Calcium Chloride selection issue

[Spetz]

Hi all,

I recently purchased some Calcium Chloride flakes online - was about to start my mash in yesterday online to find that it hadn't dissolved too well and left some rather non-CaCL2-looking deposits behind with it. I stopped what i was doing and went online to research once again what i'd actually purchased. Messaged the seller asking if it's food grade or not to which he replied with 'no' (when i bought it, it was...) Anyway long story short, I chucked my strike water out and started again without it. I know some people do have issues dissolving CaCl2 depending on it's form etc (using Co2 to dissolve in some cases), but what this left behind in the strike water was just not right.

It's very easy to find CaCL2 here online, however there seems to be a few different variations available including that of powder. Does anyone have experience with Calcium Chloride powder and whether it is more 'diluted' so to speak? I don't want to be adding more than I ever need. There are thousands of your standard 'Calcium Chloride flakes' some rated at 74% (disgusting) and some at 77% (listed as food grade).

I live in Indonesia where ingredients are either pretty hard to come by, or, are very expensive. After some more hours of research I discovered that what I initially purchased is actually technical grade calcium chloride (paint, de-icing etc)....and that was just from looking for the same product, from a different seller...so it's safe to say i am more than happy to have stopped what I was doing - the original seller was not useful with this by any means (it was food grade before i purchased it)..... feel pretty stupid of course to have got so far without realizing, but this is the reality of living in a place like this sometimes..!

The most reassuring product I have found is listed as powder, but has zero indication of it's purity %, but, is popular - all the others I simply will not trust after my first experience, although a recent find of CaCl2 flakes listed as food grade is down as 77% as is also 'popular'.

I'm totally thrown off by this - if anyone can tell me if they've used CC powder before, I'll happily go with that.

P.s This is my first (and quite long apparently) post on HBT but i've been on and off this forum for a while, so, hello and thanks to every single one of you that has helped me with their knowledge and great posts over the last few months!

 

[Vale71]

Do they make cheese in Indonesia? Cheesemakers use food-grade liquid CaCL2 which is just a saturated solution at around 32-33% w/w. One advantage of a saturated solution is it won't pull in more water so the concentration of CaCL2 is constant. It's also very easy to measure out and to dissolve in water.

 

[tbaldwin000]

The 77% you are seeing listed is not because the food grade Calcium Chloride is 'impure' in any dangerous sense. The reason is that Calcium Chloride is massively hygroscopic, and as a result is very difficult to keep in a high purity. The impurity, in this case, is a just water, so food grade 77% Calcium Chloride will be just fine.

As Vale has said, liquid solutions of Calcium Chloride tend to be more stable and easier to handle, though.

 

[marc1]

You can also make a solution from food grade solid calcium chloride and then calculate the actual concentration:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/measuring-calcium-chloride.501377/
I made up a pound into solution and I've been using that for years.

 

[mabrungard]

Calcium chloride is highly soluble in water and there shouldn't be any residual left when it's dosed at typical homebrewing rates and STIRRED to help it dissolve quickly. If you find that there is some sort of sediment that still doesn't dissolve, I suggest adding a drop of acid to your calcium chloride solids and watch to see if it fizzes. If it does, that means the material has calcium carbonate (chalk) in it and its not pure. That can have an effect on mashing pH predictions and results.

 

[Spetz]

Do they make cheese in Indonesia? Cheesemakers use food-grade liquid CaCL2 which is just a saturated solution at around 32-33% w/w. One advantage of a saturated solution is it won't pull in more water so the concentration of CaCL2 is constant. It's also very easy to measure out and to dissolve in water.

Unfortunately not...plastic cheese yes...!

That's a great tip, found it in seconds:

I guess it's just a case of knowing how saturated this is... I'll check that out, thank you for the heads up, it's for sure the best one available that I've found so far.

The 77% you are seeing listed is not because the food grade Calcium Chloride is 'impure' in any dangerous sense. The reason is that Calcium Chloride is massively hygroscopic, and as a result is very difficult to keep in a high purity. The impurity, in this case, is a just water, so food grade 77% Calcium Chloride will be just fine.

As Vale has said, liquid solutions of Calcium Chloride tend to be more stable and easier to handle, though.

Thanks! This filled me with some reassurance after my experience. Of course the '74%' stuff I somehow ended up with is clearly no good, and after even trying it it's for sure not food grade or safe by any means - without question it has some impurities in there which I definitely wouldn't risk consuming, visible to the naked eye. Shocking actually. Unless i can find out the saturation % of the above liquid CaCl2 then I'll probably bite the bullet and grab the 'foodgrade 77%' flake...

You can also make a solution from food grade solid calcium chloride and then calculate the actual concentration:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/measuring-calcium-chloride.501377/
I made up a pound into solution and I've been using that for years.

Thanks I'll check out the post!

So far the pictured liquid CaCl2 is the most reassuring one I have found available so far... the description of it is directly aimed at cheese/curd making which has gained my trust. Trying to figure out how much to use and how to acquire that info though, that is going to be nigh impossible, even with fluent Indonesian, I highly doubt anyone will know.

 

[Vale71]

That's definitely going to be a saturated solution, which is around 32-33% weight/weight. AFAIK you can't buy solutions with higher as they'd only take up more space and therefore be more expensive, which would be quite pointless.

 

[Reneauj62]

Hi all,

I recently purchased some Calcium Chloride flakes online - was about to start my mash in yesterday online to find that it hadn't dissolved too well and left some rather non-CaCL2-looking deposits behind with it. I stopped what i was doing and went online to research once again what i'd actually purchased. Messaged the seller asking if it's food grade or not to which he replied with 'no' (when i bought it, it was...) Anyway long story short, I chucked my strike water out and started again without it. I know some people do have issues dissolving CaCl2 depending on it's form etc (using Co2 to dissolve in some cases), but what this left behind in the strike water was just not right.

It's very easy to find CaCL2 here online, however there seems to be a few different variations available including that of powder. Does anyone have experience with Calcium Chloride powder and whether it is more 'diluted' so to speak? I don't want to be adding more than I ever need. There are thousands of your standard 'Calcium Chloride flakes' some rated at 74% (disgusting) and some at 77% (listed as food grade).

I live in Indonesia where ingredients are either pretty hard to come by, or, are very expensive. After some more hours of research I discovered that what I initially purchased is actually technical grade calcium chloride (paint, de-icing etc)....and that was just from looking for the same product, from a different seller...so it's safe to say i am more than happy to have stopped what I was doing - the original seller was not useful with this by any means (it was food grade before i purchased it)..... feel pretty stupid of course to have got so far without realizing, but this is the reality of living in a place like this sometimes..!

The most reassuring product I have found is listed as powder, but has zero indication of it's purity %, but, is popular - all the others I simply will not trust after my first experience, although a recent find of CaCl2 flakes listed as food grade is down as 77% as is also 'popular'.

I'm totally thrown off by this - if anyone can tell me if they've used CC powder before, I'll happily go with that.

P.s This is my first (and quite long apparently) post on HBT but i've been on and off this forum for a while, so, hello and thanks to every single one of you that has helped me with their knowledge and great posts over the last few months!

WAIT!....You was about to start your mash ONLINE? what App is that???? LOL

 

[mendelec]

Many moons ago, when I was heavily into salt water reef aquaria, there was a chemical analysis of commercial calcium chloride products and it turned out that the inexpensive pelletized one from Dow that is sold in janitorial supply stores for de-icing sidewalks here over in the states (blanking on exactly which), was as ultra pure as their highest grade. More than pure enough to use as a source of calcium for coral, which means that it is very pure indeed. The label didn't necessarily reflect how good it was. One has to assume that it was so they could charge more for the supposedly higher grades. Sadly, I left the giant container behind on a move. I'd have been able to supply the homebrewing community of a large city. Perhaps if you're good with internet searches, you can find the 15-20 year old discussion on reefcentral.org. If it comes back to me, I'll post it.

Elliot

 

[Bilsch]

So many unscrupulous vendors anymore these days, especially on Amazon and Ebay, selling crap relabeled as anything. Maybe you can find a lab chemical supplier and get reagent grade or ACS. These are usually the highest purity available.