Pressure Cookers

[Sammus]

I've been looking at pressure cookers/canners for a while now trying to decide what to get to can starters and sterilize equipment for yeast culturing purposes. Haven't bought it yet, but this one seems the go
Link

They sell it for 300 odd dollars, but you can get it from the states for just over 200 delivered (link)

Seems heaps cheaper than others (that are like $300 + for a 10 Quart canner) I guess thats the price of stainless tho (the presto unit is Alu)

Any comments or nay sayers that I should take heed of before making this purchase?

ed: fixed link

ed2: its even big enough to fit longys into! could come in handy for something...

ed3: OK so i didnt see the 60-70-80 dollar jobs on ebay, but they are a fair bit smaller (8-12L) Would it be worth it getting the bigger one?

S

 

[0M39A]

IMO the best thing to look for in a pressure cooker is a nice thick solid copper base on it to hold the heat well.

even if it doesnt turn out that well for sterilizing with (i wouldnt have any idea), they are fan-*******-tastic for cooking with.

 

[tangent]

i saw the Jamie Oliver pressure cooker curry and I'm sold.
Can't wait to try one.

How big is the item you want to sterilise?

 

[Sammus]

dunno yet Thing I'm mainly thinking of is jars of wort for easy starter stepping - I'm sick of the boiling cooling cleaning routine everytime I want to step up a starter. If I spent half a day and made 50 500ml-1L jars of prepared starter wort it would be a much easier process. (could even do longnecks of it? dunno how id go about capping them while remaining sterile though)

Then theres also sterilizing little things for culturing and farming purposes...

 

[tangent]

i sanitise a plastic bottle with orthophos, run some chilled wort into it and freeze it.
you might not need to go as far as sterilising

 

[Sammus]

Everything I've read about storing starter wort suggests that sterility is a necessity, due to the whole botulism thing. In a low acidity environment the spores will survive nearly anything below about 121C (the temp a pressure cooker reaches at 15psi)

 

[chris.taylor.98]

I've had some success sterilising wort by improvising with a big pot and a weight on the lid, as the autoclave.

I know that this probably does not get up to the 121C that is required, but I compensate by letting it go for a lot longer ( 45 mins as opposed to the 15 required at 121C ).

I just put the wort into stubbies and rest a cap on top. Autoclave the lot. Leave to cool, then cap them.

Seems to have worked ok so far.

Have also used this method for sterelising slants too.

 

[Sammus]

So the boiling wort (and froth from the break point) doesnt push the caps off?

 

[Tony M]

I was sure that when making tomato sauce at home, the usual process for sterilisation was to bottle the sauce in longnecks, cap, then boil the whole lot in the copper or the 44 gallon drum in the backyard. Why should wort be different to that.

 

[tin pot brewery]

got a eighty's model of one of these from canada via ebay. origionally bought it to steam heat a mashh tun. it turned out so well for the above idea gthat it never made it near the mash tun. i say go for it.

 

[Sammus]

I was sure that when making tomato sauce at home, the usual process for sterilisation was to bottle the sauce in longnecks, cap, then boil the whole lot in the copper or the 44 gallon drum in the backyard. Why should wort be different to that.

Anything with a pH < 4.6 you can do fine by boiling. for low acid foods (in this case wort) you risk canning botulism spores, and you must reach higher temperatures to take care of botulism. I'm pretty sure tomato sauce is slightly acidic (usually has vinegar or something in it right?) which takes care of it.

 

[chris.taylor.98]

Cap stays on ok, but you shouldn't fill the bottle too high otherwise it can overflow a bit.

I just use 375ml stubbies and fill about 300ml.

 

[lou]

Hey Sammus

I have a pressure cooker - its a hawkins brand - called the bigboy - its about 20 Litres - works a treat

not all brands go all the way up to 15 psi - hawkins brand definitely does though

Its aluminium and I was lucky enough to get it really cheap -I posted a picture here a while ago -

see here bigboy link

They are very useful I find - I make up a bunch of starters and have them ready when I want them

There are easier ways of making starters but if you are going to try and culture yeast having a good pressure cooker is mandatory


lou

 

[wabster]

IMO the best thing to look for in a pressure cooker is a nice thick solid copper base on it to hold the heat well.

even if it doesnt turn out that well for sterilizing with (i wouldnt have any idea), they are fan-*******-tastic for cooking with.

Gotta say I agree wholeheartedly about the cooking side of pressure cookers. Go and have a look at http://missvickie.com/ it is a wonderful resource for the cook, though I admit the URL looks a bit suss - let your missus check it out too hahaha

I got mine from a local chinese cookware store, good solid base, good price. One of the local chinese butchers sells rolled chuck steak, buy 2-3kg and hit it for 45 mins with a little garlic ginger and soy sauce in the cooker, melts in the mouth, gets rave reviews. Goes well with big bold beers!

Cheerz Wab

 

[tangent]

i've frozen heaps of stuff without a botulism scare so far

PM Darren

 

[ausdb]

I was sure that when making tomato sauce at home, the usual process for sterilisation was to bottle the sauce in longnecks, cap, then boil the whole lot in the copper or the 44 gallon drum in the backyard. Why should wort be different to that.

Something to do with the acidity levels of tomatoes vs wort

 

[dan_pilbara]

So is botulism poisonous to humans or does it just spoil the wort?

 

[Sammus]

So is botulism poisonous to humans or does it just spoil the wort?

lol probably the most lethal toxin known to man. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism

 

[dan_pilbara]

I didn't realise there could be a potentially deadly bacteria in my home brewery. Which areas in the process are venerable to infection and what is the likelihood of poisoning?

 

[Sammus]

only something to worry about if your preserving low acid foods.
The reason I asked was because I want to have pre-made cans of wort (un hopped) ready to tip into a yeast starter to make it easer to step up starters and culture yeasts. Unless your doing this you probably wont need one.