# How Do People Sterilize Stir Bars For Stir Plates?



## proudscum (5/2/11)

Am making some starters using Cooper P.A and was wondering how people sterilize their stir bars.The stir plate was one built by Michael Burton so dont know the boiling resistance of the bars if that makes sense???Am sanitising it now and thought i would drop it in after i turn the stove off after boiling the DME.

Any ideas about this one?

cheers Gents and Ladies


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## outbreak (5/2/11)

proudscum said:


> Am making some starters using Cooper P.A and was wondering how people sterilize their stir bars.The stir plate was one built by Michael Burton so dont know the boiling resistance of the bars if that makes sense???Am sanitising it now and thought i would drop it in after i turn the stove off after boiling the DME.
> 
> Any ideas about this one?
> 
> cheers Gents and Ladies



I put mine in the flask while im boiling the wort. My stir bar is teflon so I didnt see any harm...


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## roller997 (5/2/11)

Boiling is how everyone else would be doing it I suspect. Why would you want to add them after the boil would be the only question that comes to mind.

Cheers

Roller


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## barls (5/2/11)

i add mine after i spray it with starsan as i dont boil in the flask.


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## proudscum (5/2/11)

Roller997 said:


> Boiling is how everyone else would be doing it I suspect. Why would you want to add them after the boil would be the only question that comes to mind.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Roller



As i dont know how heat/boil proof the bars are.Will have to eMail the maker to find out the specs of said stir bars.thanks for the reply.


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## proudscum (5/2/11)

barls said:


> i add mine after i spray it with starsan as i dont boil in the flask.


Thanks Barls need to put those testtubes to good use next.My brewery will arrive this week fingers crossed so will start to buy fresh yeast real soon.


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## TidalPete (5/2/11)

I value my Erlenmeyers too much to risk breaking them on a hot plate so soak in a bleach solution saved from the last fermenter sterilising. Stir bars go into the Erlenmeyers. Both are rinsed after an hour & sanitised with phos.

TP


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## barls (5/2/11)

not a problem mate, i know mine are teflon coated but i still do it.
good to hear you are using the tubes.


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## wobblythongs (5/2/11)

They are PTFE coated that will resist up to 320C temp which is more than 3 time boil point.


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## DU99 (5/2/11)

same way i do everything else with a good sanistzer


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## goatherder (5/2/11)

boil it in the flask, if the wort is relatively sanitary then the stirbar ought to be too.


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## Hogan (5/2/11)

Just rub it over with an alcohol wipe. Ezzy peezy.

Cheers, Hoges.


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## peaky (5/2/11)

Hogan said:


> Just rub it over with an alcohol wipe. Ezzy peezy.
> 
> Cheers, Hoges.



Same here, I use an alcohol wipe then into the flask it goes. Haven't had a problem yet


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## proudscum (5/2/11)

Thanks all. lots of different ideas to work with now to go and knock the tops off a couple of Pale Ales ,flame bottle lip,pour and recover yeast.oh and drink the beer.

This is a link to the place where i got my flasks very cheaply.Delivery took sometime as they where waiting on backorder of my 2lt flask.they ended up posting the rest of the order and the 2lt when it came in a week later .one lot of postage/Courier paid $9.00 from memory Ballarat to Melbourne.

http://www.wiltronics.com.au/catalogue/108...17-borosilicate


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## peaky (5/2/11)

Wiltronics is where I got my flasks from also. They are cheap and seem to work ok. First thing I did was to boil wort in it on the gas stove, then dunk it straight in ice water, then boil again and dunk it in ice again. No breaks, I'm happy


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## Josh (6/2/11)

I put mine in the flask and boil. Beware of boiling and then adding them into the boiling temp wort, it can gush out and burn your hand.


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## mika (6/2/11)

I boil as well, and to add to what Josh is saying... don't wait till the last 5mins to throw in the yeast nutrient either <_<


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## Thirsty Boy (6/2/11)

If you boil the bar in the flask, yiu get the added benefit of the bar acting as nucleation points for the boil, which really helps with getting a smooth boil thats less likely to volcano out the top of your flask.

I put a stir bar in even when i dont plan to stir - just to make boiling easier.


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## JonnyAnchovy (6/2/11)

I autoclave the lot- bar in flask full of wort. That said, I'm fairly sure that after a fair few cycles, mine is starting to loose its magnetism a little...


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## Thirsty Boy (6/2/11)

I store my bars on rare earth magnets stuck to the fridge - so they always get a "re-charge" between uses anyway.

I wish I had an autoclave big enough for my 5L Erlenmeyer...


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## TidalPete (6/2/11)

Thirsty Boy said:


> I wish I had an autoclave big enough for my 5L Erlenmeyer...



:icon_offtopic: 
I wish I could afford a 5 litre Erlenmeyer  but in the meantime my 4.5 litre (more or less) vintage lolly jar from the old Burleigh Heads Cinema cafe (Wife's rellies) goes like a house on fire.



Good tip re keeping the stirbars on rare earth magnets thirsty.

TP

Edit --- Just pointing out that any autoclavable vessel with a narrow neck & relatively flat bottom will be good on a stirplate.


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## haysie (6/2/11)

Its unanimous, boiling wort, add your stirbar early before the boil, dont wait for the boil before adding nutrients. Store your stirbar on the rare eaths you dont use.. easy peesy.

And dont forget to use one of those rare earths to extract your stirbar before dumping into the fermenter.


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## proudscum (6/2/11)

was wondering how you got the stir bar out/kept it from going into the fermenter.
so this poses the question where do you get the rare earth magnets from?

+1 for all the posts it has made joining the forum all the more beneficial to me and my brewing.

got a reply to the email from the maker of the stir plate,not rare earth magnet but the coating on the magnet is fine with temperatures used for autoclave and boiling.

still to put the 23lt pressure cooker to work.the 2lt flask fits in quite nicely though.


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## haysie (6/2/11)

any magnet will retrieve the stirbar from the flask. Rare earths are available ebay, jaycar etc. Cheapo ones via ebay/hong kong are as good but a 4 pack of rare earths at Jaycar cost me $9.95, it was hardly worth faarking around with the online stuff,.


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## TidalPete (7/2/11)

proudscum said:


> was wondering how you got the stir bar out/kept it from going into the fermenter.



$5 or so from Jaycar a few years ago. Has multiple uses around the brewery. Slide one (or both of them) under the stirbar & slip it up the side & out. 
Said it before & I'll say it again. Best $5 I've ever spent. :super: 



TP

------------- To late! Haysie beat me to it. :beer:

Edit -- Have even seen them used as stir bars but never tried it myself ___ yet.


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## DanRayner (7/2/11)

Hogan said:


> Just rub it over with an alcohol wipe. Ezzy peezy.
> 
> Cheers, Hoges.



+1 

As for some of the others: Why would you autoclave them?! What nasties are you trying to kill? Seriously, is your brewery in the sewer?


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## haysie (7/2/11)

DanRayner said:


> +1
> 
> As for some of the others: Why would you autoclave them?! What nasties are you trying to kill? Seriously, is your brewery in the sewer?



Because they have the equipment at hand. Overkill but why not.


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## TidalPete (7/2/11)

DanRayner said:


> Why would you autoclave them?! What nasties are you trying to kill? Seriously, is your brewery in the sewer?



Probably for the same reason that you autoclave (or as near as possible by pressure cooker or hard-boiling for 30 minutes or so) the tubes you store your yeasts in before adding to your starter.
I knock my tubes over in a pressure cooker but tend to get lazy when I do my starters (see Post 7 of this thread)
Not saying this is the ultimate method but it works for me.  

TP


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## unrealeous (7/2/11)

DanRayner said:


> Why would you autoclave them?! What nasties are you trying to kill?


Every nasty. Was that a trick question?

I'm also a big fan of autoclaving using a pressure cooker - its such an easy way of sterilizing - load it up, boil away for 15 mins and you are done. Any traces of dirt, yeast residue, mark, stain, etc comes out dead.


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## DanRayner (7/2/11)

Sorry all, it just seemed like a little overkill when stirbars should be pretty clean anyway and a soak in oxonia or a wipe down with a Liv-Wipe will do the trick...


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## DU99 (7/2/11)

i bought my flask and stirrer bar from here 
http://www.ssapl.com.au/
and my rare magnet from aussie magnets
http://aussiemagnets.com.au/


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## argon (7/2/11)

mine just gets boiled in the flask... although i dropped and broke my 2L Erlenmeyer flask in the sink after pitching last time.  so now i'll have to make use of a V8 bottle.


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## Josh (7/2/11)

Come to think of it, my stir bar very rarely sees the outside of the flask. I usually just attach it to the side wall of my flask with a rare earth magnet while I'm pitching the yeast. Then I clean the flask and stir bar at the same time with some napisan. Rinse then re-use.


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## proudscum (7/2/11)

got magnets today from jayco the guy at radio spares on spencer st just looked at me like you want wot!

Had to go to the chemist tonight for my son and was talking to the chemist about yeast culturing which he was really getting off on as i was asking about using alcohol to sterilize/clean before using flame.He said i should use 90%alc and that he could order it in for $50 for 2lt .its a little more than i need but handy to know that it can be brought.

the coopers recultures are going great guns and the amount of yeast has increased no end.

how many days should i let it ferment out before getting into the fridge as i hopefully will brew next week all being good?

between the 2 flasks there is 600ml of wort so will need to step it up again before pitching doing a 2 lt starter.


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