Sterilizing Bottles

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cslewisster

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Anyone ever used the oven? How did it turn out? Did you break any bottles? Do you have any advise for using the oven to sterilize bottles (like don't turn up the heat fast, don't do it...etc).
 
The oven works, though I haven't used it. Check the google, I think it's 325 for 45 minutes or so. If you have a heat dry cycle on your dishwasher, that works great. Welcome to the HBT!
 
This may be nitpicking, but you're sanitizing them, not sterilizing them. It's not brain surgery!

When I bottle I always give them a good bath in sanitized water and a couple of good scrubs with a bottle brush then let them dry on the bottling rack.
 
The oven works, though I haven't used it. Check the google, I think it's 325 for 45 minutes or so. If you have a heat dry cycle on your dishwasher, that works great. Welcome to the HBT!
Unfortunately I live in an apartment without a dishwasher :( Thanks for the welcome.
 
+1 on star-san no-rinse sanitizer and a vinator.

Two pumps into each bottle, let it drain, fill.

A vinator is one of these:

images
 
When I sanitize bottles, I fill up my bottling bucket with some sanitizing solution. Then i just use that to pour solution into the bottles, swish around, and dump it back into the bucket.
 
When I sterilize bottles, I fill up my bottling bucket with some sanitizing solution. Then i just use that to pour solution into the bottles, swish around, and dump it back into the bucket.

Sanitize, not sterilize...

How to brew said:
The terms clean, sanitize and sterilize are often used interchangeably, but should not be. Items may be clean but not sanitized or vice versa. Here are the definitions:

* Clean - To be free from dirt, stain, or foreign matter.
* Sanitize - To kill/reduce spoiling microorganisms to negligible levels.
* Sterilize - To eliminate all forms of life, especially microorganisms, either by chemical or physical means.

As Frink and Brutus said, we Sanitize.(Except for Prof Frink, who MAY actually have an autoclave to sterilize.)

Vinator and iodophor for me to sanitize! :D
 
Anyone ever used the oven? How did it turn out? Did you break any bottles? Do you have any advise for using the oven to sterilize bottles (like don't turn up the heat fast, don't do it...etc).

I used that method twice - and had a bottle burst two days after bottling the AHS Amber Ale. You definitely want to change the oven temperature gradually so that the glass doesn't get stressed too much.
 
Actually, yes, you can sterilize with dry heat (no autoclave required), and yes, you can use your oven to do it. See this thread for more info.

The problem with heat sterilizing your bottles in the oven is that to do it properly it takes many hours. While 30 mins at 350 F will kill pretty much anything, you need an hour or two to slowly heat the bottles up to this temp, and another hour or two to cool them. If you do it more quickly, the heat shock will weaken the glass, and eventually lead to weak bottles that are prone to breaking (e.g., under the force of capping or the pressure of carbonation).
 
Just today I filled each bottle with StarSan/water solution, dumped it back out, and covered each with a tiny piece of tin foil to keep stuff from landing in the bottles. I was bottling on my back porch, didn't want any tree seeds or pollen and whatnot to land in my bottles :p
 
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