best sanitizer for small items? Options

[cfiffpm]

Occasionally, I need to sanitize a small thing....maybe a wine thief to take a sample, or an oxygenation stone for a stuck fermantation. I normally use Star-san, but that's designed to be mixed in a 5 gallon batch...maybe a 2 1/2 gallon batch if your careful...but I just want soup-dishful to dip something in.
Bleach seems like kind of a nasty thing to dip something into that's about to go straight into your wort...any suggestions?

[Thorhale]

I have heard of guys using a dedicated sanitizer keg, just get what you need on demand.

[TheProfessor]

Occasionally, I need to sanitize a small thing....maybe a wine thief to take a sample, or an oxygenation stone for a stuck fermantation. I normally use Star-san, but that's designed to be mixed in a 5 gallon batch...maybe a 2 1/2 gallon batch if your careful...but I just want soup-dishful to dip something in.
Bleach seems like kind of a nasty thing to dip something into that's about to go straight into your wort...any suggestions?

StarSan doesn't have to be made in 5 gallon batches...I've never mixed that much. Ever since I began using it, I have always mixed it in 1 gallon batches, using distilled water. The measuring spout area on the bottle makes that a pretty easy proposition.
To make 1 gallon at a time, just use a hair less than 1/4 oz of StarSan to a gallon of water.
If you use distilled water, that gallon of sanitizer will stay active for months if need be.

This post has been edited by TheProfessor: Sep 9 2012, 11:06 AM

[Mashtun]

I use a black plastic wallpaper tray for sanitizing long skinny items like racking canes, hoses and syphon starter.

[BelgianBoy]

I just eyeball anything under a gallon and have never had a problem. Just do what looks like it makes sense

[pilsenhammer]

Sounds like everyone likes StarSan. That is what I use. I have a couple 2 or 3 litre jugs that I store a mixed StarSan solution in. I pour out what ever I may need, then pour it back in the bottle when finished. I also use a wall paper tray for doing long items. At my buddy's house we have a covered 5 gal bucket of mixed starsan that we just dip things in when needed.

[bianchiveloce]

In the past, when checking on the progress of my fermentation, I've kept mixed up StarSan in a spray bottle to take care of sanitizing small items used in testing.

[Dean Palmer]

Like others have said, no reason to mix up more than what you need to spray on something. No need to soak and no need for special trays or buckets.

StarSan can be mixed in amounts as small as your high school fractions class taught you to figure out. I usually mix about 1.25 gallons at most, and that costs about 12 cents, so toss it afterwards or save some in a spray bottle to use randomly.

Do not store it in kegs or any metal container, it will damage them eventually.

Matter of fact, for as cheap as it is, throw the extra away.