Steve wrote:
On Tue, 4 Apr 2006 19:13:51 -0400, "Duck Redbeard"
wrote:

I am about to bottle my first batch and have a few questions about corks.
Do they need to be sanitized (if so, with what)? Should they be boiled
first?

First, you need some sort of corker. Don't laugh, had someone in my
store the other day looking for smaller corks because the ones he had
were too large for his bottles. The ones he had were standard #9
corks.

Second, further advise depends on

a) style of corker: hand or floor
b) diameter of corks: #8 (usually 22mm diameter), #9 (23 or 24mm
diameter).

Based on customer feedback (NOT personal experience), if you have a
hand corker and 24 mm #9's give up now.

If you have a floor corker, the corks probably don't matter.

Oh, and on the topic of boiling corks....the old books say to do this.
And they are correct, but ONLY for solid corks. The corks that are
bonded together chips of cork should not be boiled.

Steve
Steve I have used a plastic plunger corker for over 20 years with my #
9 corks with no problem. Just place the cork in the corker and place it
on top of the bottle 3 quick slaps withthe palm of my had and the cork
is seated. I have use a floor coker before and they are nice but an
unnecessary expense for a beginer.