The in bottle pasteurisation method:
The purpose of pasteurisation is to destroy organisms that will spoil the product – primarily yeasts that will cause fermentation. The in bottle pasteurisation method is the most popular method of pasteurisation for the small to medium scale apple juice producers. The pH (an indication of acidity) of your juice should be checked prior to pasteurisation to ensure that it is 3.5 or lower.
Bottles are filled with cold apple juice, capped or left uncapped, and then immersed in a hot water bath. The product temperature is raised to 70°C temperature and held that temperature for 20 minutes, before the bottles are removed and capped if necessary. Bottles are inverted to bring the hot juice into contact with the inside of the cap and then laid on their sides to cool. Once cool the bottles can be stood upright or left on their sides.
Apple juice which has been pasteurised correctly using the in bottle method can have a shelf life (in glass bottles) of up to 2 years.
NB The pasteurisation temperature and shelf life range above are a guide only. We strongly recommend that you seek qualified independent advice to determine the temperature suitable for pasteurising your particular product and for advice on shelf-life. For quality control, records should be kept of each batch pasteurised - see the Digital Data Logger, which includes software, below.
Bottle & cap parameters:
- Bottles need to be able to resist thermal shock i.e. to withstand immersion in water of 70 °C from a starting temperature of below 10°C
- Bottles need to have sufficient capacity i.e. for expansion when the juice is heated
- The caps must have seals suitable for use with juice at a temperature in excess of 70 °C
The Case Studies below represent a tiny sample of the hundreds of in-bottle pasteurisers we have supplied:
Harrow Wood Farm Cider
Drovers Hill Farm
Little Stour Orchard
Both single phase & 3 phase Vigo in-bottle pasteurisers:
- Capacity: 100 (750ml bottles)
- Three immersion heaters, total 9kW
- Dimensions: Width 1250 x Depth 690 x Height 480 mm
- Internal Dimensions: Width 1000 x Depth 640 x Height 345 mm
Single phase Vigo in-bottle pasteuriser
- Electrical Requirement: 230 V, 9 kW
NB This single phase model will require hard-wiring (on-site) to an isolator by a suitably qualified electrician, therefore it is not supplied with a plug.
3 phase Vigo In Bottle Pasteuriser
- Electrical Requirement: 400 V, 9 kW