Bath pasteurizers

[Alexander Peckham]

hello,

I have read the threads on Pasteurisation with interest. I have had
my cider contract pasteurized by a brewer so far (in a bath
pasteurizer). Many of the threads and Andrews Henry's law chart have
made me nervous of doing it myself but the transport associated with
contract pasteurization makes it difficult, so I do want to try
pasteurizing in the cider shed. I am in NZ and there are no off the
shelf options without going down the costly import route so I want to
build one locally. Some posters have mentioned that they have made
their own pasteurizers and more details would be very helpful.

As far as I can gather all that I need is a stainless tank with
heating element in the bottom and a false bottom. This would be
thermostatically controlled to heat the bath water to say 65 degrees.
I would make a wire rack and fill this with bottles and lower this
into the pasteurizer with a hoist. Bottles would be completely
immersed. One bottle would have a thermometer (data logger) in it.
When the temp in the bottle reaches 65 degrees the bottles would be
hoisted out and a new batch put in the pasteuriser.

My cider will be carbonated to about 2.5 volumes so pressure at 65
degrees will be high. I am using multiple use brown beer bottles and
have lost none at the contract bottlers but I am still nervous about
it.

Any specific guidance relating to process and design would be very
helpful.

PS a related matter - surely the pressures in a commercial tunnel
pasteurizer get up to the same levels as those in a bath pasteurizer?

[Dave]

I made all of mine. Some were with off the shelf stainless tanks and
the last one I had the tank, stand and lid made for me.
This last one was designed to hold 3 of our old fashioned milk crates,
the ones originally for pint glass bottles.
I did toy with the idea of baskets and hoists but decided it was too
much mither and milk crates were not only just as easy but miles
cheaper.
Water is heated by 3 x 2.5kW washing machine elements. These are handy
because you make a suitable hole in the tank, poke them through and as
they fasten they seal the hole back up. 3kW each would suit me better
(more for the juice pasteurising than cider) but in these "green" days
I can't find any.
I have 2 of the elements on a simple on off switch and one of them on
a thermostat. For what you will be doing you don't need one on a
thermostat.
Crates sit on a wire support to act as a false bottom. Think something
along the lines of the wire support on a gas cooker. (that is what i
made it out of ;))
When the cider reaches temperature you take it all out and stick the
next batch in, heaters all stay on. If you can't keep up and there is
a gap between emptying the tank and refilling, just turn it off.
Keep it simple, less to go wrong and cheaper.
Do you know how much a data logger is? I would like one but I am not
paying £200 or so for the pleasure.
Just get a waterproof digital thermometer with alarm. When you fill
the tank up don't quite cover the bottles, put one with cold water in
and no lid. That is the one the thermometer probe goes in. Set it to
go off at desired temp and take them all out and lay the crate on its
side to heat the lids up.

My cider I heat to 60C and remove, my juice I heat to 70C and hold for
20 minutes before removing.
The cider is not carbonated so pressures are lower for me. I have had
one cider bottle break in the last 2,000 and probably 10 juice bottles
in the last 40,000. The cider bottle went with quite a pop but the
juice bottles just fall apart. In all the juice bottles I can see
there had been a fault in the glass, don't know about the cider bottle
as it was in little bits.

Hope some of that helps and if anybody wants to know more just ask, I
am happy to share any info with you.

[Nat West]

Pictures please Dave! 

And I assume you're pasteurizing because you're backsweetening? Or is this for shelf-life?

-Nat West, Portland Oregon

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[Dave]

I will get some pics up.
I pasteurise to make sure no spoilage occurs after bottling.
Nothing worse than seeing bottles of cider of shelves with film yeast
developing, and I often do.
Pasteurising stops this for me, although someone will be along shortly
to say I don't need to. Fact is it means I can sleep easier which
alone makes it worthwhile.

[Alexander Peckham]

Thanks Dave that would be great.

[Dave]

Shows two pasteurisers, one holds 2 crates longways and one holds 3
crates shortways.
The 2 crate tank was an off the shelf tank that I adapted (just lucky
it held 2 crates), the 3 crate tank I had built to my spec.
Each has 3 x 2.5kW elements. Two on one plug and one on a thermostat.
You don't need a thermostat for cider but you do for juice where it is
held for 20 minutes. I think you could get away without a thermostat
even for juice as it rarely cools down in that 20 minutes. If you keep
your eye on it it would be fine. It gets very busy in my shed and
keeping an eye doesn't always work out, especially if it is not my
eye.
Wiring from the fusebox/consumer unit must be good as there is a fair
bit of electric being drawn with 6 of these elements plus my water
heater going at one time. I have two elements joined together and run
them through armoured cable plugged into one of those caravan type
plugs, the switch is an ordinary cooker switch as they are rated for
this much power. Single element runs off a 3 pin plug. Uses
surprisingly little electric over a day and cost per bottle is less
than a penny last time I added it up.
I have the single elements run through a timer switch, they come on at
5am so the water is hot when I want to fill them, just saves time. I
take the timers off when i start in the morning.
Biggest worry is mixing water and electric so they are very well
earthed and trip switch protected, not that anything has ever gone
wrong as far as that goes.
Elements are washing machine standard fitting, £12 each off ebay if
you shop around.
Plastic housings for the wiring are from B&Q and are standard
waterproof housings.
"False bottom" is made from gas cooker hobs (scrapyard challenge)
Switching them on with no water in or leaving them on when emptying
are the biggest problems. Sounds simple but it happens.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=fea1be371890f022&page=play&resid=FEA1BE371890F022!140

[Tim]

Very nicely done Dave, what were the baths originally used for?

Tim.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=fea1be371890f022&page=play&resid=FE
A1BE371890F022!140

--

[Dave]

I don't know. I just know you can walk in and buy the tank that holds
two milk crates. Just luck it's the right size as far as I know.
I don't know where you can walk in a get them as it has always been my
brother that got them for me. I think they only cost £50-60 each. That
was a few years back so will have gone up.

[Nat West]

Thank you for the pictures and excellent information Dave. I greatly appreciate it as I will probably be creating such a machine next year.

Can you tell me how long a batch takes start-to-finish? Do you find it is more efficient to use the two-crate or three-crate unit?

-Nat West, Portland Oregon

[Dave]

Two crate is definitely quicker than three crate per batch, but over a
whole morning the three crate is still in the lead.
I would say the three crate version takes just under an hour and the
two crate is 10-15 minutes quicker. Not an entirely fair comparison as
the two crate has very slightly bigger elements. (2500 against 2340W)
These times are for juice in 75cl heated to 70C and held for 20
minutes.
Cider in 500cl heated to 60C and taken out is miles quicker. In fact I
can't fill and cap quick enough to keep anything more than the three
crate version going.

[Alexander Peckham]

Dave thanks so much. You have really taken the time here and I can
see that this post is going to be of practical use to lots of us.
It's this level of practical information that makes this forum a daily
must read.

[Andrew Lea]

On 11/11/2011 18:25, Alexander Peckham wrote:
> Dave thanks so much. You have really taken the time here and I can
> see that this post is going to be of practical use to lots of us.

I'll second that! I'm sure it will give many people the confidence to
try it for themselves, as indeed have the pictures and discussions on
scratter construction.

> It's this level of practical information that makes this forum a daily
> must read.

It's the gems that make all the dross worthwhile!! [Though I hasten to
add that one person's gem is someone else's dross!]

Andrew

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Cider Workshop Website
www.ciderworkshop.com

Andrew's Website
www.cider.org.uk

[Dave]

I have had a great deal of help from people on this site, whether
directly or just by reading the posts. I am happy to offer something
in return and if it inspires someone to have a go themselves I am
delighted.
These two pasteurisers did well over 40,000 bottles of juice last year
so plenty of potential there.
The biggest reason I made them myself was the price of ready made ones
is just beyond consideration, these cost less than a quarter of the
prices i have seen.

The one thing I would like to change would be to fit bigger elements
in the 3 crate version. It is just a bit slower than i would like.
This is for juice which is a longer process, for cider it is fine.
An extra element maybe.
I have recently seen some different elements, these are 3kW and are
straight. I believe you can shape them yourself. Starting from fresh I
might well use them instead, or I might just use 4 washing machine
elements.

[Nat West]

On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 11:07 AM, Andrew Lea <y...@cider.org.uk> wrote:

On 11/11/2011 18:25, Alexander Peckham wrote:

Dave thanks so much.  You have really taken the time here and I can
see that this post is going to be of practical use to lots of us.

I'll second that! I'm sure it will give many people the confidence to try it for themselves, as indeed have the pictures and discussions on scratter construction.

Jez, can we get some form of this pasteurizer discussion on the workshop site so we don't lose it in the future? Searching the google group is only so useful.

-Nat West, Portland Oregon

[Tobys Cider]

Hi Dave,

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I have been searching for some time for details about building my own bath pasteurizer. I cannot justify the price the suppliers seem to want for these.

Can I ask a couple of questions.

Firstly, do you think immersion heater elements would work for this? I have sourced a few on a certain internet auction site, and they see, like good value.

Secondly, do you find the milk crates stand up to the job? Does the plastic material not become weak after a soak in the hot water?

Finally, a slightly technical question. I have tried to find a definitive answer on google but no joy. Why does cider only need to be heated to 60 degrees and removed, when apple juice needs held at 70 degrees for 20 minutes.

Any help you could offer would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Craig

[Andrew Lea]

On 26/08/2012 15:44, Tobys Cider wrote:

>
> Firstly, do you think immersion heater elements would work for this? I
> have sourced a few on a certain internet auction site, and they see,
> like good value.

AFAIR the original Vigo bath pasteuriser for 96 bottles used 3*3 kW
immersion heaters. Each one will need a separate 13A supply of course.
For a smaller capacity, scale pro-rata. The small electric pasteurisers
take about 14 * 750 ml bottles and are rated at around 1.8 kW.

>
> Finally, a slightly technical question. I have tried to find a
> definitive answer on google but no joy. Why does cider only need to be
> heated to 60 degrees and removed, when apple juice needs held at 70
> degrees for 20 minutes.

This was discussed at length here not so long ago (search for PU's,
z-values etc). The difference between juice and cider is the alcohol,
which is a 'hurdle' to yeast growth hence cider needs less PU's
(pasteurisation units) than juice. You can get at the required PU's many
different ways. For instance I take my juice to 75C and remove it
immediately. All the recommended pasteurisation procedures are
empirical - based on 'what works' - but there is a theory of sorts which
unifies them once you have a feel for the PU's you need. Very roughly,
people aim for 50 PU's for cider and 500 - 1000 PU's for cloudy juice.

Andrew


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Wittenham Hill Cider Portal
www.cider.org.uk

[Vince Wakefield]

-----Original Message-----
From: cider-w...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:cider-w...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Andrew Lea
Sent: 26 August 2012 6:41 PM
To: cider-w...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [Cider Workshop] Re: Bath pasteurizers

On 26/08/2012 15:44, Tobys Cider wrote:

>
> Firstly, do you think immersion heater elements would work for this? I
> have sourced a few on a certain internet auction site, and they see,
> like good value.

AFAIR the original Vigo bath pasteuriser for 96 bottles used 3*3 kW
immersion heaters. Each one will need a separate 13A supply of course.

Just a note on wiring up the heaters, please don't put the heaters on a 13A
plug as they will overheat and could catch fire, they should be directly
wired in to a fused connection unit for each heater with heat proof flex.
You will also need to have some temp control as thermostat on the heaters is
not very good.


Vince

[John Mott]

For what it's worth, I would proceed with caution strictly from a matter of safety. I have one of the bath pasteurizers with immersed elements made by Gene Davis of Auburn, WA. The amount of engineering in these units is very evident and impressive. 

As a DIY project, I think the pasteurizer design based on a tankless water heater and recently posted to the group by Nat West makes a lot more sense.

/John Mott

[MikeB...@aol.com]

To tell another side: a small bottled apple juice supplier I know made his own (dual) pasteuriser baths using plastic water 'header' tanks (which he's insulated) and heats the water in a separate 'holding' tank.  (I've never seen this, but I imagine its something like an ordinary domestic hot water tank.)  The bath is filled with bottles, hot water at a predetermined temperature is flushed in, and left for a predetermined time.  While this is happening the water from the second tank is returned (pumped) to the holding tank to be restored to working temperature while the tank is unloaded and reloaded.  In this way work can proceed constantly. 

 

There is a fair bit of plumbing invoved, but otherwise nothing too technical is going on.  Its a very neat and efficient system - he bottles 200,000 litres freshly pressed from September to Xmas with a conveyor filling machine and one person doing the pasteurising.  That is, taking off and putting on light lids, lifting in, lifting out, and operating valves and switches to move the hot water around. 

 

I doubt the system cost more than £2000 plus the labour of assembling it.  At a guess each tank probably holds 150-200 litres of juice - they're around 5' long and 2 1/2' wide from memory.

 

Mike

[Nat West]

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 9:14 AM, John Mott <jrm...@gmail.com> wrote:

For what it's worth, I would proceed with caution strictly from a matter of safety. I have one of the bath pasteurizers with immersed elements made by Gene Davis of Auburn, WA. The amount of engineering in these units is very evident and impressive. 

As a DIY project, I think the pasteurizer design based on a tankless water heater and recently posted to the group by Nat West makes a lot more sense.

That's what I concluded too John. However, I don't think the main benefit of the tankless water heater design is that it is DIY. From what I can tell, I have far more BTUs at my disposal with a tankless water heater than the equivalent wattage via electricity (unless you had an extremely high amperage feed). As such, I can cycle the cider through much faster - approx 20 minutes round-trip for 120 bottles.

-Nat West, Portland Oregon

[Tobys Cider]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I had a good read at the PU topic Andrew, and have to say although it looked a little daunting at first, its actually quite easy to get your head around. I think a couple of trial runs in the pasteuriser when built will see if I have a working understanding.

In relation to the pasteuriser, I think I will try to go with the water bath design, just a large tank with three immersion heater elements under a false bottom. I can then submerge the bottles in milk crates for the time required. Milk crates should make it easier to lift them in and out, and it means we can move between 500ml and 750ml bottles easily.

Thanks for the help.

[John Mott]

Very neat indeed. With this system, I imagine that the water must be pre-heated to a much higher temperature than the end target, but I guess that's just a matter of math.

/John

[Mike Beck]

Also posted in the cider digest….

 

History: We have been selling cider in 750ml and draft to the wholesale trade and our own tasting room sales.

Our endeavor in this began simple enough by applying & recieving a federal value added production grant through the USDA.  For years my wholesaler/distributors asked for a smaller package (i.e. they wanted 6-packs)  I told them that we could do a six pack if they could sell them for $15+ each.  None of them could sell a 6 pack for that money and move a quantity.  I just cannot make the numbers work for a 100% juice-cider to compete with the large producers in a 6 pack bottle format.  However, aluminum cans are a game changer in that respect.  The cost of can & lid is the same as the cost as for me to buy 1 self adhesive label for 1 bottle. (about 15cents/per)  The only downside to buying cans is the minimums required for production order. Ball is our can supplier, the smallest order of can’s you can buy is 166,000+ units(per sku).  The smallest order for the lids is around 350,000 units.  So you must be very committed to a product if you go that route.  After 10 years in the trade our standard cider is at that level to hopefully sell that many units within a years’ time frame. (Not even Statewide dist.)

 

Filling:  We purchased a 16oz. standard can Semi-AutoMatic (SAM) canning line new from Cask Brewing Systems, Canada.  The unit is very compact, 30” wide x 6ft’ long and weighs around 500lbs.  It requires 20amp-110V electric service, plus pneumatic connection(compressed air) and Co2 connection.  Unit can be operated with only 2 people.  Cans are placed into a feed trough by hand, cans are manually pushed into the system 3 at a time.  Once into the unit, 3 cans are purged with Co2 and 3 cans are being filled simultaneously.  Once the cans are full they are automatically pushed through the seeming process.  Once seemed, the cans then travel to an accumulation table where they are manually removed to be assembled into case units.  We are assembling 4x16oz packs – 6 per case.  Case trays and 4-pack can holders run about 50cents per case.  Performance:  Cider is to be supplied from a chilled(0 deg.F) brite tank and should have around 1.5 volumes Co2.  The unit is designed for 15 cans a minute. So far we are achieving around 12 cans a minute.  There are a few tweeks that I can yet do that may get me there.  If you have more Co2 than recommended  you will be going slower.  The art and science in this process is the seaming & the real factor to success.  You must make sure that the proper seam is made prior to run.  This requires measuring many parts of your seem job.  Tolerance of less than 2/1000” from specification is all that is tolerated.  One or two cans must be dissected to determine your outer seam and inner seem  measurements.  Otherwise, an improper seal may happen.   

 

Marketing:  Most growing seasons we should be able market this product to our Distributors so it reaches retail shelves @ $1-$2 more than 4-pack industrial ciders in the same format.  We feel there is enough built in competitive advantage to a Cider made in the region to sell for more than the imported one.

 

Pro’s – the recycling part is great, more than that,  a skid of glass is only moved with a fork truck or pallet jack.  2 people can lift a stack of 8,000 cans.  Great reaction in the tasting room. Cracking a cider on the beach, boat & golf course is fun.

 

Cons – Cold filling cans means they will sweat, a wipe down or blow off is necessary prior to case assembly.  

 

Vendor Report – Can mfg., for as big as company Ball is, they made this tiny gnat cider company feel like our business was important to them.

Filler mfg., Ours was the first unit of its kind,  had some delays in mfg. & had some faulty parts.  To their credit, they made sure the unit was installed and running correctly before I paid for the balance. Includes respectable warranty period as well.

 

Hope this helps anyone thinking of going down that path,

Mike Beck

Uncle John’s Cider Mill

Uncle John’s Fruit House Winery

 

[Tim]

I've been struggling to locate a tank. Do you know any suppliers?

[Richard Anderson]

Hard to say not knowing your location. A number of us in the US use MacroBins or the equivalent. These are molded plastic bins, used in the food industry and according to the manufacture can handle temperatures up to 180 F.

-----Original Message-----
From: cider-w...@googlegroups.com [mailto:cider-w...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Tim
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2017 11:39 PM
To: Cider Workshop <cider-w...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Cider Workshop] Re: Bath pasteurizers

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