Few questions about my cider

[irchowi]

1. I bottled my cider yesterday and it was much more work than I anticipated. The red baron hand capper was very difficult to operate because it seems to require a lot more force than I thought and I was scared of breaking the bottle and having glass flying everywhere the whole time. I eventually capped all of them, but when I take drape a cloth over the bottle and turn the caps, I can move them. Is this a problem?

2. When racking the cider from carboy to bottling bucket, I was sucking on the siphon and some of the cider went into my mouth and I spit it out on reflex - right into the bucket. I'm going to pasteurize as soon as it carbs up properly, but do I need to be worried?

3. I filled 2 plastic soda bottles to test carb levels. After that's done, can I transfer it to a glass bottle by pouring it or do I risk oxidation?

 

[LeBreton]

1 - Yeah, that's a problem. Did the capper wings go all the way down? Mine gives a solid 'thunk' when the cap is properly set. That being said, your fears of bottle failure are legitimate. I've experienced a catastrophic failure where the top 1/3 of the bottle essentially disintegrated into quarter inch shards with the bottom 2/3 of the bottle remaining upright with jagged edges. I now keep my hands and arms well away from the bottle.

2 - Probably not, your mouth is relatively clean. But there is potential.

3- Those are for drinking while you pasteurize