Wine press basket - Can one use aluminum

I've never tried using aluminum with wine, since wine (and fruit juice) is acidic and aluminum is reactive. Don't mix the two.

I sure wouldn't use that. Aluminum dissolves fairly readily in acids. There are two potential problems from getting it into your wine:

The only common metal that should *ever* be allowed to come in contact with acidic foods is stainless steel.

I really didn't think it a good idea, but wanted to know for sure. Thanks for the info.

As it is, I made a basket by drilling 1/4" holes in a plastic 5 gal. pail. It did the job well enough.

Thanx

= Me

Gotcha... Thank you.

= Me

You're welcome. The recommendation to use only stainless steel for food contact comes from a friend who is a PhD biochemist specializing in food chemistry. Back when we had milk goats, she advised us against using copper tubing to make a chiller for the milk -- seems that even milk is acidic enough to dissolve enough copper to pose a health risk. Now consider that wine is waaaaaay more acidic than milk....

BTW -- ever cook spaghetti sauce, or anything else containing tomatos, in an aluminum pan? That's a mistake you won't make twice. There's a distinct, and unpleasant, metallic flavor to it.

Works great, I'll bet!