Campden tablets while racking to secondary: leave exposed to air for 24 hours?

[kwiley]

I have a batch in primary that fermented very fast, bottoming out in the .99s (three jugs .995-.997) in a few days. It's very sulfury and I think I'll just let it age for a long time. I think I should rack it now even though it's quite young since fermentation isn't doing anything at this point anyway. In fact, it's doubtful it will ferment at all in secondary since it's already well below 1.0. Should I add campden tablets immediately after racking into secondary jugs (or should they just be called aging jugs at this point)? And if so, should I leave them open-topped (or lightly cloth-covered) for 24 hours? While the risk of infection is low since that is the entire point of the campden tablets, I'm concerned that I shouldn't leave it exposed to oxygen. Isn't the fundamental theory on secondary or aging that you want to minimize air/oxygen exposure since there is no fermentation creating a CO2 headspace above the brew?

How do you add campden tablets, and give them air for 24 hours to outgas, if fermentation is done at that point and therefore not producing a CO2 "blanket" to protect against air/oxygen exposure?

 

[RolandD]

I just put the bung and airlock back on after adding K-meta, then add K-sorb 12 hours later. Wait a couple of days and then degas with a wine whip.