Secondary bucket question

Hey again guys,

So last night I racked my first batch of mead into my secondary, which included five pounds of dates and some raisins, I am having to use another bucket as my secondary and thus I cannot see into it. I understand the purpose of secondary, aside from back sweetening, is to allow the mead to clear. So my question is since I cannot see into my bucket what might be a good time frame to leave it in secondary? Is It ok to pop the lid off every once and a while to look at it or will that mess up my end product? As always thanks in advance.

Using a bucket fermentor as a secondary runs the risk of oxidation. There is a LOT more headspace in a bucket than a carbouy & opening it will increase the risk.

Your best bet is to rack it into a carbouy. If you simply cannot, for whatever reason, do so, you can use a couple of things to help protect it from oxidation. You can sulfite or you can add ascorbic acid. You can also add a blanket of CO2 to cover the surface of the must.

With the added fruit, odds are good that active fermentation will restart/continue, so it will likely get a bit cloudy again, but this should also generate more CO2, which will help to protect against oxidation.

I'd say give it about a month in your secondary bucket & then sulfite & rack to a carbouy whether it's clear or not. Top up & put under airlock; wait for it to clear.
Good luck.
Regards, GF.

Thank you