Has anyone tried pasteurizing in a cooler?

[MrsNerd]

I'm starting two 1-gallon batches of cider this weekend, and I want one of them to be carbonated. My problem is that I'm in an apartment with a small kitchen, so I'd like to absolutely minimize the risk of bottle bombs, or at least the risk of damage from bottle bombs (blood, stitches, or shards of glass embedded in the walls). I was thinking that I could keep the bottles in a cooler while they're carbonating so that any explosions could be contained.

But is there any reason that I couldn't pasteurize in that same cooler when they're carbed enough? If I preheated the cooler with some hot tap water, then drained it and poured some just-off-boiling water in with the bottles, I should be able to get them to 160F, close the lid, and let it sit. Is my thinking completely wrong?

When my cider's in primary, I'll probably run a temperature test with some bottles of water and a thermometer to make sure I can get them to 160, but after that the cooler should keep the temp pretty stable. Right?

 

[Tmadia]

Should work just fine.

 

[ArthurDigbySellers]

I thought about doing the same thing with my first batch but I ended up using my boil pot instead and did batches of 6 at a time. I'm looking to bottle my 2nd batch this Friday so if you do it anytime within the next few days, let me know. I liked the idea just because I think I could do an entire batch in one shot (1 case of bottles should fit inside a pretty big cooler I have). Plus I could just pull the drain plug when the times up and let the bottles come back to room temp inside the cooler.

 

[cervid]

So, have you done this yet, or tried it with the rest batch you mentioned?

 

[MrsNerd]

I haven't done this yet, but my first batch of cider is bottled and carbonating right now. I expect they'll be ready for pasteurizing before the weekend, and I'll definitely report back on the results.

The stovetop pasteurizing thread does have a few people who have said that they pasteurize this way, so I hope it will all work out okay.

 

[Redking]

I actually do this all the time. I recently posted a recipe that is currently fermenting, and in the first page of the forum I explain exactly how I pasteurize in a cooler. Check it out if you'd like: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/quck-simple-cider-nottingham-yeast-437568/

 

[ArthurDigbySellers]

I actually do this all the time. I recently posted a recipe that is currently fermenting, and in the first page of the forum I explain exactly how I pasteurize in a cooler. Check it out if you'd like: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/quck-simple-cider-nottingham-yeast-437568/

Great info, thanks. I've been doing 2.5 gallon batches so I think I could fit the entire case into a big cooler I have. My only worry was that the hot water might melt or warp the cooler.

This could potentially save me a bunch of time as my currently process takes over an hour and I'm only doing 24 bottles. Others here are doing WAY more than that so it must take them forever.

Anyway, thanks again. I'm definitely going to use this process for my next batch.

 

[Redking]

Great info, thanks. I've been doing 2.5 gallon batches so I think I could fit the entire case into a big cooler I have. My only worry was that the hot water might melt or warp the cooler.

This could potentially save me a bunch of time as my currently process takes over an hour and I'm only doing 24 bottles. Others here are doing WAY more than that so it must take them forever.

Anyway, thanks again. I'm definitely going to use this process for my next batch.

No problem. I wouldn't worry about the hot water warping or melting the cooler, I've pasteurized several batches of cider and even made beer mash with regular coolers and other people have as well for a long time.

 

[ArthurDigbySellers]

No problem. I wouldn't worry about the hot water warping or melting the cooler, I've pasteurized several batches of cider and even made beer mash with regular coolers and other people have as well for a long time.

Sorry for bringing back an old thread but I just pasteurized a batch of cider using an old cooler and it worked great! I was able to fit 18 bottles into the cooler and put the last 6 into a smaller cooler (barely holds 6 bottles). Although it took me a lot longer to heat the water since I was using about 7 gallons or so, the process itself was much quicker than my old method where I could only do 6 bottles at a time.

I also brew beer and mash in a different cooler but since mash temps are never much higher than 155 or so, I wasn't sure how the higher temps would affect the spare cooler I have. I will say that the sides of my pasteurizing cooler did warp a little bit from the high heat (about 170). Once the water was drained out and the temperatures came back down, the warping went away and everything looks fine.

I will be using this method from now on as it saves me a bunch of time. I like the added safety of being able to just close the lid on the cooler to contain any potential bottle bombs - even though I have yet to have a bottle break on me using the stovetop method.

I have only been making 2.5 gallons batches of cider (~24 bottles) so one cooler is pretty much my whole batch. If I made a 5 gallon batch, I would just drain the water from the cooler back into my boil kettle and then bring that water back up to temp and pour it back in again with my new set of bottles.

 

[cervid]

This is a good thread and I like this way better than the stove top. I think this should be stickied too, honestly.

A few weeks ago I did almost a full 5 gallons bottled in a 20 gallon or so cooler. I filled it with the hottest tap water I could get and let it sit while boiling 5 gallons of water. I should've done 10. Anyway, I drained the tap and put the boiling in adjusted with tap water to 160. I had to boil more water as the bottles weren't covered.

Regardless, it worked great. I had one explode and I think it was because I got pulled away from the cooler and they sat at 160 for maybe 30 minutes. The gunshot sound brought me back in and I'm happy I did it like this as it was all contained, and they cleanup was easy. None of the ciders were overcarbed.

Anyway. It works really well, is safer than stovetop by a factor of probably ten, it takes less time overall, and you don't have to stand over a stove monitoring it with glasses on.

 

[ArthurDigbySellers]

This is a good thread and I like this way better than the stove top. I think this should be stickied too, honestly.

A few weeks ago I did almost a full 5 gallons bottled in a 20 gallon or so cooler. I filled it with the hottest tap water I could get and let it sit while boiling 5 gallons of water. I should've done 10. Anyway, I drained the tap and put the boiling in adjusted with tap water to 160. I had to boil more water as the bottles weren't covered.

Regardless, it worked great. I had one explode and I think it was because I got pulled away from the cooler and they sat at 160 for maybe 30 minutes. The gunshot sound brought me back in and I'm happy I did it like this as it was all contained, and they cleanup was easy. None of the ciders were overcarbed.

Anyway. It works really well, is safer than stovetop by a factor of probably ten, it takes less time overall, and you don't have to stand over a stove monitoring it with glasses on.

I agree, it is a great, safe alternative to the stove top (or in my case outside burner) method. I debated whether to add hot tap water to the cooler first but in the end I just ended up slowly dumping the water in straight from my boil kettle at about 170F and nothing exploded. I really didn't want to waste another 7 gallons of water just to pre-heat the bottles.

I'm slowly aquiring the components to keg my cider, but until then, I will continue to use my cooler.