Preferred sanitizers?

tooth · Post by **tooth** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 00:28

Just wondering what you guys typically use? I'm pretty paranoid about sanitation when grinding meat and making sausages so I'm sure everything is thoroughly sanitized prior to being ground, throughout the sausage making process when cleaning things, and when I put hings away. Last batch I used a ready to use product from a restaurant supply store. Yesterday I just bought a bottle of iodophor from the local homebrew shop (my good friend just opened this shop and since I don't brew I want to try and support him any way possible). Just curious what some of the more experienced members use?

BTW- for anyone unfamiliar w/ iodophor, it's an iodine based product. If that's not a good thing to use, by all means, please let me know. Thanks!

unclebuck · Post by **unclebuck** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 01:06

I dip my equipment in sodium metabisulphite, rinse it in filtered water, and use it from there. When I am finished with the grinder and stuffer, they are washed in antiseptic soap, rinsed, air dried, and put away under cover. On the next use, I do the metabisulphite solution and go from there. Never had a problem.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 01:30

Right now, having graduated from culinary school, Jason Story is getting ready to open his charcuterie shop in D.C. and is having to pass all sorts of state and federal inspections. I think he would be the ideal person to give us his view right about now. I'll rattle his chain and ask him.

story28 · Post by **story28** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 02:03

tooth wrote:Just wondering what you guys typically use? I'm pretty paranoid about sanitation when grinding meat and making sausages so I'm sure everything is thoroughly sanitized prior to being ground, throughout the sausage making process when cleaning things, and when I put hings away. Last batch I used a ready to use product from a restaurant supply store. Yesterday I just bought a bottle of iodophor from the local homebrew shop (my good friend just opened this shop and since I don't brew I want to try and support him any way possible). Just curious what some of the more experienced members use?

BTW- for anyone unfamiliar w/ iodophor, it's an iodine based product. If that's not a good thing to use, by all means, please let me know. Thanks!

Alright, here we go. Any restaurant or food establishment HAS to have an approved sanitation program. In almost all cases, these are provided by companies such as Ecolab. No matter the company, there are several different blends and options these companies sell suitable to the situation of each establishment. Most of the time, the solution is fed through a tube and premixed with water to a specific ratio. This is the best and safest way to do it in a restaurant setting because it leaves little room for error.

However, you probably don't want to hire Ecolab to come in your home and lay down a bunch of barrels and tubes. So, in my opinion, cholorine is the way to go. It is a multitasker, inexpensive, it acts faster than Iodine or Quats, and the smell is easily recognized.

There are five factors to keep in mind when it comes to sanitization

The concentration of the solution

The temperature of the solution

The contact time the solution has with item being sanitized

The ph of the water

The water hardness

Call your local municipality and they should be able to give you the measurements of the last two factors.

Here are two examples of how to use cholorine effectively

Water Temp: 120 F
Water pH: <8-10 (Ask municipality to confirm)
Water hardness: as per manufacturer suggestion
Sanitizer concentration: 25 parts per million (measured with appropriate test strips)
Sanitizer contact time: 10 seconds

Now here is a revised process with a water temperature at 75F

Water Temp: 75 F
Water pH: <8
Water hardness: as per manufacturers recommendation
Sanitizer concentration: 50 parts per million
Sanitizer contact time: 7 seconds.

Alright, just in case you like the simplified version of things, here is a basic answer.

Get some test strips and a sanitizer bucket and fill it with water. Add one teaspoon at a time and measure until your solution until it reaches 50 parts per million.

Don't forget, the effectiveness of sanitizers dissipates with time, so check your concentration every so often when performing long tasks.

As long as you remember those five major factors above, your equipment will stay clean as a whistle.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 02:05

I just add a splash of bleach to my dish pan and rince water. Bleach is good enough for sterlizing needles for junkies it should work for my grinder. The important thing is the get rid of the meat.

crustyo44 · Post by **crustyo44** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 23:09

Hi,
As a beer brewer and very small hobby distiller I am a regular user of Sodium Metabisulphite. The fumes do sterilise anything I use, from plastic barrels to airlocks, O rings, stirrers etc etc .
Never had any problems but as Ross mentioned, just plain bleach will work just a good.
Regards,
Jan.
Brisbane.