Easy Bottle Pasteurization in a Cooler

[Hello]

I've read Papper's Easy Stove-Top Pasteurization thread and found the process to be a pain for me. I don't have a tall enough pot to basically cover the bottles I use and the pot I do have barely works but cannot be covered with a lid. Reading about bottles exploding and such, I worried and also found myself to be fairly lazy.

My tap water can reach 160F without issue even when the ground water is much cooler due to winter temperatures. I opted to use a cooler I have had in the garage for a bit to pasteurize my cider bottles in bulk. This time around I only had 8 bottles because I had a 1-gallon batch of cider.

I filled the cooler with the 160F water. Placed the bottles inside carefully to avoid shock to the bottles. I also kept them from touching one another. I closed the lid and let them sit for 20 minutes. I came back and had only lost 10F off my temp. This is in stark contrast from using the stove top method where it took forever to heat the water (my stove is terrible) then I had to reheat and I could do 3 bottles max at one time.

The best part about this is the lid shuts so if something were to go kaboom, I am not in danger of getting hit.

I figured I'd share. I didn't see a thread specifically on this and obviously the stove top method works amazing. For me, this is better because of my set up with my stove, tall pot (or lack thereof), and patience.

I did keep the pictured bottles in the cooler for about 1 hour yesterday by mistake. I was distracted and came back to find I lost about 30F off my water temp. I was worried about weird flavors but I haven't detected any yet after sampling a bottle after it was chilled.

 

[Justdrumin]

I love it! What a great idea. Subscribed, I'm interested to see what kind of feedback this thread gets.

 

[Indian_villager]

Great idea. If you have a RIMS tube I figure you can make even greater use of this by reheating the water in the cooler between loads.

 

[Justdrumin]

Great idea. If you have a RIMS tube I figure you can make even greater use of this by reheating the water in the cooler between loads.

One of those cheap pre made, low watt bucket heat sticks would be great for it too. You could probably leave it on to maintain temps during pasteurization as well.

 

[JimRausch]

Someone in the cider forum has a thread on 'cooler pateurization'.
I did it a couple weeks ago with a Graf that I wanted to be slightly sweet, lightly carbonated- very difficult to do with ciders.
It worked very well. I used 170* water and left it for 10 minutes. No explosions, no broken bottles, and it did seem to work- no apparent restarting of fermentation.
I love a technique that's easy and works. This is one.

 

[kingboomer]

I'm gonna try this out. I have some bottles I'm gonna put thru an abuse test with some basic homemade root beer to see if they can stand up to the challenge, and this would be perfect for the task.


-Kingboomer

 

[Hello]

Great idea. If you have a RIMS tube I figure you can make even greater use of this by reheating the water in the cooler between loads.

That is very true. I hadn't thought about sacrificing this particular cooler for that purpose. If I had a mash tun then probably so. right now I use whatever fermentation (swamp) cooler is available to me. I do like that idea now that I have some 50+ bottles to pasteurize.

One of those cheap pre made, low watt bucket heat sticks would be great for it too. You could probably leave it on to maintain temps during pasteurization as well.

I googled but couldn't figure out what that was, got a link?

Someone in the cider forum has a thread on 'cooler pateurization'.
I did it a couple weeks ago with a Graf that I wanted to be slightly sweet, lightly carbonated- very difficult to do with ciders.
It worked very well. I used 170* water and left it for 10 minutes. No explosions, no broken bottles, and it did seem to work- no apparent restarting of fermentation.
I love a technique that's easy and works. This is one.

I couldn't find anything on it via a search but I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one to think about this given the amount of all-grain brewers around here. For me though, this works so much better and eases my mind so much more than the stove. Again, it also came down to availability of a suitable pot, which I didn't want to go buy.

 

[ericbw]

I've read Papper's Easy Stove-Top Pasteurization thread and found the process to be a pain for me. I don't have a tall enough pot to basically cover the bottles I use and the pot I do have barely works but cannot be covered with a lid. Reading about bottles exploding and such, I worried and also found myself to be fairly lazy.

My tap water can reach 160F without issue even when the ground water is much cooler due to winter temperatures. I opted to use a cooler I have had in the garage for a bit to pasteurize my cider bottles in bulk. This time around I only had 8 bottles because I had a 1-gallon batch of cider.

I filled the cooler with the 160F water. Placed the bottles inside carefully to avoid shock to the bottles. I also kept them from touching one another. I closed the lid and let them sit for 20 minutes. I came back and had only lost 10F off my temp. This is in stark contrast from using the stove top method where it took forever to heat the water (my stove is terrible) then I had to reheat and I could do 3 bottles max at one time.

The best part about this is the lid shuts so if something were to go kaboom, I am not in danger of getting hit.

I figured I'd share. I didn't see a thread specifically on this and obviously the stove top method works amazing. For me, this is better because of my set up with my stove, tall pot (or lack thereof), and patience.

I did keep the pictured bottles in the cooler for about 1 hour yesterday by mistake. I was distracted and came back to find I lost about 30F off my water temp. I was worried about weird flavors but I haven't detected any yet after sampling a bottle after it was chilled.

View attachment 159733

To pasteurize, you need to get the temperature *of the liquid you're pasteurizing* to 160 for 15 seconds (or 145 for 30 minutes). The cider isn't at 160 (and never hits 160), and when you remove it 20 minutes later, the water bath is 150. You need to know the temp of the cider in the bottles. If it's not 145 for 30 minutes, then you might not be pasteurizing it.

I would guess you're probably killing yeast and bacteria, but can't be too sure.

I think you should put an open bottle in the cooler and check the temp after 20 minutes to see how well it's heating.

Also, adding a small amount of boiling water to the 160 degree water will get it a little higher.

 

[Hello]

To pasteurize, you need to get the temperature *of the liquid you're pasteurizing* to 160 for 15 seconds (or 145 for 30 minutes). The cider isn't at 160 (and never hits 160), and when you remove it 20 minutes later, the water bath is 150. You need to know the temp of the cider in the bottles. If it's not 145 for 30 minutes, then you might not be pasteurizing it.

I would guess you're probably killing yeast and bacteria, but can't be too sure.

I think you should put an open bottle in the cooler and check the temp after 20 minutes to see how well it's heating.

Also, adding a small amount of boiling water to the 160 degree water will get it a little higher.

Thank you for the tips! It was a lot of help. I didn't return to pasteurizing or making cider for that matter after my bottle bomb issue, until now. I had 5 gallons of cider that I backsweatened with 1 gallon of juice. I bottled on Saturday and felt my plastic tester bottle today and it was nearly solid. I took a room temp bottle of cider and poured it quickly into a glass, not as much carbonation as I suspected there would be but that was okay by me. At this point I am all about lower carbonation of my homemade cider and less scary glass blowing everywhere.

That said, I filled my cooler with 160F water and placed the bottles inside. 20 minutes later I took the temp of one bottle (inside the bottle) and it was 130F. I added another 2 quarts of 170F water and let them sit another 20 minutes. Thank you for telling me about the internal temp. I think this will work.

Unfortunately, I like a slightly sweeter cider than what ferments totally dry but the process of pasteurization is actually scary to me. At least the cooler helps keep things somewhat contained and now I put a bucket holding about 3 gallons of star san on top to keep the lid on if there is a blow out. If the blow out lifts that weight then I'll be surprised...and my kitchen will be sanitized.

 

[ericbw]

Thank you for the tips! It was a lot of help. I didn't return to pasteurizing or making cider for that matter after my bottle bomb issue, until now. I had 5 gallons of cider that I backsweatened with 1 gallon of juice. I bottled on Saturday and felt my plastic tester bottle today and it was nearly solid. I took a room temp bottle of cider and poured it quickly into a glass, not as much carbonation as I suspected there would be but that was okay by me. At this point I am all about lower carbonation of my homemade cider and less scary glass blowing everywhere.

That said, I filled my cooler with 160F water and placed the bottles inside. 20 minutes later I took the temp of one bottle (inside the bottle) and it was 130F. I added another 2 quarts of 170F water and let them sit another 20 minutes. Thank you for telling me about the internal temp. I think this will work.

Unfortunately, I like a slightly sweeter cider than what ferments totally dry but the process of pasteurization is actually scary to me. At least the cooler helps keep things somewhat contained and now I put a bucket holding about 3 gallons of star san on top to keep the lid on if there is a blow out. If the blow out lifts that weight then I'll be surprised...and my kitchen will be sanitized.

Just be careful that you're really hitting the temp you need. Otherwise, you could be leaving live yeast or bacteria to later blow up in your face.

I think you should try to get the temp of the water over 190 so that you can hit 160 in the bottles.

Cider is easy, but good cider is difficult!

 

[Hello]

I read 145 will cut it for killing yeast as I'm not pasteurizing like we would milk and such. Maybe I am wrong, but the temps were 150.
I do have a bottle left out to test in another day or two and if it is carbonated any more, I'll know I need to re-do the process. Unless of course it is a gusher, then I'll need to find a cold place to store them and drink them fast.

 

[Justdrumin]

http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2013/10/1000-watt-heat-stick-3803-shipped.html?m=1

This is where I initially saw it. I'm sure you could find them on amazon. I hope that helps. As for me...I am forbidden to make cider in my house after a massive explosion of bottles occurred while I was at work : / SWMBO was NOT happy about it! I guess my pasteurization didn't work too well....

 

[ericbw]

http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2013/10/1000-watt-heat-stick-3803-shipped.html?m=1

This is where I initially saw it. I'm sure you could find them on amazon. I hope that helps. As for me...I am forbidden to make cider in my house after a massive explosion of bottles occurred while I was at work : / SWMBO was NOT happy about it! I guess my pasteurization didn't work too well....

Put them all in Rubbermaid totes with newspaper and paper towels around them. The mess will at least be contained!

 

[Stauffbier]

I read 145 will cut it for killing yeast as I'm not pasteurizing like we would milk and such. Maybe I am wrong, but the temps were 150.
I do have a bottle left out to test in another day or two and if it is carbonated any more, I'll know I need to re-do the process. Unless of course it is a gusher, then I'll need to find a cold place to store them and drink them fast.

So did the last bottle carbonate any more? I've been thinking about using this method on about 60 bottles this weekend. Have you done this again since you last posted?

 

[dinnerstick]

I read 145 will cut it for killing yeast as I'm not pasteurizing like we would milk and such. Maybe I am wrong, but the temps were 150.

I just feel compelled to point out that any pasteurization information is based on a statistical estimation of how many yeast will die off at a certain temperature over a certain amount of time at that temp. when the temperature gets very high (say 75c) the amount of time around that temp that it takes to get TO that temp is usually already sufficient to achieve the desired kill rate (say 99.99%- remember it's statistics). but remember there is no magic way of knowing that all yeast are dead because you raised it to x temperature, even to boiling, even if everyone knows that at 100c they will all be dead. that's statistics for you.
for lower temperatures like the ones commonly used for cider pasteurization, time is just as important a factor as temperature. i know you made reference to time/temp combinations in an earlier post, but i thought i'd stick in a reminder here because i find this whole thing a bit of a risky endeavor. i can't personally vouch for these kill time/temps but i have seen them thrown around for sacc yeast. these are in celsius; for kelvin just add 273.15. obviously this is temperature of the drink inside the bottle, not necessarily the water in the cooler/pot.
55 for 60 minutes
65 for 6 minutes
75 pretty much by the time you get there you're done.
personally i heat water to 65 in my rims kettle, dunk the bottles, recirculate, leave for 30 minutes to be well on the safe side. i have never had one of these bottles ferment after pasteurization, but have had bottles explode in the pot.

 

[Stauffbier]

Well, I'm giving this a try tonight. I got the water in the cooler up to 164F. I'm just going to leave the bottles in the cooler overnight, and take them out tomorrow when it has cooled back down to around ambient temp. After 2.5 hours the water temp has dropped to 152F. I'm guessing this method will work great! I definitely like this better than doing a few bottles at a time on the stove.

 

[Hello]

Let me know how it works out. I did a small small batch of cider and just used this method. I think for once I will finally not have bombs. Any issues are my fault really, but I do still love the cooler idea. To me it is faster,

 

[T3Dice]

My first batch I used the "stove top" method. Very time consuming as I bottled 22oz cider and could only soak 7 bottles at a time. Reheating the water back up to 180* took forever with 2 burners flaming. Overall, it took me about 3 hours to heat, soak and reheat the pot for my batch.

Batch 2 I did the cooler heat method. Wow!!! All 25 bottles in the cooler at once. I put 4 gals of hot tap water (125*) to fill up to the caps. Using my digital oven thermometer with the lead in the water and lid closed, I found that the cool bottles cooled the temp down to 105* and held it there. I then drained and added 4 gal of heated (185*) water to the cooler with warmed bottles. Closed the lid and the temp maintained 180*~170* for the entire 20 min soak. Drained the cooler and let the bottles sit on the counter overnight to cool to room temp.

I should have thought of this earlier since we make "Cooler Corn" all summer long. Put any amount of shucked corn on the cob in a cooler, pour in boiling water to cover the ears, close the lid and let it sit for 20 minutes. Eat it then or let it sit longer....it wil not overcook. Fastest way to prepare corn on the cob ever!!! Especially if you need 2-3 dozen and only a have a pot that holds 8-10 ears.

 

[tlc]

how did you pour the hot water into the cooler without hitting a bottle and maybe causing it to break

 

[Stauffbier]

how did you pour the hot water into the cooler without hitting a bottle and maybe causing it to break

Look at my photo above. The water does touch the bottles as it fills. As long as they aren't real cold, there really isn't any thermal shock issues. I probably should have put the other lid partially on just to be safe, as the hot water could indeed cause an over carbed bottle to pop. Luckily I didn't have any issues. You could also close the lid and rig up the drain on the cooler and attach the hose there, so that it would be a completely enclosed transfer. If I ever did this again, that is exactly how I would intend on doing it.

 

[tlc]

OK...Thanks for the advice.