Dishwasher sanitation - how long will it keep?

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dhoerr

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I'm having a bottling day tomorrow after work with some friends and have a logistical question.

We used the sanitizing cycle of our dishwasher on some jars for peach/habanero jam last weekend for the first time so I now know that it takes about 2 hours. In order to reduce the time spent between getting home from work and bottling I was thinking I'd throw the bottles in and run the sanitizing cycle on a 4 hour delay before I leave for work (it'd start around 11am) would they still be "sanitized" 5-6 hours later?
 
Yes, they should be OK. Just leave the diswasher undisturbed until are ready to bottle. Also, keep in mind that your bottles need to be very clean prior to putting them in the diswasher since the inside of the bottles will get sanitized from the heat but won't get washed in there. If there's any left over gunk from the last beer that was in your bottle, you could get a gusher. Also make sure there's no food leftover anywhere in the diswasher from the previous cycle before you put your bottles in.

Welcome to HBT!! :mug:
 
I agree. You should be okay. I would make sure that you set the "heat dry" option (if you have one) to minimize the moisture that hangs around during the wait time.

On a side note, 2 hours seems like a long time. On my dishwasher, I set it to "sani-rinse" and it skips the whole washing cycle. Takes < 1 hour.
 
Also - Don't put any detergent or jet dry in the diswasher! They both impact head retention.
 
I used this when I bottled last weekend. My dishwasher has a High heat and also a Sani cycle. I ran a full cycle, no soap, on extra high heat and Sani over night. Then gave each a few squirts of no rinse sanitizer while I was getting ready to bottle. So far so good. The sani cycle make things so easy.
 
On a side note, 2 hours seems like a long time. On my dishwasher, I set it to "sani-rinse" and it skips the whole washing cycle. Takes < 1 hour.

Thanks all, that's good to hear. I'm not totally sure how my wife set it up when she ran the canning jars + equipment, but when I walked by and looked the time indicator said "99+" and continued to do so for a long time.

We've been working the JetDry out of our system over the last few months, so hopefully that won't be a problem. I'm headed out to our almost-local HBS to grab some starsan so I'll be sure to get a spray bottle as well!
 
I run the dishwasher empty once to make sure there is nothing left from the last wash. Then run the bottles. They all get a shot of starsan via the vinator before the beer goes in. No probs so far.

Good luck!

What are you bottling BTW?
 
Curious - why do some of you use starsan and the dishwasher? If you're going to use starsan anyway, why not skip the dishwasher altogether?

I use dishwasher only - I've often wondered how long I can leave them in there for the exact same reason the original poster mentioned. Unfortunately, my dishwasher doesn't have a time delay... so if I run it before work, its 10+ hours before I can bottle...
 
I do it as a precaution. Dishwasher to get any nasties out, star-san to sanitize. It doesn't take any more effort, and i've already got 5gal of star-san mixed up, so i dump a few cups into my vinator.
 
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