Beginner Sanitation Question

[zennoshinjou]

In general, when I sanitize, do I need to soak the entire thing that will interact with the wort, or just the portion that does? For example, if I use a thief to take a sample for a hydrometer, do I need to immerse the entire thief and soak it? Just dip it? If it helps, I'm using One Step. I'm a little paranoid about keeping everything clean but don't want to overdo it. Guidance is much appreciated.

 

[theonetrueruss]

ok.. you're not going to get a lot of people saying to use one step around here... but it works ok. Soak the whole thing just to be sure. You really cannot overdue sanitation..

 

[Jdk261]

I agree with the above. Just dunk it in. No sense in just dipping the end in, when you could just drop it in and be done with it.

Also, the one step stuff has created much controversy. Nothing can take care of cleaning and sanitization in one step. In order to sanitize something, it must first be clean. I do believe that one product can clean AND sanitize, but it would need to be done in 2 steps.

 

[BeardedIdiot]

Get a box of Oxy Clean. Use that to clean, then you can use One Step, or whatever else you want, to sanitize.

I am also using One Step (only sanitizer available when I stopped to get some), and I'm using Oxy Clean as a cleaner beforehand.

 

[zennoshinjou]

Right, I clean separately. I'm mainly concerned with the sanitizing step. And I guess to clarify, do I need to 100% submerge the entire apparatus? I'd be going through a lot of sanitizer to fully immerse all the tall, non-collapsible stuff.

 

[eastoak]

Right, I clean separately. I'm mainly concerned with the sanitizing step. And I guess to clarify, do I need to 100% submerge the entire apparatus? I'd be going through a lot of sanitizer to fully immerse all the tall, non-collapsible stuff.

i don't know what the contact time is for one step but with star san and other no rinse sanitizers you ccan fill a spray bottle and spray things down, repeatedly if you have to.

 

[theredben]

You only need to sanitize the parts that contact the wort/beer, but you want to make sure the rest of the item is clean to make sure you do not have too many spores falling into the beer.

Most people use some sort of spray bottle for sanitizing, as it drastically reduces the amount of sanitizer needed. Just make sure to keep the item wet with the sanitizer by spraying it repeatedly for however long the label says the "minimum contact time" is.

 

[jnoonan22]

Instead of starting a new thread, I figured I would keep this one going. I'm also a newb. I'm working on wine-making rather than beer-crafting (which i know nothing of). For those of you who are wine-makers, how do clean and sanitize your siphoning tube (and do you reuse the same tube)?

For using a spray bottle with sanitation, do you need to make a fresh batch each time to sanitize or can a spray bottle keep for a period of time?

 

[mpcluever]

I just soak my tubing in PBW and flush them well. With Stan San, you can mix up a spray bottle with distilled water and it should last indefinitely. If you have a PH meter, it should be below 3.5.

 

[theonetrueruss]

I recommend using silicone tubing for siphoning. It can be boiled. No way to really get the vinyl tubing as sanitary and clean.