Stainless steel vessel OK for extracting juice?

[dfwwino]

Hello,


Second: I really don't want to use sodium metabisulphites, or whatever those chemicals are called. I may be naive, but is there something else I can sanitize with that is less.....scary? Part of my reason is just personal, but also I have a family member I'd like to share my wine with that is deathly allergic to the stuff. For some reason, even bleach (**blech!**) doesn't give me the willies like sulphites do. But maybe there's somethingless toxic? I'm even willing to give up a certain amount of my hooch to the capricious wine faeries in exchange for something less toxic (meaning: even if some of my wine turns to vinegar, as long as I get SOME wine out of it, I'll be a very happy camper....)

For sanitizing purposes, you could substitute Iodophor Sanitzer for sulfites, which is used by brewers and the dairy industry to sanitize equipment. With my brewing background, I use it and it is much simpler and quicker. Iodophor only requires two minutes of contact time to sanitize, whereas sulfites require 15 minutess. I don't know why more winemakers don't use it. I just add a few squirts out of my bottle to five gallons of water and let it sit for a few minutes. The only problem is it does stain hoses and fermenters, but the stain residue is not harmful.


Like the others said, you cannot avoid sulfites in wine as it is a byproduct of fermentation. You could skip adding more sulfites, but you need to be aware you have a high risk of spoilage and will need to drink your wine within months after production rather than the preferred years. Sulfites prevent spoilage while aging. While some commercial wineries do not add sulfites, they have extremely good filtration systems that sterile filter the wine to remove microbial bacteria. If you choose this route, you could buy a membrane filtration system to sterile filter. Daniel Pambianchi wrote an article about membrane filtration in a recent article of Winemaker Magazine. If you are new to the hobby, I would use the sulfites at recommended levels and drink the wine yourself. As for your family member who is deathly allergic, the person should either avoid wine or give the wines labelled "sulfite-free" a try, though the person should realize that simply means no additional sulfites were added other than sulfite produced by fermentation. So there might still be a risk of an allergic reaction. Edited by: dfwwino

 

[dfwwino]

I'llcan helpyou with your first question- in short stainless steel pots are fine- aluminum is a no-no.

When I first began brewing beer, I heard the same advice, never use aluminum to brew beer because it can produce off flavors and supposedly leaves aluminum compounds in the beer. But I recently listened to a podcast interview of John Palmer, author of "How to Brew Beer," and he recommended using an aluminum kettle rather than stainless steel as aluminum was a better heat conductor and more recent scientific studies indicate that the concern about aluminum was false. Does anyone have any more information about this issue?Edited by: dfwwino

 

[grapeman]

dfwwino:
I'm only repeating the commonly held belief about aluminum. I use an aluminum roasting pan to catch the juice from my press! So do as I say, don't do as I do.





This article is from the Beer and Other Brewing FAQ, by Kurt Swanson [email protected] with numerous contributions by others.



<H1>Should I avoid aluminum brewpots?</H1>


There has been a good deal of "discussion" as to whether or not the
use of aluminum in brewing contributes to Alzheimer's disease. Thanks
to Oliver Weatherbee for providing to following:

Aluminum has NOT been linked to Alzheimer's disease. The following is
taken from "Frequently Asked Questions About Neurological Problems" at
The Department of Neurological Surgery of The Cleveland Clinic
Foundation (http://www.neus.ccf.org/patients/faq.html):

"There is little support for the theory that aluminum causes
Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia in the United
States. The exact cause of this disease is unknown, although the risk
of Alzheimer's is higher when there is a family history of this
disease.

Workers exposed to high levels of aluminum in industrial environments
have no increased incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore,
careful studies to date have not shown an increased aluminum
concentration in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients.

Since there is no convincing evidence linking aluminum toxicity with
Alzheimer's disease, you need not worry about exposure to aluminum in
cooking utensils."

Furthermore, Brewing Techniques (Jan/Feb '95) had an article on a
parallel brew experiment using an aluminum brewpot and a stainless.
Laboratory analysis showed that there was no significant difference in
trace aluminum levels between batches. They also pointed out that most
of the Al you digest is from your food and water. And for that matter,
many medical people consider copper a bigger health risk.

As for off flavors, IF this happens (hearsay IMO), it is probably the
result of the brewer scrubbing the oxidation layer of the pot during
cleaning. Don't scrub, use a soft cloth or sponge and non-abrasive
cleaner. This is one of the reasons Al is not used much commercially,
its not caustic cleaner friendly.



Be careful, it has been scientifically proven that "living contributes to your death"!