You can take a bottle, poke a hole in the cap and put in a meat thermometer and monitor the temp. I cant remember the temp/times but there is a chart. You have to hit temp x and stay above for y min. The higher the x the shorter the y.
seems reasonable. Let us know.How accurate/reliable would it be to keep a test jar/narrow bottle (say 100ml) for some time after bottling, with a hydrometer in it to monitor the "right time" to pasteurise. For example, bottle at 1.007 and pasteurise at 1.005 in order to get a slightly sweet, carbonated cider.
Just trying to dream up some way than opening test bottles. Any thoughts?
How accurate/reliable would it be to keep a test jar/narrow bottle (say 100ml) for some time after bottling, with a hydrometer in it to monitor the "right time" to pasteurise. For example, bottle at 1.007 and pasteurise at 1.005 in order to get a slightly sweet, carbonated cider.
Just trying to dream up some way than opening test bottles. Any thoughts?
In theory, 150f should be enough to kill the yeast. My dishwasher goes to 150, and heats the water gradually, minimising the chance of explosion. Also, a bottle explosion inside the dishwasher wouldn't make a mess.. I have a batch of barberry pear cider bubbling at the moment, and will try the pasteurisation-by-dishwasher and post the results if the results are successful or interesting.
FYI:
I've been using a sous vide machine for cooking for years, and I also use it to bottle-pasteurize my mead.
If you don't know what a sous vide machine is, it's a small pump-heater with which you heat and circulate water around food - usually meat - that is sealed in a plastic bag. It allows you to cook meat to precise temperatures all of the way through. I can make a perfect medium-rare steak every time I try.
But, it also makes for a wonderful way to heat my mead bottles in a water bath to exactly 140 all of the way through, and hold it there for the necessary 10-15 minutes to pasteurize them. No need to heat the water to 190 and risk bombs, plus precise control so that flavor isn't affected.
Go to someplace like Amazon and look up "Anova Sous Vide." Costs about $75.00. Great for cooking, better for mead.
This is a very long thread and someone has probably already said this but I thought I would post a few pictures of my process. It seems like slowly bringing bottles up to temp rather than plunging into hot water would be less stressful so I used a false bottom for my pot using a flat pizza pan and a pie edge protector. It is the same thing I use for BIAB to keep the bag off the bottom if I want to add heat to my mash. I put the false bottom in the pot and then the bottles and brought up to 160 degrees and held there for a few minutes. The bottle in the middle has water in it.
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The thermal conductivity of water and cider are probably not exactly the same, but also probably closer enough to not make any real difference. Engineeringtoolbox.com had data for apples, but not for cider. Whole apples are 0.87 btu/(lb°F), i'd imagine the juice is closer to water's 1 btu/(lb°F).I was thinking along those lines way back .... I was wondering if the water/beer/cider's density would give different temperature readings - (I'm no scientist) but then I decided it didn't matter, temperature is temperature after all!
I haven't had the need to pasteurize anything so far, but I like the idea of warming the product up to the pasteurizing temps, rather than dunking them from fridge to 160°F water. nice pix!
I use a meat thermometer in my mash, works just fine. Not quite "instant", but only takes a few seconds to level out.A floating thermometer is a cheap tool that really adds convenience to this process.
Would an instant read meat thermometer work? Never thought to try it in liquid but it is all I have at the moment. Thanks in advance for any insight!
Would an instant read meat thermometer work? Never thought to try it in liquid but it is all I have at the moment. Thanks in advance for any insight!
Thank you. It says instant read on it. I think you may have seen the floating thermometer on the post I replied too. Thanks a ton for the response.What you show isn't "instant read".. but it'll work. I use a Thermo Pop pen thermometer from my BBQ for reading rehydration water temps and it works great. Responds in a few seconds.
FYI:
I've been using a sous vide machine for cooking for years, and I also use it to bottle-pasteurize my mead.
If you don't know what a sous vide machine is, it's a small pump-heater with which you heat and circulate water around food - usually meat - that is sealed in a plastic bag. It allows you to cook meat to precise temperatures all of the way through. I can make a perfect medium-rare steak every time I try.
But, it also makes for a wonderful way to heat my mead bottles in a water bath to exactly 140 all of the way through, and hold it there for the necessary 10-15 minutes to pasteurize them. No need to heat the water to 190 and risk bombs, plus precise control so that flavor isn't affected.
Go to someplace like Amazon and look up "Anova Sous Vide." Costs about $75.00. Great for cooking, better for mead.
Caps would be OK, corks probably not. But if bottles are vertical popped corks would be no big deal.
Do you think the corks would just move a little or pop?
Dunno how much expansion there would be. Try a bottle and see...
Is there something wrong with what I am doing?
... I don't understand why the cider needs to be in the bottles at all to pasteurize? I heated my cider up to about 160 degrees and then removed it from the fire let it cool and put it in bottles to sit and settle out.
After that I may add sugar and bottle to make a still sweet. Or for sparkling I will force carbonate....
... Is there something wrong with what I am doing?
As I am having issues with a few bombs....
Does anyone know if PET bottles can be pasteurized? Will they stand up to the heat?
Cheers
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