Iodophor and BrewJacket

[DrumForHire]

Well, my BrewJacket just arrived today, and I'm excited to get my next brew going!

Now, I know I have to use a method other than Star-San to sanitize the immersion rod. I was originally thinking of just boiling the rod with the wort, but I'm now thinking that it might just be too unwieldy of a process having to empty the kettle and then handle the rod with heat-resistant gloves in a way that won't risk contaminating it. So, I'm thinking of going to iodophor for it. I'm used to Star-San, and the only time that I used Iodophor was at a club big brew that included two pro brewers who insisted on mixing up a bunch of Iodophor for everyone to use as needed.

I would just switch to Iodophor all the way, except that when I brew I usually mix a gallon of Star-San, sanitize everything I need to with it, and then drain some into a spray bottle to keep around and spray down components as I need to (say, if I need to take a sample to test gravity, I spray the thief down with some of the Star-San). Researching how to use Iodophor, I found some posts stating that you can't keep it around as long as Star-San because the iodine will evaporate off within 24 hours. Is this true? And would keeping it in a spray bottle make any difference (since it's not really open to the air)?

(My other option is to sanitize everything else with Star-San and then just mix a small spray bottle with Iodophor to use on the rod, which wouldn't be awful because I have quite a bit of Star-San to use, but eventually I'd just like to make the switch to Iodophor for everything if possible)

Thanks for any tips!

 

[Nokt]

What immersion rod? A heating element rod? An oxygenation wand? I wouldn't think that a heating element need to be sanitized, just cleaned. An oxygen wand tip should be boiled for 10 minutes or more in just water to sanitize it.

 

[jpakstis]

The Brewjacket immersion rod is designed for maintaining fermentation temps so it needs to be sanitized. However it has a finish on it that will get damaged from Starsan (and voids the warranty).

I add the rod to the boil but it’s sort of clunky to handle on brewday. I’d be interested to see if Iodophor could last in a spray bottle.

 

[Nokt]

The Brewjacket immersion rod is designed for maintaining fermentation temps so it needs to be sanitized. However it has a finish on it that will get damaged from Starsan (and voids the warranty).

I add the rod to the boil but it’s sort of clunky to handle on brewday. I’d be interested to see if Iodophor could last in a spray bottle.

Ahhhh....that makes more sense.

 

[myndflyte]

Interesting that they would use a finish that damaged by arguably the most popular sanitizer. They don't give any suggestions on how to sanitize it?

 

[mabrungard]

It sounds like the rod is constructed of aluminum or copper and those soft metals can easily be corroded by the acid in StarSan. There should be no problem in dunking the rod into an Iodophor solution for 15 minutes.

 

[DrumForHire]

Ahhhh....that makes more sense.

Yeah, sorry for any confusion; I was vague in the OP.

Interesting that they would use a finish that damaged by arguably the most popular sanitizer. They don't give any suggestions on how to sanitize it?

It's because Star-San is acidic, it messes with the coating. They offer 3 options: 1) Iodophor;2) Boil with the wort; and 3) Bake it for an hour.

I'm just thinking that Iodophor is the easiest solution, so I'm curious about what I need to change in my processes and if I can reuse the mixture.

 

[DrumForHire]

It sounds like the rod is constructed of aluminum or copper and those soft metals can easily be corroded by the acid in StarSan. There should be no problem in dunking the rod into an Iodophor solution for 15 minutes.

Hah, you beat me to the answer. Yes, Iodophor is what I should use since it's not acidic, I'm just wondering if I can keep it in a spray bottle to use later.

 

[mabrungard]

I don't believe that iodophor has a long-life under storage as a solution like StarSan does. In addition, I'm not sure if its very likely to coat surfaces like StarSan. I am more comfortable with immersion with iodophor.