cleaning/sanitizing valves

[Firekja]

I have a new brew kettle with a valve in it and I was wondering what I need to do to clean it before the cooled wort goes through it. will the heat be enough or should I spray the outside with star san? Any ideas or tricks would be great. And also do I need to take off the valve everytime I am done brewing or is soaking and running cleaner through it enough?

[seanhagerty]

Good Guestion.

I am always real concerned about whether or not my kettle drain valve gets hot enough to sanitize. I think it doesnt when the boil is going on.

I do several things to (hopefully) make sure it is.

1. Periodically, I take it off my kettle and boil it for about 20 minutes in a seperate container. Then I reinstall it on my kettle and brew on.
2. During the last part of the boil, I open the valve and drain boiling wort through it to heat it up to close to 212F. I pour this wort back into the kettle. Careful, this stuff is really really really hot.
3. As you mentioned, I also spray starsan in the opening right before I attach my transfer hose. It usually evaporates off quickly, but it gives me peace of mind.

I havent had an infection in as long as I can remember, so either I am lucky, or this is working.

Good Luck with it

Sean

[Brandt]

It will be fine. Even if it only gets up to 150 on the surface, it is still hot for the length of your boil which will be more than enough time. If you really want to feel good about it, you can srapy the outside with star san, as suggested, just before attaching the hose.

[Crut]

I use my pump to recirc through the last 15 minutes of the boil, that oughta kill any nasties
-Crut