Am I planning to use Star San correctly?

[Michael_in_TX]

I'm generally a very low-risk person, so I've always been a bit nervous whenever I cure or ferment something. I clean things fastidiously with Dawn and hot water, but as I have some pastrami and sauerkraut on the horizon, I decided to up my game a bit and get a bottle of Star San.

(And, lol, I had to watch a YouTube video to figure out how to use the built-in measuring "cup" thing. A curious, but effective design.)

The sauerkraut is up first. I have a 1/2-size, 6" deep hotel pan. That holds 10 quarts, or about 2.5 gallons. I would fill it just with two gallons of tap water to allow for displacement. The most common ratio is see is 1 oz of Star San to 5 gallons of water. A little math and that gets me 0.4 oz for two gallons. We'll round out to 0.5 to make things simple as there is a marker line on the bottle for that amount.

I'll mix that 0.5 oz of Star San into the water in the hotel pan, then submerge my Ball jar, lid, and airlock. On the web, I have seen everything from one-to-five minutes and there seems to be a great deal of difference if one is submerging rather than spraying. I'll do five minutes, just to be safe.

(Quick aside: Brewers, I am so sorry. The number of websites in that hobby that have cropped up that are obviously written by AI to sell Amazon affiliate links is horrific.)

Next, while I academically understand that Star San diluted to this level is completely safe..... I plan to do a quick rinse. Nothing crazy, just a rinse. I don't want to un-sanitize what I just sanitized.

Then the 'kraut gets plopped in and away we go.

How is my plan?

(This same hotel pan will get re-sanitized in a few weeks for the pastrami.)

[58limited]

Star San works pretty fast. I do a quick soak and rinse, that's all. I don't time it. I've seen a couple of mead makers that will dip something in and immediately remove it and call it good. I rinse, I don't like chemicals, even "safe" ones, in my food and drink.

Go to Lowe's and get a food grade 5 gallon bucket with lid. You can store and reuse the mixed Star San solution as long as it is clear.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/United-Solutions-5-Gallon-General-Bucket/1000421377

https://www.lowes.com/pd/United-Solutions-12-41-in-White-Plastic-Bucket-Lid/1000458801

[Michael_in_TX]

Go to Lowe's and get a food grade 5 gallon bucket with lid. You can store and reuse the mixed Star San solution as long as it is clear.

That's an excellent idea. Coincidentally, I'm going to Lowe's today....and I've been meaning to get a food grade bucket for like forever.

What I may do is just keep the bucket in the kitchen. I've got cats and they will invariable walk over stuff that is air drying after washing. A quick dip in Star San then rinse couldn't hurt.

[Alan Brice]

Restaurant pickle buckets are food safe and inexpensive.

[mnavarre]

Star San in solution breaks down in about an hour, so it's beat to mix as needed. There's also no need to soak stuff, as long as what you're sanitizing is soil free it's pretty much an insta-kill. One minute of wet contact time is more than sufficient. There's also no need to rinse, it's made to be a no-rinse sanitizer, it breaks down into a sugar.

https://fivestarchemicals.com/faqs

[Michael_in_TX]

So if I lick my sanitized equipment and it tastes sweet, then it’s good? Wait…hold on….something seems not right about that strategy.

[Michael_in_TX]

But humans are…I uh….

(That is an odd thing to say. It wouldn’t be any different.)

[Carolyn]

Just out of curiosity, why is that better than a bleach solution, if you are sanitizing something like a jar? You can sanitize baby bottles with a Clorox solution, you soak the bottles for 2 minutes and air-dry them. Doesn't Clorox (Sodium Hypochlorite) break down into salt? I believe it is caustic, not acidic like StarSan. I am no chemist, trust me. I barely made it out of high school chemistry alive.
Just trying to learn something here.

[jfmorris]

Clorox/bleach in solution is actually NOT classified as a no rinse sanitizer. You need to rinse, which runs the risk of recontaminating surfaces. And at least in brewing, any chlorine introduced into the beer would generate off flavors and bad beer.

[Carolyn]

jfmorris Thank you.

[Michael_in_TX]

One certainly can go down a rabbit hole trying to understand the disparity of reports of how long Star San lasts (i.e. stays effective). On brewing forums an Reddit, there are copious reports going back nearly 20 years!

You’ll see reports (including Star San’s) that assert an hour to others that claim several months.

It seems to be related to three things: the “soiled” nature of what you are sanitizing, the food-gradeness of your plastic, and the purity of your water.

The better those three are holistically increases the longevity of the effectiveness of the solution. If any of them are high, the solution breaks down more rapidly (as it is constantly “working”).

The hardness of one’s water is a huge influence, hence the reason most conclude that distilled is the best. pH tests with very hard water often have just about an hour of usefulness. Distilled can get you several months.

There also must be some process that causes the acid to convert to a harmless sugar as the water evaporates (hence the no rinse thing).

Better living through chemistry!

[jfmorris]

I dump the 5 gallon bucket of Starsan solution I mix up on brew days after I am done brewing. I keep a 1 quart bottle made with filtered or distilled water on hand, and can attest to it being good for months. If you wonder, spray some in your mouth and see if the low pH still puckers you up! . Or get a low-pH test kit....

[Michael_in_TX]

Just out of curiosity, why is that better than a bleach solution, if you are sanitizing something like a jar?

It effectively convenience.

Star San is more stable than bleach as a concentrate. It sanitizes faster. Also doesn’t need a rinse. Bleach is also harmful against plastics.

So why do we use bleach at all? Bleach is a disinfectant.

Sanitizers reduce harmful stuff to a safe level; disinfectants kill them all (or most of them). It comes down to one’s use case, I suppose.

[Santamarina]

Team No-Rinse checking in!

As a homebrewer Star San has been my go to for sanitation. As mnavarre pointed out, it’s a no-rinse sanitizer. I’ve dumped countless batches of beer into a fermenter that even still had a little foam from the star san…no issues. But if you rinse it after…you’ve now added any bacteria that may be in your water source.

[jfmorris]

Second this!

[ecully]

"Don't fear the foam..."

[johnec00]

I use Star San regularly for sanitation mostly of equipment used in making sausage that will be dried without cooking. I use a small spray bottle and spray everything that will come in contact with the meat and allow to stand for about 5 minutes. The instructions on the bottle say to air dry, and not rinse because of re-contamination. There's conflicting (but not official) information on keeping diluted mixture, so I don't. For each use, I add 0.37ml if Star San to a cup of distilled water. (This is equivalent to 1 ounce per 5 gallons). I got graduated droppers from Amazon for measuring the 0.37ml. Not saying any other method is wrong, just saying what I've been doing for many years. My daughter does the same for kraut and other fermented vegetables.

[jfmorris]

I use Star San for brewing, and have for years. I keep a quart spray bottle of it mixed up for sanitizing all sorts of things, in the kitchen and when brewing too. The cool thing is it is a no rinse acid, food grade sanitizer, which works by killing the beasties with low pH. It is totally edible, although straight up, it would taste like crap.

I use various size syringes to measure stuff like that out, if making small amounts. 1cc syringes are ideal for mixing up small amounts.

In brewing, I spray fittings and areas I can't submerge, and dunk stuff I can in a 5 gallon bucket for 30 seconds. For submersion, 30 seconds is good. For spray, 1-2 minutes is required. For things like my 7.9 gallon fermentation vessel, I fill it about halfway, and shake it around, some, then invert for 2 minutes, then right side up again. Right before pumping from the boil kettle to the fermenter, I drain it out. I pump the cooler wort into the fermenter, which may in fact have foam left from the starsan. Again - not an issue. It is a food grade sanitizer, simply lowers pH.

IF YOU RINSE, YOU ARE UNSANITIZING THE SURFACE!

Again. Repeat. Star San is a *NO RINSE* sanitizer. Tap water is not sterile. Do not rinse.

I wonder if I said "do not rinse" yet.... hmm...

[Santamarina]

Exactly. Rinsing recontaminates!

[jfmorris]

On those talking about how long mixed up Starsan solution lasts.... in my experience, it can last for a long time, if you mix up say a quart bottle of it using distilled, bottled or even filtered water. With general tap water, it tends to cloud up in an hour or two. I think too that it may stay more effective over time stored in a sealed container, such as a keg or even spray bottle.