Author Topic: Rust in my brine  (Read 3331 times)

Offline Danbo

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Rust in my brine
« on: December 20, 2014, 03:36:50 PM »
Hi there,

A couple of days ago I made a new brine by boiling salt saturated water in one of my stainless steel vats... Well more or less stainless it appears...

The brine is a little brownish from rust - does that pose a problem or is it OK to use it for the next couple of months? It is stored at 13 degrees Celcius in my cave.

:-) Danbo

Offline awakephd

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Re: Rust in my brine
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2014, 07:38:36 PM »
Danbo,

I wouldn't use it; I'd be afraid of getting a metallic taste in the cheese.

As you have discovered, stainless steel is not actually impervious to rust; it is just highly resistant. The key is that the chromium/nickel in the mix form an oxide layer that inhibits rusting. However, at least two things can cause rust to occur anyway: 1) Cleaning stainless with a plain-steel wire brush can embed small particles of steel, which will rust ... and once they rust, they open the gateway for the "stainless" to rust as well. 2) Welding on stainless can cause a localized area that does not have the oxidation protection; this can be "passivated" with an acid wash, which I think washes away the excess iron.

I've also found that any sort of scrape, scratch, or pit in stainless can be a gateway for rust or other corrosion. And my experience has been that storing brine in stainless puts the stainless to the ultimate test, exposing any and every slight flaw. One time I had some brine in a decent-quality stainless pot, but there was some sort of pinhole defect that began to produce a greenish corrosion. I chose not to take a chance on how safe the result would be ...

After that, I started storing my brine (and brining my cheese) in a glass container -- which would be forbidden for a commercial enterprise, but fine for home use. When I boil my brine to eliminate any nasties, I do use stainless, but I get it out of the stainless as quickly as I can.
-- Andy

Offline Danbo

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Re: Rust in my brine
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2014, 08:59:34 PM »
Hi Awakephd,

Thanks for your reply... You seem to know a great deal about metals...

I brined one cheese in the salt water but I will make a new brine for future use. I hope that the cheese will not have any "metallic" taste...

I'm a little disapointed with the poor quality of the used vat. I just boiled the water and salt and poured it over in a food approved plastic container when it was still hot. I will return it to the manufacturer - it is simply not good enough.

Do you know why it is forbidden to use a glass container in commercial production? Is it because of the risk of small broken glass segments?

:-) Danbo

qdog1955

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Re: Rust in my brine
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2014, 12:12:29 PM »
Danbo,
You probably shouldn't be to disappointed in your vat----there are so many types of stainless steels and they all have different uses---do a search on stainless and you will find charts that explain the uses of the various grades and buy your stainless in the better grades.
  Even then as Awake pointed out you can still have some problems , even with the best quality equipment---it's better then cast iron :)
Qdog

Offline Danbo

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Re: Rust in my brine
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2014, 02:05:37 PM »
Hi Qdog,

Thanks for replying.

I just wish that it was easier to see before buing. It would be nice if it didn't just said "stainless" but instead said Grade 316, grad 314 or something... That is not the case with my vat.


:-) Danbo

qdog1955

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Re: Rust in my brine
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2014, 02:37:16 PM »
The ones I get are from a food service site and they usually tell you the grade and if it's magnetic ( for inductive heating) A magnet can help some in identifying the grade. It's enough to drive you crazy, isn't it? :)
Qdog

Offline Danbo

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Re: Rust in my brine
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2014, 04:30:47 PM »
Yes... ;-)

Offline awakephd

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Re: Rust in my brine
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2015, 01:35:14 AM »
Hi Awakephd,

Thanks for your reply... You seem to know a great deal about metals...

I brined one cheese in the salt water but I will make a new brine for future use. I hope that the cheese will not have any "metallic" taste...

I'm a little disapointed with the poor quality of the used vat. I just boiled the water and salt and poured it over in a food approved plastic container when it was still hot. I will return it to the manufacturer - it is simply not good enough.

Do you know why it is forbidden to use a glass container in commercial production? Is it because of the risk of small broken glass segments?

:-) Danbo

Oops, sorry Danbo -- I somehow missed the development of this thread. Yes, as I understand it, glass is forbidden in commercial cheese making due to the possibility of breakage, with the resultant possibility of unaccounted-for splinters. :o
-- Andy

Offline Danbo

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Re: Rust in my brine
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2015, 06:03:10 AM »
Makes sense...

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: Rust in my brine
« Reply #9 on: February 15, 2015, 04:52:47 AM »
It's disappointing that your vat is not food grade. I buy all my pots from a commercial outlet that sells to restaurants etc and have never had a problem.
They are however a bit more expensive but will still be useable two to three hundred years from now. (Unless I die in the interim.  ::) )
-Bill
One day I will add something here...

Offline Danbo

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Re: Rust in my brine
« Reply #10 on: February 15, 2015, 06:23:52 AM »
I agree... I solved the problem by just boiling the water in the vat, pouring the water over in a plastic container and first then add the salt...


:-) Danbo