Is aquarium silicon sealant safe for lid sealing?

[cornwhiskey]

I read a file on the new distillers yahoo group where it suggested that to get an airtight seal on a kettle (what I'm using for a boiler) that you apply aquarium silicon sealant on the lid, apply some vaseline on the kettle (so the lid doesn't stick to the kettle) and leave it for 48 hours with the lid clamped down with alligator clamps. Is this a safe and food grade seal to put on my kettle/boiler? If not, what are my other options for sealing my kettle besides the flour/water paste?

[Coyote]

Short answer - No
Too many unknown properties in silicone

Second short answer - cork

[cornwhiskey]

Short answer - No
Too many unknown properties in silicone

Second short answer - cork

I assume you mean to make a large cork gasket? Does cork really seal that well, it seems kind of porous to me? Where would I find a piece of cork that big?

[Coyote]

My first ones I went to the local auto parts store and bought rolled cork gasket material.
About 16 bucks a roll and enough to make 2 double thick gaskets per roll, worked really well for
10 runs or so then I started having to fight them to seal.
I am running my column attached to a SS bowl so the cork is the gasket between the keg boiler and the bowl.
Using a rubber trap strap to hold the bowl to the boiler. I applied a VERY small amount of white wood glue
to the OUTSIDE edge of the 2 pieces to hold them together.
End cost 80 cents per run not to have to clean up flour paste.
Hugely wasteful Way to much scrap
I have heard that some people use those 12" X 12" cork squares Like you would make a cork board
out of. They are about 3/8" thick. I have not tried it yet - just have not found them locally - yet

[rad14701]

Cork needs to be pure cork, not cork shavings held together with rubberized glue like most automotive cork... The glue holding the cork together is potentially no safer than silicone sealant... Music cork and some crafters cork are usually pure cork...

I just use flour paste... I have no idea why people think of it as messy or time consuming... My last run required about 2 rounded teaspoons of flour and just enough warm water to make it the consistency of stiff wallpaper paste... That amount sealed the SS bowl onto my stock pot as well as all slip-joints between column components... I ended up rinsing the excess down the drain... A dishcloth with hot water softens and removes the hardened flour paste as part of my 15 minute cleanup and stow away...

[cornwhiskey]

Cork needs to be pure cork, not cork shavings held together with rubberized glue like most automotive cork... The glue holding the cork together is potentially no safer than silicone sealant... Music cork and some crafters cork are usually pure cork...

I just use flour paste... I have no idea why people think of it as messy or time consuming... My last run required about 2 rounded teaspoons of flour and just enough warm water to make it the consistency of stiff wallpaper paste... That amount sealed the SS bowl onto my stock pot as well as all slip-joints between column components... I ended up rinsing the excess down the drain... A dishcloth with hot water softens and removes the hardened flour paste as part of my 15 minute cleanup and stow away...

15 minute cleanup!

Much quicker than homebrewing.

[LWTCS]

I just use flour paste... I have no idea why people think of it as messy or time consuming... My last run required about 2 rounded teaspoons of flour and just enough warm water to make it the consistency of stiff wallpaper paste...

+1 easy peasy.

Mix mine with a butter knife and the kiddiewinkle's cereal bowl. Then lay it right on my thumper pot lip with the knife a scoop at a time. Just like a scoop of peanut butter. Come on you dads out there! Get the picture?

Never drops off cuz its good and sticky (the way I mix it) and never touches my hands.

Only thing better would be a no gasket seal like a union.
Easy peasy, safe,tried and true. WTF else do ya need? The go ahead from The Holly ffathe,,,,,Mackeral ?

[blanikdog]

I add a little olive oil to my flour mix. I spose any vege oil will do and the dry paste just peels away clean as a whistle. I forget who told me this, but it works. No way I would use silicon.

blanik

[HookLine]

I forget who told me this,

CoopsOz?

[piratesteve]

Nice trick with the oil!!! Gotta give that a try!

[blanikdog]

I forget who told me this,

CoopsOz?

Yairrrs, it was indeed, coops. Thanks coops, a good tip.

blanik

[UnclePaul]

Before I saw the light,,,, and found this forum. My first cooker was a 2 1/2 gallon SS pot and lid I took from the ole lady's kitchen. I tried to seal the lid to the pot and was about to pull my hair out. Then I said, heck, you eat bread, it can't be that bad for you, except for putting pounds on around your waist.
I took a piece of white bread in a bowl and just enough water to make it really sticky. I could take a little bit and apply it to the lip of the bowl. Too much water and it fell off, not enough and it was still bread, not a sealant.
Sure enough, if you get the water right, it seals that pot up completely. It does get pretty hard after baking for a few hours, but soaking and scraping, it comes right off.
Not to be smart, but if you don't like sealing the lid to the pot, change cookers.

[racksnquacks1]

So everyone is saying that you don't even need the cork gasket just paste? I am running building mine to run a bowl on top of a full barrel keg and would think I should put the cork gasket on, tighten down, and then seal with paste just to be confident about it not leaking since I will be running an open flame burner.

Another? If I were to weld stainless bolts into my keg and and make studs to slide bowl down over and tighten with nuts and washers will there be any bad effects from welding inside the pot if I make a cleaning boil run first?

Didn't mean to hijack the thread here guys just going out today to gather up supplies.

Thanks

[rad14701]

racksnquacks1, why do you feel compelled to molest a perfectly good keg by cutting the top out of it, making it difficult to seal up...??? Is there a reason why feel the need to be able to get inside the keg...??? Most here simply rinse unmolested kegs out with water after each run and leave it at that... The inside has already been sterilized with boiling water and hot alcohol vapor... Rinse it... Drain it... Done...

[Ghost]

Posted almost the exact same thing this morning to another thread. Hate to see kegs cut open unless you are making a BOP.

[Drunk-N-Smurf]

I'm a bit of a skeptic about the gaskets for our stills, and tried very hard to tell myself I would find something suitable, but in the end, I just made the everlasting gasket mentioned here, and much to my surprise, it worked flawlessly. I didnt even need flour paste.

Don't mess with something that works, and is so highly recommended by most folks here.

DS

[racksnquacks1]

The keg is actually an old 55 gal soda pop keg it has no filler neck on top, it has one on the side that we are going to have to weld shut. Had to cut it, if I could have used the clamp on style with a filler neck I would have but that was not the case here. Will take some pictures with the digital camera and make a new post of the build as it comes along.