# Sterilizing an Extractor (Sort of urgent)



## Sharkey (May 27, 2004)

I have read several comments about how much trouble it is to extract a few frames at a time due to having to "sterilize" the extractor after each use.

How do you "sterilize an extractor" and why is that necessary instead of just washing it out ?? Straighten me out again, folks. :-> I have extracting to do. hehe

------------------
It's Not The Destination, It's The Journey. We Cannot Change The Wind, But We CAN Trim The Sails.


----------



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I guess I've been doing it wrong for 35 years. I just hose it out with hot water before and after using. Sometimes I hot pressure wash it a bit.


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Personally, besides washing it out with a plastic scrubbe I boil up four pots of water and pour boiling water all over the inside and on the rack to try to get everything out. I do it to kill some bacteria, but also because it will dissolve any honey residue that might have been left and any dust that might have accumulated and gotten stuck in some corner.


----------



## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Just plain hot water.I've heard of people using soap,but I wouldnt because soap residue is hard to remove completely.


----------



## Oxankle (Jan 8, 2004)

Take it down to any carwash that has a high pressure hot water set up. Give it a good going over and rinse, then take it home, pour a couple pots of boiling water over the inside, dry it off and go to work. I put it on my trailer; my buddy washes it in the back of his truck. Both of us cover it with drum liners while traveling. 
Ox


----------



## Sharkey (May 27, 2004)

Thank You all. Doesn't sound quite as serious when you put it like that. Hot water sounds REAL good to me. :->

------------------
It's Not The Destination, It's The Journey. We Cannot Change The Wind, But We CAN Trim The Sails.


----------



## Curry (Sep 22, 2003)

And remember that honey is used as an anti-bacterial application. Since honey is hygroscopic, it sucks water out of things... like bacteria, which is how it kills bacteria. So, ya, just for cleanliness I would wash it out, but your honey will kill any bacteria that might enter.


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I also don't use soap because I'm afraid I won't get all the resdue out and it will taint the taste of the honey. If I think it is particularly dirty, I might use some clorox in water and then rinse really well.


----------



## Ricko (May 18, 2004)

The high pressure hose at the local carwash works great as one person pointed out. 
A rinse with few gallons of hot water and the addition of a couple of cap fulls of bleach should finish off the job nicely!
For the gears and pivot point in the bottom, there is a food grade grease that comes in a spray can which works great also.


----------



## Russ (Sep 9, 2001)

A friend of mine sets his extractor out for the bees to clean out after he gets through extracting. Then uses Hot water to rinse it out when he is ready to extract again. Is this enough??????? Dale


----------



## geocole (Sep 4, 2021)

Russ said:


> A friend of mine sets his extractor out for the bees to clean out after he gets through extracting. Then uses Hot water to rinse it out when he is ready to extract again. Is this enough??????? Dale


After taking removing the honey from the extractor I take it apart (my extractor is a two frame plastic unit, hand crank-and after emptying it of any remaining honey I put all the parts out next to my hive and let the bees lick it clean along with all the frames and tools I had used. It takes them about two days but everything is ***** and span-all I two with the extractor after the bees are done with it and put it back together-pane in the ass-,but I , fill it with cold water with a few TBS or Potassium Sorbate or a 1/2 cup of clorox and let it sit for a day, pour it out then give it a rinse with fresh water but I have only been doing this for a little so not much experience


----------



## Lee Bussy (May 28, 2021)

All of these recommendations sound like good ones. I don't even have my own bees yet, but I've been a homebrewer for a long time.

If I were going to worry about sanitizing something that was in contact with food, I would use a food-safe sanitizer like iodophor (used in dairy operations and very inexpensive at feed stores), Star San (foams), or Saniclean (non-foaming.) Both of the latter are no-rinse solutions for food use.


----------



## William Bagwell (Sep 4, 2019)

LBussy said:


> All of these recommendations sound like good ones.


Except the car wash. Might want to find out if they recycle water before washing an extractor.

And yes I noticed this is an old thread...


----------



## Lee Bussy (May 28, 2021)

Oh darn - well at least I wasn’t the one to necro-post.


----------



## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

I drilled a hole in the side of the extractor and used heat tolerant red rtv to anchor it. I have an old pressure cooker modified to a steam generator and a couple gallons of water turned into steam removes all sticky and most of the wax. Just takes an hour or so


----------



## Lee Bussy (May 28, 2021)

CIP balls (clean in place) are used in the food and brewing industry. I use one for my brewing kettles and kegs. Generally, I use a relatively small pump and some cleaner and let it run for a couple of hours. That linked example is pretty expensive, and you can find them MUCH cheaper, but it's a good pic and animated gif.


----------

