Bottle sanitation in oven

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Jayfro21

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Can you wash out your bottles with water and bottle brush, and then stick them in a 200 degree oven for 20 minutes to sanitize them? Is this effective, or just too much work? Thanks!

Jason
 
it is a bit of work but it does STERILIZE the bottles so you could do a boatload at a time and just keep them with some foil caps on until you need them

here is the section from www.howtobrew.com

http://howtobrew.com/section1/chapter2-2-3.html

For just a single batch of bottles your better off (time wise) using your sanitizer like iodophore or starsan or the dishwasher

Happy brewing :mug:
 
IIRC, it's got to be hotter than that and longer than that; like 350 for a couple hours.

EDIT: Well, not quite that long, but still more than 200° for twenty...

Table 3 - Dry Heat Sterilization Temperature
Duration
338°F (170°C)
60 minutes
320°F (160°C)
120 minutes
302°F (150°C)
150 minutes
284°F (140°C)
180 minutes
250°F (121°C)
12 hours (Overnight)
 
I've never thought of using the oven, but personally I think it would be fine. I mean, as long as your temp. is high enough and your duration long enough. I know Papazian in his book "The Joy of Home Brewing" say's you can sanitize fruit by steeping it in your wort at a 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

It seems to follow that the oven at 200 for 20 minutes would sanitize the bottles. However, do as the guys on here said and go hotter for longer. I think they know.

It seems fine, but why not just use One Step - no rinse or fuss and you're done?

John Trappist
 
Yeah I have one-step, so how do you use it? Do you just fill up your bucket and soak each bottle, or do you pour a little in each one, just wondering the easiest way to do it, because as I remember sanitizing the bottles was the ONE and ONLY thing that I don't like about home brewing. (and I know, kegging would be better, but that is just out of the question right now!)

Jason
 
Hehe yeah I'm bottling due to financial strains (stupid college... :D )

I use Iodophore bc one step ended up being kinda pricey.. I just fill up a bucket with it and stick as many bottles as i can into it....about 10-12 let 'em soak a couple of minutes and start bottling then fill the bucket up again with bottles and take a break. Bottling kinda sucks but it really isn't THAT bad
 
I think the oven would be more work then it is worth. Just use the common liquid methods.
 
Well, I don't know about actually using an oven to kill bacteria, but I do have a tip that might help some folks.

I used to grow a lot of mushrooms and it is common practice to use an oven as a work area. The idea is the hot air from the oven will not only be bacteria free, but also expands to create outward pressure from the oven itself. So when you need a clean area and dont have access to a glove-box, just use the oven. Turn it on to about 150-200 and open the door and pull out the rack. As soon as the oven fires up and warm air starts to roll out, you will have a "clean" area for yeast transfers, etc. The rack makes a great working area as well.
 
John_Trappist said:
I've never thought of using the oven, but personally I think it would be fine. I mean, as long as your temp. is high enough and your duration long enough. I know Papazian in his book "The Joy of Home Brewing" say's you can sanitize fruit by steeping it in your wort at a 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

It seems to follow that the oven at 200 for 20 minutes would sanitize the bottles. However, do as the guys on here said and go hotter for longer. I think they know.

You aren't comparing apples to apples here. Wet sanitization and dry sterilization methods works differently, due to some physical and chemical issues that aren't worth getting into.


TL
 
There's a difference between Sanitary and Sterilized.

As brewers we are looking for sanitary conditions not Sterile conditions.

I'd think 200*F for 20 to 30 minutes would do nicely but you might bump it up to 250*F because most oven thermostats aren't all that accurate (mine is actually hotter than the dial indicates so for my oven I'd go lower) or you could measure the actual temp with a candy thermometer if you think it might not be hot enough. Plus you have to keep in mind the time it take to reach the desired temp.

Sanitary
http://www.answers.com/topic/sanitary

Sterilization
http://www.answers.com/topic/sterilization

IMHO in this day and age we need to use energy wisely and not go for overkill.

Also while I think this is a good idea on cool or cold days. It's not such a great idea to use this method in the summer as your AC will have to work OT to remove the excess heat. In the spring, fall and winter think of it as free heat.
 
I did this once, just make sure there is absolutely nothing in any of your bottles, no beer no water nothing. It evaporates whatever is in there and leaves behind the minerals/whatever. Ruins the bottle.
 
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