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.
