Barn Lime

Production methods from starch to sugars.

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IMALOSERSCUMBAG
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Barn Lime

Post by IMALOSERSCUMBAG »

Any thoughts on using Barn Lime to adjust PH? Specifically Waukesha brand? Right now I use pickling lime (calcium hydroxide). Barn lime is crushed limestone which is calcium carbonate. I don't believe there are any additives in the Waukesha barn lime so it should be only ground limestone.

Now, back in my youth I worked with this often on the farm. I guess a little reminiscing this past weekend got my What if's going. This stuff is pretty finely ground so it should move the ph and not be just a buffer. My thought is that a little could go a long way. Am I thinking correctly, or just nuts?
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Re: Barn Lime

Post by greggn »

IMALOSERSCUMBAG wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:23 am Any thoughts on using Barn Lime to adjust PH?

Next time you do a stripping run save some of the backset, measure its pH, and use that to test the Barn Lime's effectiveness.
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8Ball
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Re: Barn Lime

Post by 8Ball »

I’ve used food grade calcium carbonate to adjust my ph up. It works slowly and the yeast like it. I’ve recently switched to calcium hydroxide and it works much faster and you only need a little compared to calcium carbonate. So it is a coin toss. I always include some form & amount of calcium adjunct in my recipes.
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contrahead
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Re: Barn Lime

Post by contrahead »

IMALOSERSCUMBAG wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:23 am Any thoughts on using Barn Lime to adjust PH? Specifically Waukesha brand? Right now I use pickling lime (calcium hydroxide). Barn lime is crushed limestone which is calcium carbonate. I don't believe there are any additives in the Waukesha barn lime so it should be only ground limestone.
Pickling lime Ca(OH)2 - is calcium hydroxide or “slacked lime”. To confuse the issue it can also called calcium(II) hydroxide, calcium hydrate or calcium dihydroxide. It's generally no different than the lime you would buy at a lumber store to use for masonry or to plaster drywall. True “lime” is cooked from limestone or other calcium containing minerals. When it comes out of the kiln it is calcium oxide (CaO) - “quick lime”. If left alone this caustic and unstable product will absorb CO2 back from the atmosphere and become calcium carbonate (CaCO3) again. To prevent this the thirsty quicklime is quenched or slacked with water to change it into a stable chemical form that can then be applied to many applications (like making pickles or plastering walls).

I don't know if Waukesha brand lime, is “true lime” (cooked and slacked) or if it is misnamed and just very white limestone or caliche (calcium carbonate) that has been crushed. Such a product would not be particularly useful to a barn environment (where as real lime is). Any or all of these calcium containing oxides, hydroxides or carbonates however should work to reduce the pH in a mash or wash. Like 8Ball said though, some ways are faster than others.

A small issue might be sanitation however. Only the commercial pickling lime is sanitary and considered safe for human consumption. If a wash was to be cooked off within a few days anyway, the potential for bacteria or fungal impurities in alternative sources of lime- might be of little overall concern.

I did a little research on lime a while back.
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