Pasteurization in the Carboy?

I like to make a sweet cider and don't really care for bubbles. Normally I cold crash and rack a few times to stop fermentation where I want it. Since I'm never sure it's stopped for good, I always put it in gallon containers and keep it refridgerated, and that takes up a lot of space in my fridge. My question is.... is there any reason I couldn't pasteurize my cider in the carboy? I have a trash can that I use to cold crash (I have access to lots of free ice). Could I just put the carboy in the trash can and instead of filling with ice and a little water, fill it with water at about 190 degrees and then just let it sit. Then I could store the cider however I wanted and not have to worry. I have both glass and better bottle carboys, any thoughts on which might be better? Thanks!

Seems like it would take forever to get it up to heat and keep it there long enough. Then you got the question of whether it's a good uniform heat. Lastly, can the glass carboys take the heat? They aren't pyrex, so I don't think I'd want to heat it.

Assuming it was even possible i'd say it would have to be the glass carboy and not the better bottle,i just have a feeling getting the whole carboy to the required temp for the required time would be difficult. I could be wrong though,good luck if you try it.

It would work. I don't want to be a nay sayer, but an issue I see is:

You would have to raise the temperature fairly slowly so as not to damage the glass. It could take a day to get it up there. When doing this the yeast would get really active and could ferment further than you wanted. But once the yeast was dead, you could sweeten.

Good luck.

Pasteurize in glass gallon jugs then rack it into a clean sanitized large carboy. You would achieve your target temp quicker. Just don't aerate it anymore than you need.

I'll tell you what I'm thinking of trying. Rack through a sillicone tube submerged in hot water. Adjust the water temp/length of tubing to get it so that the liquid exiting the siphon comes out at 160 degrees. Boom.

rexbanner said:

I'll tell you what I'm thinking of trying. Rack through a sillicone tube submerged in hot water. Adjust the water temp/length of tubing to get it so that the liquid exiting the siphon comes out at 160 degrees. Boom.

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Interesting idea, but you'll have to make sure it stays at that temp for the necessary time

Devo9 said:

Interesting idea, but you'll have to make sure it stays at that temp for the necessary time

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Not to worry. HTST (High temperature short time) pasteurization is the most commonly used method in the world. 15 seconds at 161 degrees. You could heat it even less considering it is going to sit there for most likely more than 15 seconds. There are charts for this but the minimum is 145 for 30 mins. Do whatever you feel like.

Personally, I am going to try 150 degrees. I'll rack it from secondary into a keg, let it sit for half an hour, then pop it in the keezer.

AndrewTodd said:

Pasteurize in glass gallon jugs then rack it into a clean sanitized large carboy. You would achieve your target temp quicker. Just don't aerate it anymore than you need.

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Wouldn't it be better if the tube in the hot water to be metal or glass since silicone tubing is not as heat conductive as those.

use a counterflow chiller as a heater?