Question: cleaning vs sanitizing

[lmacmil]

I have brewed six 5 gallon batches over the last couple of years and all have turned out fine. I always wash the fermenting and bottling buckets with dish soap and just rinse everything else in warm or hot water after brewing/bottling. Prior to brewing/bottling I rinse everything in Carlson "Easy Clean."

There seems to be a difference between "cleaning" and "sanitizing" but I'm not sure what it is. Should I be doing both? Does Easy Clean sanitize things or do I need to get StarSan or Idophor? Also, do the liquid sanitizers have a shelf life or will they last until used up?

 

[MalFet]

Yes, you should be doing both.

Your goal in cleaning is to remove organic soils from everything that will come into contact with wort. When you finish this, everything should look spic-and-span.

Your goal in sanitizing is to kill the majority organisms on the surface of everything that will come into contact with wort. Before you sanitize, everything should already look "clean".

"Easy clean" is an oxygen based cleanser. I'm not sure of its exact composition, but it should be similar to other products like oxiclean and PBW.

To sanitize, you need something like StarSan or Iodophor. Dilute as instructed and soak everything. If an item isn't properly cleaned before soaking, however, the StarSan/Iodophor won't work properly. Assuming they are stored properly, I believe they have a very long shelf-life.

 

[theredben]

Your "Easy Clean" is a sanitizer, just not a very good one. As long as your equipment is very clean it will work for now, just order some Iodophor or Star-san with your next shipment.

 

[lmacmil]

Your "Easy Clean" is a sanitizer, just not a very good one. As long as your equipment is very clean it will work for now, just order some Iodophor or Star-san with your next shipment.

Heading to the local home brewer supply store tomorrow for some Star-san.