Cleaning and sanitizing?

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DJCalico

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So, I'm reading between the lines here, but if you have a bucket filled with water and Starsan, you can dip equipment, bottles, etc and immediately use them???
 
Well, yes and no. I think the actual contact time is a minute. So, wet it, and wait a minute or so, then use. It doesn't have to actually soak for a minute, it just has to wet that long.

Remember, clean and sanitized are not the same thing. You should always clean your equipment first. Clean means just not dirty. Any obvious gunk or dust should be cleaned off, and then rinsed. I don't use any detergent or soap on my brewing gear- simply warm water and oxyclean if needed. My plastic stuff gets hot water rinsed, my glass gets the warm water rinse.

After the equipment is cleaned, THEN it can be sanitized. I mix up one gallon, or maybe two gallons, of Star-san, and then sanitize my equipment. All hoses, hydrometer, etc, get the soak treatment, but for the bigger items like carboys and kegs, I add a gallon or so of sanitizer, and swirl it all around and coat it well. You can see by the foam where you already covered. Then I pour the sanitizer out and let it drain a bit into the sink. Save the sanitizer in a milk jug or bucket- you can reuse it.
 
That's great advice, thank you.

I guess I am just getting a little paranoid about the whole sanatizing thing prematurely lol.
 
I use a 10 gallon food grade container that I fill with 5 gallons of iodaphor.I just clean and let the equipment soak in the container until I am ready to use it and it accomodates large items as well. Iodaphor is cheap and 1 tablespoon goes for a session.
 
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