Starsan in the kitchen?

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shortyjacobs

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OK, so usually, in the kitchen, after cooking something that could make me sick, (chicken, pork, beef, etc.), I clean the countertop first with a cleaning spray, then with a sanitizing spray. I use this stuff:
http://www.clorox.com/products/overview.php?prod_id=ahsds

It's a "no rinse, contact sanitizer". A quick glance at the ingredients shows it's diluted bleach water.

I don't feel like figuring out how much bleach to use as dilution to make my own. I figure, Starsan is a no rinse, contact sanitizer, and I make up between 2.5 - 5 gallons a week of it.

What do you guys think, does Starsan kill e. coli, salmonella, and all the other nasties that this Clorox stuff does??
 
I use starsan in my kitchen all the time....It is used in the food industry as well as in brewing.

Acid cleaners and sanitizers are regularly used in the food and dairy industry. In fact 5 star chemicals (the makers of starsan) lists it as approved for use in the dairy industry, and their sanitization requirements are HIGHER than that of the food industry. Plus 5 star- rebrands and renames many of their products for use in the kitchen.

I would trust that as a no-rinse product around my food, a hell of a lot more than any bleach based product any day.
 
Just googled Starsan and e-coli and found this...

Charlie Talley: When I developed Star in the late 60's (yes I am that old) it was tested against S. aurous, E. coli, L. bacillus, A. Niger and a few other nasty bacteria. All were at 10 to 30,000,000 colonies per cc. The contact time was at 30, 60, and 120 seconds. The end result was 10 to 30 colonies per cc after 30-second contact time and 0 after 60 seconds of contact time. Since our EPA will only recognize the 120-second contact time that is why it is on our label. So as you can see it is very effective with just a 20 second contact time.

The ingredients that are in Star San are based on food grade or G.R.A.S. materials (Generally Recognized as Safe). They are phosphoric acid, dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (DDBSA), propylene glycol, and a coupling agent. When it is diluted to 300 ppms one ounce per 5 (US) gallons of water or 1.5-1.6 mls/liter the actives are 300 ppms of DDBSA and 930 ppms of phosphoric acid. This will produce an end pH of 2.5 to 3.5 (depending on the alkalinity of the water used for make up.
Click to expand...

From http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/news/newsletter_summer_2007.htm
 
Yup, I keep a spray bottle of StarSan under my sink. It gets refreshed every time I make up a new batch of StarSan for brewing. In the meantime it gets used to wipe down countertops before dinner prep (I have cats), to clean cutting boards, to sanitize fridge shelves (especially after thawing chicken) and any other instance where I want the security of a proven sanitizer. As Revvy says, it's used not only in the brewing industry but also in dairy applications where the sanitation standards are routinely higher than food service. StarSan is quite a bit more effective than the quaternary ammonia solutions (quats) demanded by many local health departments for restaurants, delis and food-service establishments.

Chad
 
Just a warning, star san in its concentrated form will etch or bleach a plastic counter. Formica / laminate and I believe Corian are at risk. I would not advise setting the star san bottle on you counters...sometimes the concentrate has dripped down the side. Agreed, it is great stuff...just a heads up.
 
Chad said:
Yup, I keep a spray bottle of StarSan under my sink. It gets refreshed every time I make up a new batch of StarSan for brewing. In the meantime it gets used to wipe down countertops before dinner prep (I have cats), to clean cutting boards, to sanitize fridge shelves (especially after thawing chicken) and any other instance where I want the security of a proven sanitizer. As Revvy says, it's used not only in the brewing industry but also in dairy applications where the sanitation standards are routinely higher than food service. StarSan is quite a bit more effective than the quaternary ammonia solutions (quats) demanded by many local health departments for restaurants, delis and food-service establishments.

Chad
Click to expand...

You DID NOT put it in your damn book, though, and there was a perfect section on kitchen sanitation! WTF?!
 
the_bird said:
You DID NOT put it in your damn book, though, and there was a perfect section on kitchen sanitation! WTF?!
Click to expand...

He's saving it for the movie of course!!!!!!

Or the sequel.

Damn it bird I am glad you mentioned the book, I have been racking my brain to recall which member wrote the book on knife skills....I still haven't mastered them to the level I feel comfortable with, and the knife skills class I have been trying to get into for a couple years I can't...It's the one thing that's been holding me back from trying out for "Be the next food network star" I cook great, but pretty much hack my way through anything other than chopping onions....I figured Chad's(but I forgot who's) book would be my answer....

Thanks :mug:
 
Starsan is my kitchen sanitizer now. It doesn't smell, I always have it in a spray bottle, and its cheaper for me to mix my own than buy bleach based kitchen sanitizer products.
 
Revvy said:
He's saving it for the movie of course!!!!!!

Or the sequel.

Damn it bird I am glad you mentioned the book, I have been racking my brain to recall which member wrote the book on knife skills....I still haven't mastered them to the level I feel comfortable with, and the knife skills class I have been trying to get into for a couple years I can't...It's the one thing that's been holding me back from trying out for "Be the next food network star" I cook great, but pretty much hack my way through anything other than chopping onions....I figured Chad's(but I forgot who's) book would be my answer....

Thanks :mug:
Click to expand...

Buy the book, Chad knows his ****, and it's a far, far more interesting and engaging read that you would *ever* think that a book about knife skills and sharpening and buying knives could possibly be.
 
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the_bird said:
Buy the book, Chad knows his ****, and it's a far, far more interesting and engaging read that you would *ever* think that a book about knife skills and sharpening and buying knives could possibly be.
Click to expand...

wow, thats EXACTLY what I've been looking for! Massive google searches have turned up nothing. Thanks for posting
 
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the_bird said:
You DID NOT put it in your damn book, though, and there was a perfect section on kitchen sanitation! WTF?!
Click to expand...

the_bird said:
Buy the book, Chad knows his ****, and it's a far, far more interesting and engaging read that you would *ever* think that a book about knife skills and sharpening and buying knives could possibly be.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks! I appreciate the kind words.

When I wrote the cutting board section (man, that's a couple of years ago now :eek:) I was just getting into home brewing and wasn't as well versed in the wonders of StarSan. The other consideration is keeping my recommendations accessible to the general public, who probably aren't going to trek down to their local homebrew shop for an obscure sanitizing solution. The recommendation I do regret leaving out, though, is the one-two combination of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. You can't mix the two ahead of time, they need to be spritzed on separately, but the combination is startlingly effective, and nearly everybody has both in the house. You can not only sanitize your cutting boards, but since the combo is food safe you also can spray your salad greens if there is any fear of E. Coli or other contaminant.

Chad
 
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It's a cumulative thing. A little acid, a little etching x 5 years. It's similar to diluted vinegar in that regard and granite really needs a pH neutral cleaner. I've been looking at Counteriffic which as far as I can tell is the only granite safe disinfectant.
 
Bobby_M said:
It's a cumulative thing. A little acid, a little etching x 5 years. It's similar to diluted vinegar in that regard and granite really needs a pH neutral cleaner. I've been looking at Counteriffic which as far as I can tell is the only granite safe disinfectant.
Click to expand...

Good to know. If I ever design a kitchen, I'll be going with stainless counters though.
 
Speaking of kitchen stuff....

When we were re-doing the kitchen and didn't have a sink, the dirty dishes went into the basement's slop sink. One pot, my wife totally 'effed up. Making ravioli or tortolini or something, didn't stir enough, not enough water. Pasta stuck horribly to the bottom of the stainless steel pot. Not no-stick or anything. Pasta's basically glued to the bottom of the pot.

And, it got neglected for a long time; hey, I'm kind of a slob.

So, I go to clean the pot, and it's the kind of mess that's literally going to take a ton of soaking, probably some steel wool, but mostly a metric ****-ton of elbow grease.

But, I'm right next to the laundry machine, and something catches my eye....

Oxyclean. Literally five seconds of soak time, tops. Everything's loosened up, falls right off. Wash the residue off, and we're golden, it's like brand new.
 

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