Sterilising with Campden and Idophor - advice

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JRTurner1234

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Hi,

Does anyone have any advice on using the following two chemicals as equipment steriliser:

Campden
Idophor

I specifically am trying to kill wild yeast, which StarSan is ineffective against.

Any idea which of these two chemicals is likely to be most effective? I would go nuclear and use bleach, but I don't want to use it on stainless steel.


Also, are there any other wild yeast chemicals that I should be considering?

Thanks,
JRT
 
I'd have though sodium percarbonate (Oxi) in hot water would kill most stuff and is safe to use on stainless. Failing that good old heat will also do it, fill with boiling water or put it through the dishwasher on a high heat setting or in an oven for an hour or so at around 120 °C, let it cool off before removing ;)
 
I don't think starsan is ineffective against wild yeast, just less effective than against bacteria. But one way to be sure of sanitation is a bleach solution soak, then a campden solution rinse followed by a starsan spray.
Edit: I just noticed you said it was SS so skip the bleach and use oxyclean instead.
 
Campden tablets are Sodium Metabisulphite which is normally used to stun yeast but can be used to kill it in doses much higher then its normally used in. It is mainly used in wines as a food safe chemical or to remove chlorine from water, not to clean or sterilise. I could be wrong but I think Idophor means a disinfectant that contains iodine and not a specific product and either way I have no idea. Any steriliser should kill wild yeast.
 
I have noticed a massive increase in the sulphur dioxide fumes from a metabisulphite solution when citric acid is added. Presumably this increases its efficacy, or am I missing something in how the solution works??
 
Gunge said:
I have noticed a massive increase in the sulphur dioxide fumes from a metabisulphite solution when citric acid is added. Presumably this increases its efficacy, or am I missing something in how the solution works??
Click to expand...

It does, the acid releases some of the SO2 from solution, this makes it a reasonable sanitiser. Just don't breath the stuff especially if you have asthma or some other lung condition as it's really not good for respiratory function.

This is all my Dad ever used in brewing (and so did I for years). He'd have a litre PET bottle filled with water to which he'd add 7 campden tablets and a dash of citric acid, this was his sanitiser (much like we do with StarSan). For kegs / fermenters he'd clean them using only hot water unless there was residue that was hard to shift then once clean they'd be stored with a splash of the sanitiser along with another campden added then the lid fitted. Must have pretty much engulfed them in SO2 gas because if you weren't careful it could literally take your breath away when you came to use them next.

He never had a bad brew, and neither did I whilst sticking to this regime. I switched to StarSan etc. because I just didn't like how toxic the stuff is to your airways and as I've now got a lung problem (hopefully not related to SO2) I feel I should probably avoid it!
 
Interesting, I'd never heard of using Campden as a steriliser. I've only known it used it to remove the chlorine pre-brew.

If it's stainless steel I would boil it hour or so, or whack it in the oven as Graz said. Then use a VWP or other steriliser just to finish it off... no bacteria would come back after that surely.
 
Graz said:
It does, the acid releases some of the SO2 from solution, this makes it a reasonable sanitiser. Just don't breath the stuff especially if you have asthma or some other lung condition as it's really not good for respiratory function.

.......
Click to expand...

Great answer - thanks!
 
If you explain why you need to kill wild yeast specifically in what stainless vessel (I assume fermenter) you could get better recommendations.
 
simon12 said:
If you explain why you need to kill wild yeast specifically in what stainless vessel (I assume fermenter) you could get better recommendations.
Click to expand...

Good shout.

I want to sterilise my stainless steel FV and my silicon tubing.

Cheers
JT
 
I think it's a popular method in New Zealand. I watched a YouTube video with a bloke cleaning his bottles.
I just use half of one for my water, but I've got no oxi left so I may give these a go for sterilising and good old starsan for sanitising
 

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