dishwasher pasteurized cider

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ssuchem

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So I read in some threads on here that dishwasher could be used to pasturize cider. Well I ran 12 bottles through mine today and I'm wondering if it worked. I did notice some sediment formed after that wasn't there before. Was this free floating yeast dying? How can I tell if it worked? Sorry if I'm being a noob I just don't want bottle bombs.
 
Unfortunately, I think only time will tell. Open one every few days and if they are continuing to carbonate....get the in the fridge quickly or use the stove top method.
 
well ill keep one out to check on but i plan on drinking the rest rather soon, it is amazingly tasty stuff. i plan to make a big batch after tho, so knowing if this works would be nice.
 
Let us know if it worked. It would be really convenient to know the results of this. Did you hit around 160 degrees or so, or are you not sure what temperature your dishwasher hits?
 
ssuchem said:
not sure what it hits. we will see tho.

I bought a three dollar digital thermometer from eBay and ran the probe into the dishwasher. Ran it on various cycles to get best pasteurisation cycle. My intensive cycle, which supposedly used 70 C water peaked at about 50 C when full of 40 x 500mL bottles. Held over 40 C for at least an hour and some, the cycle ran for 2 hours 15 mins. This method gradually brings the bottles up to temperature so no explosions from temperature shock occurs. Holding at the lower temp for a longer period of time achieves pasteurisation.
Have done several successful batches (including the freight train carbing of the Caramel Apple Hard Cider recipe by UpstateMike) with only ever one bottle exploding - but the mess was easily contained and cleaned up, without interfering with the whole process.
 
roastquake said:
Any update on this? Any bottle bombs?
I still have some bottles pasteurised in the dishwasher from over a year ago - no bombs...
 
I've done this method 3 times now, over the past 2 months. Bought a meat thermometer with a 4 foot cord to the probe, filled a 22 with water, corked it, stabbed the probe thru the cork. Ran the dishwasher on normal, never got above 128. Ran the dishwasher on heated was, hit 148 for an hour, which is more than long enough according to all the pasteurization charts that I found on line.

Did a test batch of 6 bottles with almost no carbonation. (Straight from bucket into bottle into dishwasher) back in early nonmember(the weekend after Halloween). Drank the last one of those this weekend, still basically no carbonation.

Have since done 2 full batches, a few weeks apart, with priming sugar. Did the plastic bottle 'squeeze' test to get a good level of carbonation. Fills the entire bottom of my dishwasher. They're sitting in a closet currently, no explosions, keeping them until an event in mid January, will update then if I remember.
 
This looks/sounds awesome, much easier than stove top method. I've wanted to do some cider and soda but not setup to keg..no room in the house, and having to stand over a stove for hours or putting whole batches in the fridge haven't been appealing.

How are you "standing" the bottles up in the dishwasher? I put all my bottles in the dishwasher, without detergent, the day before or day of bottling but always put the "neck of the bottle" facing down over the "prongs" of the racks.
 
Just throwing it out there, It is a PITA to clean glass shards out of the washer. Next time I'm using a pot
 
Rather pick bits of glass out of the bottom of the dishwasher than out of my face!!!

PITA? Really? A neat little clean pile near the drain?
 
Just throwing it out there, It is a PITA to clean glass shards out of the washer. Next time I'm using a pot

There are tasks that should be done manually and other tasks that call for power tools. I would have been bringing the wet-dry vac into the kitchen for that cleanup.
 
Oh I did use a shop vac, the problem was the shards that I missed that I heard banging around the next few washes. And, hey, someone has to play devil's advocate.
 
What "mode" have any of you used? My dishwasher has speed clean, which I think is like normal just shortened, normal, China, pots and pans, and sanitize. Then I can either air dry or let it use its heater to dry.
Just wondering what might be best to avoid blowing up the bottles but ensure the yeast is dead.

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As long as you haven't over carbed, the longest hottest setting works for me... Let them cool in there afterwards too, they hold their heat for a while, too hot to touch straight after.
 
Does anyone know how hot the "heated dry" cycle is on an average dishwasher?

Also, do you lay the bottles on their side or try to keep them upright?
 
Does anyone know how hot the "heated dry" cycle is on an average dishwasher?

Also, do you lay the bottles on their side or try to keep them upright?

In my dishwasher, a regular run hit 128 degrees, a heated run hit 148 degrees for about an hour (inside of the bottles). It's some generic cheap-o brand the wife bought.

I keep them upright, shoulder to shoulder and fill up the majority of my bottom rack.

I've got two batches for a party this weekend that have been sitting in a closest for 2 months now, no bottle bombs.
 
I wonder if the bottle size matters. I have mostly 2-liter PET bottles. Would I need to heat longer for 2-liter bottles than for a similar volume of cider in 1-liter bottles?
 
PET bottles will probably melt or distort in the dishwasher - I wouldn't put them in...
 
PET bottles will probably melt or distort in the dishwasher - I wouldn't put them in...

you might be right but im not sure you are. plastic, when filled with liquid doesn't melt like it does when its dry. you can actually boil water in a cut off 2L bottle suspended over a camp fire. ive also seen people heat water in plastic bags over campfires.

so maybe worth a try with one bottle to see how they hold up to the heat.
 
you might be right but im not sure you are. plastic, when filled with liquid doesn't melt like it does when its dry. you can actually boil water in a cut off 2L bottle suspended over a camp fire. ive also seen people heat water in plastic bags over campfires.

so maybe worth a try with one bottle to see how they hold up to the heat.

That can be done because the water can evaporate, so it can't heat up beyond a given point before it evaporates, which has a cooling action. You can also boil water ina paper cup over an open flame. If you have the bottles sealed, they're pressurized, you don't get the evaporative cooling. In addition, the pressure can cause deformation in the sealed bottle because of the pressure, which you won't get in an open topped container. I've seen the wierd dostrted pictures.
 
you might be right but im not sure you are. plastic, when filled with liquid doesn't melt like it does when its dry. you can actually boil water in a cut off 2L bottle suspended over a camp fire. ive also seen people heat water in plastic bags over campfires.

so maybe worth a try with one bottle to see how they hold up to the heat.

I would also just worry about plastic leeching into the cider, especially for your 2L over a fire situation.

Regardless, The brewer bottles now a days are surely of higher grade plastics (although I don't use them).
 
I would also just worry about plastic leeching into the cider, especially for your 2L over a fire situation.

yup. the bottle over the fire is a survival situation example as was the plastic bag over the campfire, that i used to give reason behind my opinion that the dishwasher probably wouldn't melt and deform plastic bottles full of cider.

but you're right, i wouldn't wanna make my coffee every morning with water boiled in a plastic bottle over a camp fire lol.
 
If it matters to anyone, I actually read the instructions that came with my dishwasher (I know it sounds crazy), anyway "sanitize" is guaranteed to hold 190F for 20 minutes. My dishwasher is a little more expensive model than most I would say. (Paid around 700-800 bucks for it). But, I bet if yours has a sanitize cycle too, it's probably in that ball park too. If my oven thermometer was still working I would check for everyone.
 
...my goodness, why did I never think of this method, it sounds too easy to be true...

re: plastic. liquid at 160F+ = a lot more thermal energy than just plastic and air at 160F. in an open container, this energy is released through evaporation. in a closed container, it stays inside in contact with the plastic. no different than stovetop pasteurizing with plastic though. does that work?
 
has anyone had much luck with this method?
I wonder if this could be a viable way of pasteurizing. Instead of an expensive pasteurization machine or even a hot bath, you could get a bunch of dish washers going!
 
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