could someone tell me the oven temperature and time for proper sterilization of beer bottles, and what to do when you take them out of the oven, like do ya have to cover them with something, or like that, thanks
You don't have to sterilize them. Just make sure they're clean, then sanitize them with iodophor or some other sanitizer...
sterilization
You home oven doesn't produce the temperature necessary to sterilize your bottles. You can properly santize them at room temperature using a food grade, no rinse sanitizer, like star-san or iodophor, or a bleach solution and proper rinse.
You are kidding, aren't you? What sort of sorry ass ovens have you been around, anyway. Just walked into my kitchen for a look -- 575F (302C)
-- and I'm willing to bet that baking your bottles at that temp for a bit is _guaranteed_ to sanitize them.
HOWEVER, I have to agree that you can properly sanitize chemically, as you've suggested, and that it is really much more practical and easier. Baking bottles is a pretty dopey way to go about sanitizing them ... all things considered; maybe that's what you were trying to say??
Cheers.
Bill Velek
I gotta agree, Bill. Not only is baking more work, but the heat/cool cycles will eventually weaken the bottles, making them more susceptible to breakage.
---------->Denny
No, I'm not kidding. If a simple oven was good enough to do sterilization, medical facilities wouldn't spend thousands of dollars on buying autoclaves. Proper sterilization involves more than just temperature. Autoclaves (well at least, most of them) operate at pressure as well as providing heat, and it's wet in there, properly saturating everything in it with the steam necessary to do the job - something you just can't do in your oven.
There are also autoclaves that work chemically, but they are even more costly and use toxic chemicals. I don't recommend that for your kitchen!!
Besides, you don't have to "sterilize" bottles for brewing. Simple sanitizing is much more cost efficient and ample for preventing bacterial growth in your brew.
The ONLY reason hospitals use autoclaves is the PRESENT danger of spore-forming bacteria surviving ordinary dry-heat sterilization.
Spore-forming pathogens arent likely to be in our brewing environment and dry heat is "good enuff fer gummint work"
I have tested this viewpoint to my satisfaction during my tenure as a degreed microbiologist in mycology research with tropical fungi
Yodar
Fine, OK, whatever.
I still say this: we don't need to "sterilize" bottle prior to filling them. Sanitizing them does the trick quicker, it's easier, and certainly more reliably.
You are absolutely correct on that last point; I believe I made it pretty clear that I agreed that sterilizing bottles in an oven is a pretty dumb idea, all things considered. It's just that there are a lot of anal retentive types who home brew beer (just call me "Monk"), and so just for the record, dry heat in an oven is certainly adequate for "sterilization" if we bake long enough at a high enough temperature, but I couldn't give you actual specifics if my life depended on it) ... :-)
For what it's worth, I don't bake my bottles, nor do I "sterilize" them; rather, I sanitize them by soaking them in a bleach solution and then rinse them well with hot water. Have never had an infection problems inside any of my bottles yet, after about 30 batches give or take a few.
Cheers.
Bill
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.