Does using a sous vide leach heavy metal?

[IrondaleBrewing]

I posted this pic of my latest brew session to a Facebook group, and a couple of people chimed in to say the sous vide being in direct contact with the mash water would leach heavy metal into the beer. I know this technique is pretty popular but I'm new to it, and I couldn't find anything about any dangers of metal leaching into the beer so I thought I'd ask this audience and see what the consensus is. Thanks!

 

[Broken Crow]

It really depends on the material the element is made of. I took a brief look at the @inkbird page for that element and didn't see any info on the element itself. If the element is Stainless Steel: ..."food-grade" SS is always passivated in manufacturing so by the time it reaches you, it is essentially non-reactive and if any minor flaws have passed on, it'll usually 'self-passivate' the first time you use it at brewing temperatures and remain non-reactive as long as you don't use anything too abrasive to clean it.
That said; Sous vide is not intended to come into contact with the food, thus freeing the manufacturer from any obligation to make it 'food-safe'.
Personally, I've set up a RIMS tube with a Dernoid SS element from brewhardware.com as it's a food-grade SS that won't leech at brewing temps...same with the Camco's.
I know there's a way to test for metals, but I'm not familiar with how that's done.

 

[IrondaleBrewing]

It really depends on the material the element is made of. I took a brief look at the @inkbird page for that element and didn't see any info on the element itself. If the element is Stainless Steel: ..."food-grade" SS is always passivated in manufacturing so by the time it reaches you, it is essentially non-reactive and if any minor flaws have passed on, it'll usually 'self-passivate' the first time you use it at brewing temperatures and remain non-reactive as long as you don't use anything too abrasive to clean it.
That said; Sous vide is not intended to come into contact with the food, thus freeing the manufacturer from any obligation to make it 'food-safe'.
Personally, I've set up a RIMS tube with a Dernoid SS element from brewhardware.com as it's a food-grade SS that won't leech at brewing temps...same with the Camco's.
I know there's a way to test for metals, but I'm not familiar with how that's done.

Thanks for the thoughts and info! I did find that Anova has a post on their website about using their sous vide for brewing, and you'd hope they wouldn't post such a thing if there were safety concerns, but stranger things have happened I supposed. And it could be (as you said) the material betweens brands differs.

I have a Gigawort I'm going to use on my next batch and am also planning on trying the mash in a cooler method just to see which process works best for me, but the sous vide worked really well on the first couple of BIAB batches I've done. I certainly don't want to keep doing it if it's not safe though!

Thanks again for the thoughts and for sharing your alternative approach.

 

[Bobby_M]

It's an interesting question for sure. On one hand, you might figure that the manufacturer doesn't expect the Sous Vide heater to actually be submerged in your food product. However, wouldn't they consider the possibility that the water bath might leak into the food bags in some rare circumstances? It's kind of the same reason we use food grade glycol in conicals. We're not planning to mix it with the beer BUT......

 

[mac_1103]

I took a brief look at the @inkbird page for that element and didn't see any info on the element itself.

I didn't either, but it does at least look like stainless steel in the pictures. The removable tube that covers the element and circulator is stainless steel.

 

[Broken Crow]

I didn't either, but it does at least look like stainless steel in the pictures. The removable tube that covers the element and circulator is stainless steel.

Probably Ok, I was just hoping @inkbird would see the tag and come in with a definitive answer.