Hi all,

I'm fairly new to this hobby, and I have two primary fermenters - food-grade
plastic buckets I purchased from my wine supply store. One of them, I've
made maybe four or five batches with it, the other I've only made one, but
it came filled with freshed pressed apple juice (for my apple wine, which is
coming along nicely).

After my last uses of these buckets (made apple wine and mead at the same
time) I noticed an odor in there...rather acidic I guess, that's the only
thing I can think of to describe it. I've soaked them with pink chlorinated
cleaner overnight, soaked them with sodium metabisulphite, left plain water
in them for days, and still I can smell it.

I wash these things after every use, sanitize them before using them again.

I'm afraid this could flavour future batches. Surely I don't need to
purchase new buckets, these are not old yet. Can anyone recommend anything
else to render my primaries odorless once again? Or do I just need to buy
new ones?

Thanks!

KD

Was them with a Clorine Bleach solution... Let them soak for a few
hours and rinse well with hot water.... Works every time for me

A.J.

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 19:56:34 GMT, "KD" wrote:

Hi all,

I'm fairly new to this hobby, and I have two primary fermenters - food-grade
plastic buckets I purchased from my wine supply store. One of them, I've
made maybe four or five batches with it, the other I've only made one, but
it came filled with freshed pressed apple juice (for my apple wine, which is
coming along nicely).

After my last uses of these buckets (made apple wine and mead at the same
time) I noticed an odor in there...rather acidic I guess, that's the only
thing I can think of to describe it. I've soaked them with pink chlorinated
cleaner overnight, soaked them with sodium metabisulphite, left plain water
in them for days, and still I can smell it.

I wash these things after every use, sanitize them before using them again.

I'm afraid this could flavour future batches. Surely I don't need to
purchase new buckets, these are not old yet. Can anyone recommend anything
else to render my primaries odorless once again? Or do I just need to buy
new ones?

Thanks!

KD

Was them with a Clorine Bleach solution... Let them soak for a few
hours and rinse well with hot water.... Works every time for me

A.J.

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 19:56:34 GMT, "KD" wrote:

Hi all,

I'm fairly new to this hobby, and I have two primary fermenters - food-grade
plastic buckets I purchased from my wine supply store. One of them, I've
made maybe four or five batches with it, the other I've only made one, but
it came filled with freshed pressed apple juice (for my apple wine, which is
coming along nicely).

After my last uses of these buckets (made apple wine and mead at the same
time) I noticed an odor in there...rather acidic I guess, that's the only
thing I can think of to describe it. I've soaked them with pink chlorinated
cleaner overnight, soaked them with sodium metabisulphite, left plain water
in them for days, and still I can smell it.

I wash these things after every use, sanitize them before using them again.

I'm afraid this could flavour future batches. Surely I don't need to
purchase new buckets, these are not old yet. Can anyone recommend anything
else to render my primaries odorless once again? Or do I just need to buy
new ones?

Thanks!

KD

Aquired a couple of buckets from businesses saving food containers for
me. They were for pickles. Tried bleach, baking soda, detergent,
plain water, sunshine. Still smell like pickles. Haven't tried
ammonia though.

Steve - Noobie
Oregon




"KD" wrote:
Hi all,

I'm fairly new to this hobby, and I have two primary fermenters - food-grade
plastic buckets I purchased from my wine supply store. One of them, I've
made maybe four or five batches with it, the other I've only made one, but
it came filled with freshed pressed apple juice (for my apple wine, which is
coming along nicely).

After my last uses of these buckets (made apple wine and mead at the same
time) I noticed an odor in there...rather acidic I guess, that's the only
thing I can think of to describe it. I've soaked them with pink chlorinated
cleaner overnight, soaked them with sodium metabisulphite, left plain water
in them for days, and still I can smell it.

I wash these things after every use, sanitize them before using them again.

I'm afraid this could flavour future batches. Surely I don't need to
purchase new buckets, these are not old yet. Can anyone recommend anything
else to render my primaries odorless once again? Or do I just need to buy
new ones?

Thanks!

KD

Aquired a couple of buckets from businesses saving food containers for
me. They were for pickles. Tried bleach, baking soda, detergent,
plain water, sunshine. Still smell like pickles. Haven't tried
ammonia though.

Steve - Noobie
Oregon




"KD" wrote:
Hi all,

I'm fairly new to this hobby, and I have two primary fermenters - food-grade
plastic buckets I purchased from my wine supply store. One of them, I've
made maybe four or five batches with it, the other I've only made one, but
it came filled with freshed pressed apple juice (for my apple wine, which is
coming along nicely).

After my last uses of these buckets (made apple wine and mead at the same
time) I noticed an odor in there...rather acidic I guess, that's the only
thing I can think of to describe it. I've soaked them with pink chlorinated
cleaner overnight, soaked them with sodium metabisulphite, left plain water
in them for days, and still I can smell it.

I wash these things after every use, sanitize them before using them again.

I'm afraid this could flavour future batches. Surely I don't need to
purchase new buckets, these are not old yet. Can anyone recommend anything
else to render my primaries odorless once again? Or do I just need to buy
new ones?

Thanks!

KD

"spud" wrote in message
...
Aquired a couple of buckets from businesses saving food containers for
me. They were for pickles. Tried bleach, baking soda, detergent,
plain water, sunshine. Still smell like pickles. Haven't tried
ammonia though.

Toss 'em. Your time is worth more than what it would cost you to buy new
ones, and you'll never get the pickle smell out anyway.

Tom S

I would not even trust glass that has held pickles, much less plastic. That
stuff never comes out.

But I agree with the chlorine bleach treatment. After rinsing, let them air
dry completely, then rinse one more time. That will remove any possible
residue. As a last treatment, you could let them air dry again, then
sprinkle in some backing soda, seal and let it sit. That will absorbed any
lingering odors.

Ray

"spud" wrote in message
...
Aquired a couple of buckets from businesses saving food containers for
me. They were for pickles. Tried bleach, baking soda, detergent,
plain water, sunshine. Still smell like pickles. Haven't tried
ammonia though.

Steve - Noobie
Oregon




"KD" wrote:
Hi all,

I'm fairly new to this hobby, and I have two primary fermenters -
food-grade
plastic buckets I purchased from my wine supply store. One of them, I've
made maybe four or five batches with it, the other I've only made one, but
it came filled with freshed pressed apple juice (for my apple wine, which
is
coming along nicely).

After my last uses of these buckets (made apple wine and mead at the same
time) I noticed an odor in there...rather acidic I guess, that's the only
thing I can think of to describe it. I've soaked them with pink
chlorinated
cleaner overnight, soaked them with sodium metabisulphite, left plain
water
in them for days, and still I can smell it.

I wash these things after every use, sanitize them before using them
again.

I'm afraid this could flavour future batches. Surely I don't need to
purchase new buckets, these are not old yet. Can anyone recommend anything
else to render my primaries odorless once again? Or do I just need to buy
new ones?

Thanks!

KD

I would not even trust glass that has held pickles, much less plastic. That
stuff never comes out.

But I agree with the chlorine bleach treatment. After rinsing, let them air
dry completely, then rinse one more time. That will remove any possible
residue. As a last treatment, you could let them air dry again, then
sprinkle in some backing soda, seal and let it sit. That will absorbed any
lingering odors.

Ray

"spud" wrote in message
...
Aquired a couple of buckets from businesses saving food containers for
me. They were for pickles. Tried bleach, baking soda, detergent,
plain water, sunshine. Still smell like pickles. Haven't tried
ammonia though.

Steve - Noobie
Oregon




"KD" wrote:
Hi all,

I'm fairly new to this hobby, and I have two primary fermenters -
food-grade
plastic buckets I purchased from my wine supply store. One of them, I've
made maybe four or five batches with it, the other I've only made one, but
it came filled with freshed pressed apple juice (for my apple wine, which
is
coming along nicely).

After my last uses of these buckets (made apple wine and mead at the same
time) I noticed an odor in there...rather acidic I guess, that's the only
thing I can think of to describe it. I've soaked them with pink
chlorinated
cleaner overnight, soaked them with sodium metabisulphite, left plain
water
in them for days, and still I can smell it.

I wash these things after every use, sanitize them before using them
again.

I'm afraid this could flavour future batches. Surely I don't need to
purchase new buckets, these are not old yet. Can anyone recommend anything
else to render my primaries odorless once again? Or do I just need to buy
new ones?

Thanks!

KD

"Ray Calvert" wrote in message
...
I would not even trust glass that has held pickles, much less plastic.
That stuff never comes out.

But I agree with the chlorine bleach treatment.

FWIW, glass can be _completely_ cleaned of even the nastiest residue.
That's not true of plastic however. It's also not true of the caps to some
of those vessels, which generally have plastic liners/seals.

Also, most commercial wineries have completely abandoned chlorine for
cleaning anything - even floors - due to TCA issues, or the possibility
thereof. Still, I regard bleach as safe to use for cleaning _nonporous_
items, with the caveat that such cleaning must be followed by complete and
thorough rinsing.

Tom S