Propionic Acid?

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Broken Jug
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Propionic Acid?

Post by Broken Jug »

I have a question about Propionic Acid as a preservative in grain?

My wife has been buying Purina Scratch Grain for her chickens, and I have been wanting to do a mash with them but haven’t had the time.

Now that I have the time, I was thinking about starting a batch with it along with adding some malted rye and distillers malt.

The scratch has good mix of cracked corn, wheat, and milo.

My plan was to mill it down into a coarse flour today, but when I read the tag on the bag that says it has Propionic Acid as a preservative, I decided to ask the experts here if it’s okay to go forward, or not.

I’ll try to attach some pictures if I can figure it out.
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dieselduo
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Re: Propionic Acid?

Post by dieselduo »

I've used cracked corn from Tractor Supply for years. It has it in it and never bothered me
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Broken Jug
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Re: Propionic Acid?

Post by Broken Jug »

That’s great to hear. When it comes to feed grains, I never pay to much attention to what the tag says.

The only reason I checked it this time, was to see the list of grains.

I was surprised when I seen a preservative listed.

I apologize to those who already know that a post almost identical to mine was posted by 2goose back in January 2014.

2goose’s post pretty much covers everything.

Sorry for the repeat.
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elbono
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Re: Propionic Acid?

Post by elbono »

I use TS cracked corn and even if it isn't on the label I assume it has proprionic acid in there and at least one thing they are trying to prevent is the feed fermenting in the bag.

Propionic acid is miscible in water so I rinse it twice before using it to be safe. Haven't felt like it affected fermention yet.

I'm a noob though, ymmv!
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LWTCS
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Re: Propionic Acid?

Post by LWTCS »

It's fine.
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Single Malt Yinzer
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Re: Propionic Acid?

Post by Single Malt Yinzer »

Yup, no issues from a safety perspective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propionic_acid

https://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Ester <-- Look at the Ester Aroma/Flavor chart, the 3 carbon line Propanoate. Lot of good stuff can be made with it.
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contrahead
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Re: Propionic Acid?

Post by contrahead »

Well “elbono's advise seems logical to me (give it 2 rinses).

Try to imagine how this chicken scratch is made. The trucks come in and deliver raw grain fresh off the fields. The separate grains are processed a little (the corn is shucked and cracked, the milo stalks and wheat bran husk are removed).

Attention is probably paid to the moisture contents of these grains before and after they are combined. The grain companies probably don't take much time and expense to dry these grains out thoroughly so there is bound to be some residual moisture left in the grain when it is bagged. A simple precaution then, is to spray a light mist of mold inhibitor (propionic acid) onto the grain as it rides down a conveyor belt, on its way to the bagging machine.

This mold inhibitor would have dried on the outside of the grain, not inside. A couple of rinses in hot water should remove the problem.

(when it comes to fermentation, any “preservative” makes me nervous)
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