I tried once again today to disgorge a few of bottles after secondary fermentation, riddling, and disgorging, meeting with mixed success. I salted crushed ice and put the sediment-laden caped ends of the bottle into them to freeze. Some did but some didn't freeze totally. I got most of the sediment out of the ones that didn't freeze so well, but wondered if anyone has any tips or special tricks for disgorging.

Paul

On Monday, February 17, 2014 at 1:38:39 PM UTC+11, wrote:
> I tried once again today to disgorge a few of bottles after secondary fermentation, riddling, and disgorging, meeting with mixed success. I salted crushed ice and put the sediment-laden caped ends of the bottle into them to freeze. Some did but some didn't freeze totally. I got most of the sediment out of the ones that didn't freeze so well, but wondered if anyone has any tips or special tricks for disgorging.
>
> Paul

I also had mixed success with ice and salt. I did better by putting the riddled bottles upside down in the freezer compartment of the family refrigerator. The neck froze first, and disgorging was much more successful. Still not an ideal situation though, my family preferred food in the freezer!
Finally I salvaged a small chest freezer, fitted it with a stainless steel trough ex salvaged kitchen sink, filled with propylene glycol/water mix. An old soda pop crate holds the bottles steady and the net result is reliable disgorging every time, provided that the bottles are pre-chilled to around zero Celsius.
Hope this helps,
Richard