Beer Forum

I was wondering about the effects of baking bottles on their strength long term.

I really like the idea of having sterile bottles, so I prefer to bake rather than dip in starsan. I know in How To Brew, John talks about how soda lime glass bottles are susceptible to thermal shock and breaking. I heat slowly (under 5 degrees per minute) to 340, then bake for an hour, shut off the oven and leave the door closed for the bottles to cool overnight.

If I heat and cool the bottles slowly, will they stay strong, or will they become weak and eventually break?

Thanks

um, its glass. It all eventually breaks!

That won't weaken the bottles, you would have to get a lot hotter for that to be a concern. You may occasionally lose a bottle to thermal shock, but the bottles that survive your sterilization process will be as strong as they were before.

I think it was back in 06-07 in one of the shows from Downtown Joe's where Colin Kominski mentioned baking bottles for sterilization but I think the most important thing was to be sure they were absolutely dry before going into the oven. I think the temperature they mentioned was 165 or so and to not quickly heat or cool them. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

Personally, I either PBW and sterilize in the dishwasher or more often I will PBW and starsan every bottle.

(The only reason I remember this at all is because I've been working through the archives at work the last few months.)

I have been baking bottles for over a year....I had one bottle break while I was opening it...that is the only bottle I have broken...except ones falling on the floor...lol


Clean them, dry them, cover with aluminum foil, put in oven, then turn on the oven to 345F and once it reaches that temp, leave them in for an hour, shut off oven and open door slightly...should be cooled in an hour or 2...and no problems..

170 C for 1 hour (338 F) is what Palmer has in "How to Brew", there is a chart, on the lower end you could heat at 250 F for 12 hours. I also sterilize using the dishwasher, never had a problem with one breaking but I would guess they get more brittle over time...

Im just waiting for someone to mention the whole sterilize and sanitize thing......
I baked them once. Then I went to kegging. It worked out well. Super easy. My daughter was very puzzled as to why I was cooking my bottles!