sanitation

[Erik Speir]

Would cleaning equipment with steam be sufficient to kill bacteria?

[ray m]

I, personally, would not count on steam to do my sanitation duties. There are many tried & true chemicals out there that aren't that much of a bit in the wallet that a lot of us here in the "community" use. At least use One Step or StarSan, which are no-rinse, short contact sanitizers that really work well. I have used both with no problems.

[wortchillergoal]

Steam is not as hot as boiling water. I forget the actual process, it feels so hot because of the way it's heat energy is released.

[danno]

cleaning and sanitizing are two distinct steps. If you're using steam as a cleaning method, I'd say no to whether it's sanitizing. However, sanitizing clean bottles in a dishwasher is an effective use of steam solely to sanitize.

[brewmonkey]

Many large packaging breweries run a steam sani on their keg lines. Two methods of doing it are with wet or dry steam, I have seen the dry used most oftne though for obvious reasons.

This is not a safe method nor should it be tried for homebrewers. In addition to boiling the water, for an effective steam sani it MUST be put under pressure. Breweries have the equipment built to handle this, homebrewers do not. Using this method at home can cause injury or death.

[ehixon]

Steam is not as hot as boiling water. I forget the actual process, it feels so hot because of the way it's heat energy is released.


Just for the sake of being correct, and because I'm the science geek that I am...steam is hotter than boiling water. Pure water, when boiled, can go no higher than 100C- this is often why you will put salt in water when cooking- to achieve a higher boiling temp.

If you have a pot that is uncovered, the steam will quickly lose energy as it moves away from the heat source. However, if you have a covered pot, the steam is trapped inside and will continue to rise in temperature, while the water stays at 100C. As soon as water gets enough energy to surpass 100C, it becomes steam.

[wortchillergoal]

Originally posted by ehixon
Just for the sake of being correct, and because I'm the science geek that I am...steam is hotter than boiling water. Pure water, when boiled, can go no higher than 100C- this is often why you will put salt in water when cooking- to achieve a higher boiling temp.

If you have a pot that is uncovered, the steam will quickly lose energy as it moves away from the heat source. However, if you have a covered pot, the steam is trapped inside and will continue to rise in temperature, while the water stays at 100C. As soon as water gets enough energy to surpass 100C, it becomes steam.
I stand corrected. I was going by information that an eingeer who builds steam cooking equipment relayed to me.

[ehixon]

it may very well be true that steam at 100c FEELS hotter than water at the same temperature...actually that makes a lot of sense. Perhaps that is where the confusion was.

[snakesandstuff]

Originally posted by ehixon
it may very well be true that steam at 100c FEELS hotter than water at the same temperature...actually that makes a lot of sense. Perhaps that is where the confusion was.

Uhhh, steam at 100C *is* water.

Ice is water (solid), liquid water is water, and steam is water (gas).

Steam is hotter than liquid water, b/c it has more energy. What you see when you lift up the lid of a pan is not steam, but water vapor. It is suspended water particles. You actually don't see steam, as it is a clear gas.

[ehixon]

Uhhh, steam at 100C *is* water.


yeah well, technically. At 100c you have the flipflopping of particlesfrom one phase to another. The point was that water at a certain temperature may "feel" cooler than steam at the same temperature. I suppose I could have used salted water at 105 (or any other liquid with a higher boiling point) and steam at 105, but the point is valid either way. Steam would have a higher surface area contact and involve a state change with, likely, a moe significant release of energy.

As for steam not being visible, it is indirectly- for wherever there is steam there are two pehnomena that make it visible to our eyes. Water vapor in the air changes the way light moves- causing heat lines (so often seen on the highway in the summer). Additionally, where there is steam, there is condensation- as it cools to form visible water particles. So in effect, while steam itself is not visible, it's presence is quite detectable.

And don't ever think that the stuff rising off the pot is simple water vapor. Plenty of steam there. If the water is boiling, there is steam. if you have it covered, you have superheated your steam. Getting a face full of that is a good way to end up scalded.

[wortchillergoal]

With all this talk about steam. I feel it important to point out that the best steam is a stem beer. Think I'll have one right now.

[snakesandstuff]

Just trying to make the point that steam and water vapor are not one and the same.

[mortong]

Man, everyone seems to be blowing off a lot of steam in this thread. Maybe they're just full of hot air.

/bad puns

[Erik Speir]

Thank you for the input I don't think that I'll be using steam to sanitize my equipment.