Cleaning equipment

[kayes]

Anyone have good suggestions on how to effectively clean and sanitize sausage stuffer equipment and grinder pieces so it is food safe? Thanks!

[RexLan]

Spray a little bleach @ 50% and wipe off.

[tskeeter]

The food contact surfaces for my meat grinder and stuffer are stainless.  So, I just give the removable parts a quick clean in the sink, to get the heavy accumulation off, then run them through the dishwasher to do a final clean and sanitize before putting away.  Then another dishwasher ride to sanitize before using the next time.

[Sailor]

Spray a little bleach @ 50% and wipe off.

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Add full strength chlorine bleach to the water. A general rule is 1 capful of bleach per 1 gallon of water for the ideal solution.

If you want to make sure that you have the correct rato use a chlorine test strip to determine whether you have the proper concentration, 50 to 100 ppm.

[NePaSmoKer]

Spray a little bleach @ 50% and wipe off.

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Add full strength chlorine bleach to the water. A general rule is 1 capful of bleach per 1 gallon of water for the ideal solution.

If you want to make sure that you have the correct rato use a chlorine test strip to determine whether you have the proper concentration, 50 to 100 ppm.

X2

[Sailor]

Na ... bleach is only ~ 5% sodium hypochlorite and mixed 50/50 it is very strong and effective.  However you are only misting this with a spray bottle and then wiping it down clean.  Not a big deal but each should do what they like best.

And actually the "correct" concentration is 200 ppm but a spray mist with a wipe down simply isn't a big deal.

Not sure if you have taken the food safety course for restaurants or not.  I think it is very important to give proper advise when some asks a question and not provide answers that may not be totally true.  Here is a link from the FDA regarding the Food Safety Manual. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodSafety/RetailFoodProtection/IndustryandRegulatoryAssistanceandTrainingResources/UCM088896.pdf if you go to page 4 it tells you that 1 capful of bleach per 1 gallon of water and it is 50 ppm to 100 ppm.  Personally I think it is a big deal when it comes to food safety.  I do believe that if you would take the food safety course and put down 200 ppm you would have gotten the answer wrong.

[kayes]

Na ... bleach is only ~ 5% sodium hypochlorite and mixed 50/50 it is very strong and effective.  However you are only misting this with a spray bottle and then wiping it down clean.  Not a big deal but each should do what they like best.

And actually the "correct" concentration is 200 ppm but a spray mist with a wipe down simply isn't a big deal.

Not sure if you have taken the food safety course for restaurants or not.  I think it is very important to give proper advise when some asks a question and not provide answers that may not be totally true.  Here is a link from the FDA regarding the Food Safety Manual. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodSafety/RetailFoodProtection/IndustryandRegulatoryAssistanceandTrainingResources/UCM088896.pdf if you go to page 4 it tells you that 1 capful of bleach per 1 gallon of water and it is 50 ppm to 100 ppm.  Personally I think it is a big deal when it comes to food safety.  I do believe that if you would take the food safety course and put down 200 ppm you would have gotten the answer wrong.

I totally agree. I used to work in restaurant kitchens and am aware of propper bleach use. I just wanted to see if anyone had any special techniques. I've never worked in a butchery environment before.

[kayes]

Didn't want to start drama. Just wanted to see other people's routines.

[renoman]

1 "cap full" ... how big is a "cap full"? Personally I use the pink sterilant that is used to sanitize wine bottles to clean my stuff. That is after I remove all of the meat residue.

[kayes]

1 "cap full" ... how big is a "cap full"? Personally I use the pink sterilant that is used to sanitize wine bottles to clean my stuff. That is after I remove all of the meat residue.

After the residue is washed off, do you just spray on the sterilants or soak your pieces? Do you just let it drain and dry after that?

[renoman]

I wash them by hand in the sink with the sterilant then rinse and let dry. You could put the sterilant in the dishwasher as well. I use it to clean my dishwasher on occasion.

[cobra6223]

I personally think it is a BIG DEAL after the fun I have making the stuff and sharing it I would hate to think I took a short cut and made my family and friends sick. Use a commercial product or the right mixture.

[Salmonsmoker]

I use several 5-Star products, which are used in the brewing world. PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) comes in powder form.  Similar to Oxyclean, it an oxygenated soils cleaner, but doesn't leave a powdery film after drying like Oxyclean does. It's pretty cool stuff. You can fill a carboy that's fermented a batch of beer and has the yeast and trub ring around inside, fill with proper amount of PBW and water, and over several hours without scrubbing the scum will lift off turn white and sink to the bottom and the solution will even turn clear due to the oxidizing power.
The sanitizing solution is called Star San. It's a phosphoric acid based sanitizer- same acid that's in soft drinks-really. At the proper concentration and pH it sanitizes with a 1 min. contact time. At proper stength it can't be detected on the palette, which is a big plus in the brewing world. It is a foaming solution and the foam has the same sanitizing qualities as the liquid. It's made that way so the foam can get in places that a liquid flush may have missed. Also when it dries on a surface the dried film still has the same sanitizing qualities as the liquid. A pre-mixed solution will stay viable in storage for a very long time. When it starts to turn cloudy it means that the pH has risen and it time to mix some new stuff. I have a spray bottle on hand all of the time and use it extensively for sanitizing just about anything.

Didn't mean to ramble, just wanted to give you another option.

Cheers!

[drano]

Glad I saw this post.  I've never sanitized.  Just wash after use with dish soap, put away, and use next time. 
Since I also home-brew, I've got Star San (just kegged my last batch a week ago--an Irish Red).
Next time I break out the sausage toys, I'll spray things down with Star San. 
Thanks for the thread and ideas.

[unclebuck]

I dip anything(grinder, mixer, & press)that with contact the meat in a solution of sodium metabisulphite and rinse prior to use.  The procedure has served me well thus far.