Part II
If you have 48 bottles, pasteurizing them 6 or 7 at a time, for ten minutes each batch, you can see that this will take you a little time. I usually allot 1.5 hours for the whole process. The balance you are making here is a little bit of time for absolute, stunning simplicity and no chemical additions. During the downtime, I do other chores, like wash the dishes.
After a ten minute soak in the hot water bath, remove the bottles. I use kitchen tongs to pick up the bottle and then transfer to my other hand with a kitchen mitt.
Put them on the kitchen counter to cool. I usually leave them out while I do the next batch, then return them to the case box. You can see in this picture, that I've got the next batch lined ready to go on the other end of the counter. Its just a simple little assembly line.
Turn the heat back on and raise the temp back up to 190. Repeat until all the bottles are done. Let them cool completely to room temperature before putting them in the fridge. Chill and enjoy!
For what its worth, I ask friends at a local pub in Chicago to collect bottles for me, so end up with an eclectic collection.
I've not had a bottle break or crack, although I did have a cap come off in the hot water bath (with the lid of the pot on) once. Obviously, with carbonation pressure and hot temps, you want to be careful. Don't bang the bottles. Don't have heat applying to the pot while the bottles are in it. But, using common sense, this method is really very simple and uses no additives or chemicals.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Added October 26, 2010: Through pm's and other threads, I have been chatting with people who have been trying to pasteurize bottles that are over-carbonated - in other words, they waited too long to pasteurize. Please do not do this, it is extraordinarily dangerous. Head injuries, eye injuries, flying glass shards and burns from hot liquid are all possible outcomes. Use common sense: 1) do not pasteurize a batch if you haven't opened a bottle and seen that the carbonation level is right and 2) if the bottle is over-carbonated (gushing, foam everywhere) do not do pasteurize. Rather, open the bottles and release some of the pressure before your bottles explode.
If you are doing this for the first time, if you are learning how your yeast, your juice, your processes work, test your bottles early and often, to avoid over-carbonation.
Added July 2014: FYI, I've never had bottle break during pastuerizing at 190, but some have, and I've found through experience that using 180F works fine. Also, these days I generally let the cider ferment all the way to dry, then backsweeten and bottle, pastuerizing after a couple of days. I tend to ferment 3 gallons of juice and backsweeten with 1 gallon.
