Is it necessary to clean the ceramic saddles in a reflux still
if so why
if so how and how often
Cleaning the saddles in a reflux still
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Rod
- Swill Maker
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junkyard dawg
- Master of Distillation
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yes,
why, because they get dirty... I use scrubbbies in the reflux... they catch all kinds of crap. I believe that is just how the seperation of good and bad works out. the good is in the bottle, the bad is in the boiler and column.
I boil and use a peroxide cleaner on my column packing. Rinse well.
why, because they get dirty... I use scrubbbies in the reflux... they catch all kinds of crap. I believe that is just how the seperation of good and bad works out. the good is in the bottle, the bad is in the boiler and column.
I boil and use a peroxide cleaner on my column packing. Rinse well.
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Hackers
- Bootlegger
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Far better to use a solution of 10 ml of citric acid powder disolved in 2 litres of warm to hot water.
Turn your column upside down. I sit mine in a tub with a sponge underneath it and then fill the column. Just under 1 litre fills the column and I use the rest to slowly top up the column (you want the citric solution to sit in the column for about five minutes) and it slowly drains into the tub. Once the column is empty, then flush with clean water.Then reassemble
Turn your column upside down. I sit mine in a tub with a sponge underneath it and then fill the column. Just under 1 litre fills the column and I use the rest to slowly top up the column (you want the citric solution to sit in the column for about five minutes) and it slowly drains into the tub. Once the column is empty, then flush with clean water.Then reassemble
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lawnman
- Novice
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funny you have brought this up as i didnt know you had to clean them 
i was talking my my brew shop owner and something came up about them,
so i cleaned em with a tooth brush took me about an hour would have been easier to buy some new ones but i got em clean.
now after each brew i soak the saddles in bi-carb soda,and the reflux hea i soak in boiling hot water.
brew now is cleaner when brewing with no strong odour.
i was talking my my brew shop owner and something came up about them,
so i cleaned em with a tooth brush took me about an hour would have been easier to buy some new ones but i got em clean.
now after each brew i soak the saddles in bi-carb soda,and the reflux hea i soak in boiling hot water.
brew now is cleaner when brewing with no strong odour.
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Miraculix
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- Location: Norway
Normally not necessary to clean them if you have a good apparatus, and
if you doesn't overfill your kettle so that foaming gets into your column.
Hot ethanol vapor is an excellent cleaning solvent.
If you have a continuous still with mash feeding in the middle of the column,
the situation is different...
/Miraculix
PS! By all means, it's no negative thing to clean your still.
if you doesn't overfill your kettle so that foaming gets into your column.
Hot ethanol vapor is an excellent cleaning solvent.
If you have a continuous still with mash feeding in the middle of the column,
the situation is different...
/Miraculix
PS! By all means, it's no negative thing to clean your still.