Nalgene bottles

[Ozbrewer]

If one was planning on sanitizing a bottle or hitting it with something like 212 degrees, then the HDPE bottle would work just fine. (To be honest, I don't even trust HDPE at 212 degrees due to the deformation to causes)., Just keep in mind that under both cases, you are only sanitizing, not sterilizing. But if you want to sterilize instead of sanitize, you have to have at least 250 degrees, because 212 actually only kills most, but not all of the bacteria present.

I hope this response made some sense, and maybe Jamil can chime in and give his input.

I may be compleatly wrong here but i was of the oppinion that the pressure inside a pressure cooker allowed it to get to well above 212 deg , and that the pressure also helped kill the nasties????

[trans]

I may be compleatly wrong here but i was of the oppinion that the pressure inside a pressure cooker allowed it to get to well above 212 deg , and that the pressure also helped kill the nasties????

I was covering some cases of sanitizing and just mentioning that to sanitize, you could just boil in a pot at 212 Fahrenheit or else use sanitizer. But yes, to sterilize, you have to hit 250 or so in a pressure cooker. I guess the way I worded that whole rant may have been confusing though.

So yes, you are right...to kill all the baddies, you have to go higher than 212 to something closer to 250. A pressure cooker allows you to do that due to the fact that increased pressure raises the boiling point of water.

I don't know if the pressure itself helps to directly kill any of the baddies, as I think it is only a matter of temperature. I honestly am not sure though.


- joe

[jaydub]

I don't know if the pressure itself helps to directly kill any of the baddies, as I think it is only a matter of temperature. I honestly am not sure though.


- joe

There are few living cells that can survive boiling temperatures for any period of time, but some bacteria are capable of creating super-sturdy "life boats" called spores. Its these spores that the more extreme heat of autoclaves or pressure cookers are going after. The pressure is merely a means to an end - higher heat temperatures. You're probably familiar with the fact that water boils at temperatures less that 212F at altitude; this is due to lower air pressure. In other words, no matter how long you boil water at 8000 feet, you'll never get hotter than (something like 190F). Conversely, if you increase pressure on the liquid, you can get it to boil at much higher temperatures - high enough to destroy bacterial spores if you keep it up long enough.