside where it is cold and this morning, more tops had blown off and almost all were foaming around the edges. No actual broken bottles though.

reminds me of a three stooges movie