Stove-top pasteurizing before fermentation???

[MtnGoatJoe]

I'm buying a cider press this year, and I plan on making a bunch of 1 gallon test batches. And I don't want to ferment everything all at once. I want to spread the gallon batches out over a few months.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to a basement or cold storage to keep the juice from naturally fermenting. I think I need to pasturize.

Is it ok to pasturize on the stove before I ferment? I know I don't want to boil it, and that I need to get it to a certain temperature for a certain amount of time (I'm thinking 160 degrees for 10 minutes, but correct me if I'm wrong).

How long can I store it at room temperature before I need to ferment it?

Do I need to add anything like potassium metabisulfite, potassium sorbate, or the like?

Thanks!

 

[Bostrows128]

Personally, I would add a Campden tablet or sodium metabisulfite instead of heating it, this is because heating can cause some of the flavors to get lost. How are you going to store it? In a bucket or a carboy? Id probably use Campden and store in a glass carboy with an airlock and bung, air cannot get in, and it cant penetrate the juice through the glass, store in a dark place.

 

[Maylar]

I've had unpasteurized juice go wild after only 4 days even with potassium metabisulfite in it. I don't know how effective heat pasteurizing would be, but "months" is highly unlikely IMO.

 

[bernardsmith]

I am not sure that any method absent cold storage will be effective. Turning juice into alcohol was the one sure method of preserving fruit that people had before they had effective ways to refrigerate the harvest.