No Rinse Sanitizer Question

I have used no rinse sanitizers like Easy Clean and B Brite since I started brewing (active ingredient is sodium carbonateperoxyhydrate in both I think). Its all fine that they are no rinse but they say to let air dry for 30 mins as most of the sanitizing happens during drying. But I also have a bottle of iodophor that I ordered by accident and I was reading that post about everyone's brewing secrets and I read some stuff about iodophor that sounds pretty user friendly. Someone said that they just leave all their racking equipment and thief etc. in the iodophor solution until ready to use it, just whip off most of the liquid and go ahead. Did I read correctly because that sounds much easier than what I do by letting it dry on the counter whih kills me because I just picture bacteria raining down all over my equipment during drying. Anyway, I'm working with B-Brite and iodophor right now and wanted to know if I had the procedure correct for the iodophor and if I should just use that instead of the B-Brite, it just sounds safer and easier. Also, for future reference, are there any other sanitizers out there that are easier/quicker? I think a thread should be started just on everyone's sanitation techniques (the wallpaper tray was a gem!), I've had no bacterial infections but I feel oddly masochistic during the sanitation process as I think my methods are more awkward and time consuming than they have to be. Thanks for all the help, sorry for cluttering up the board with noob questions the past couple of days but today is brew day, just fine tuning. Take it easy.

Joe

In terms of ease of use, I think Star San and iodophor are going to come out at the top of the list.

I use iodophor, and mostly also just lift it out of the solution, shake off the excess, and use it. With bottles, I take tem out and dry them upsidedown in the dishwasher.

I think 2 minutes is sufficient contact time for both of these sanitizers.

If you happen to live in farm country, you can probably find iodophor cheap in bulk at a farm supply store.

yeah iodophor is very quick and easy. 60 second contact time, and for carboys just filling the carboy partially with an h20/iodophor solution and sloshing it around is sufficient for sanitizing.

i normally just fill my CLEAN carboy up with an h20/iodophor solution and let it sit for 10 minutes, then drain and let sit upside down from flame-out untill the wort is cooled and ready to pitch (20 min. later)

Sorry, I forgot to ask the dilution factor for the iodophor...

RiversC174 said:

Sorry, I forgot to ask the dilution factor for the iodophor...

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its on the bottle...its not very much ill tell you that. Apparently its crutial you get the right amount, it works by the iodine releasing free ions or something and the wrong concentration actually decreases the amount of ions released or whatever. Just go by what the bottle says...

Iodophor - 1 TBS per 5 gals.

Contact time only 2 minutes needed

Lasts up to 24 hours

I use star san and it seem easy enough too... a lot of discussion has gone on about star san lately... I jsut fill my carboy with about a gallon of water and the proper amount of star san.. shake it up and the bubbles cover everything... the bubbles make me feel like the star san is sanitizing everyting... I dont let me equipment sit in star san though... I will let the carboys and kegs sit with star san in them, but not any of the plastic tubing, funnels, etc...

Jester

I just recently switched to star-san (from Iodophor). After I heard all the great things it can do, I was hooked. We'll see what the next few batches turn out like.

I never liked star-san because of the foam. I was paranoid about the foam still sitting in a carboy when I racked into it, but my worries were for nothing. The star-san guy said it wouldn't hurt anything.

It is better than having Iodophor staining everything, for sure.

I will let the carboys and kegs sit with star san in them, but not any of the plastic tubing, funnels, etc...

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I was leary of this too, until after Dude Baited me on slime on the plastic I discovered the damaged tube had Star-san poured directly on it (I hadn't noticed ) Since then I leave my stuff in a 5 gallon bucket with star-san and rinse the slime with warm water then dip it in the bucket again before use.. So far I haven't had any issues with it and it makes the Star-san an almost insignificant cost since 1oz will last a few batches for me (probably more but I dump it after few weeks) instead of making fresh solution for every batch. The concentration isn't enough acid to damage anything.

RiversC174 said:

I have used no rinse sanitizers like Easy Clean and B Brite

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I think B-Brite is a cleaner - not a sanitizer.

I love Iodophor for sanitizing. Take it out, shake off the excess and use it.
Only problem with it is the staining. I've never tried Star San so I can't comment.

-a.