BeerBorg

Kealia wrote:Jim, I just use DME. And I'll be honest, I stopped boiling it for 15 minutes a long time ago. I figure the DME was already boiled and cooled once so I shouldn't need to do it again.
I do bring it to a boil in my flask and let it boil for a minute or two to sterilize things. That may not be 100% proper (meaning, it may not be long enough to technically sterilize things) but it helps me avoid boil overs and issues. I then cover with foil and let the steam/heat sterilize/sanitize it while it cools off.

Apparently I'm waaay less proper than you, as I only boil my water for 5 min to get rid of the chlorine. I figure the DME to be as safe as sugar for the same reason(desiccant) So I just depend on the time it takes the water to drop below 160 to sanitize it. Granted I haven't been doing it as long, or probably as often as y'all, but so far so good.

Dawg, I find that a razor scraper followed by the paste type cooktop cleaner works. The paste stuff came with a little yellow scouring pad. But it is nasty.

jimjohson wrote:

Kealia wrote:Jim, I just use DME. And I'll be honest, I stopped boiling it for 15 minutes a long time ago. I figure the DME was already boiled and cooled once so I shouldn't need to do it again.
I do bring it to a boil in my flask and let it boil for a minute or two to sterilize things. That may not be 100% proper (meaning, it may not be long enough to technically sterilize things) but it helps me avoid boil overs and issues. I then cover with foil and let the steam/heat sterilize/sanitize it while it cools off.

Apparently I'm waaay less proper than you, as I only boil my water for 5 min to get rid of the chlorine. I figure the DME to be as safe as sugar for the same reason(desiccant) So I just depend on the time it takes the water to drop below 160 to sanitize it. Granted I haven't been doing it as long, or probably as often as y'all, but so far so good.

Your probably fine. I just know that I'm not probably fine, so I tread on the side of paranoia LOL.

DME itself is probably safe like sugar as you say, except for anything that was very recently introduced, IE if you touch your face and touch the DME or stick your head over the container of it and let your beard yeast (or perhaps beard lacto if you eat yogurt) fall in right before you dump it into the water.

It's the flask, the water, stuff in the air that gets into the flask when you dump in the DME (Brett in my case), crud that lives on the outside of the bag of DME, etc. which might be an issue. 5 minutes should kill most stuff, but 10-15 producing a lot of contained steam is closer to a true "sterilize" vs. sanitize.

Yeah, I know you have to deal with your Brett issues so I would do the same if I were you.

This is a situation that "works for me" but I wouldn't recommend it as a Best Practice or to a new brewer. I'd tell them to do the full 15 minute boil, too.

I'm actually surprised I don't have problems. My house was built in '60(I was 5) it was built as a "rental" and stayed as such till I decided to buy it in '99 (been living here and doing the repairs since '85) so I knew what I was getting into. With all the folks who lived here since '60 (and you know some of them were nasty) you'd think I'd have a problem...