drum cleaning

[seandicare]

i finally found some 55gal drums today. got them from a farm, said they had iodine teet cleaner in them. i am using them for sap transport and storage. so plan on not cutting them open.

i was wondering how the best way to clean them would be? our temps are staying pretty cool the next few days (except when i am working of course) high 20s to low 30s, so garden hose is going to be tough, but i think usable.

would water splashed around to rinse, then a bleach wash followed by another rinse work? or is there another way people use?

[Gissert]

A few years ago I got a couple 55 gallon food grade drums that came with chicken broth. They were open head drums so I scrubbed them good with dawn and some warm water. I rinsed out all the soap good with clear water and then put the heads back on and filled with diluted bleach and water. after I let them sit, I dumped them out, and filled with water and then just let the hose run a while to give them a good flushing. That did the trick quite well.

[jmayerl]

The BEST way would be to burn them in a bon fire. Remember that the porous plastic will continue to leech iodine even after seemingly cleaned and rinsed. Also remember that you are further concentrating the sap to syrup and feeding it
To children, family, and friends,

[BAP]

Iodine teet dip WILL NOT clean out. It will be permanently stained into the plastic and will constantly smell like Iodine. I milked cows for 30+ years and we used lots of Iodine and was almost impossible to get the smell and stains out of cloths. If I was you, I would see if they had some drums that had held soap or chlorine for washing milking equipment, those will clean up good.

[lpakiz]

I second the no iodine issue. I rinsed my vacuum line with iodine for a couple years, as well as tanks and other equipment. I never could figure out where the occasional off-tasting syrup came from. Stopped using iodine and the bad taste went away.
Dont use them for anything connected to syrup.

[seandicare]

the reason i went with this one ( almost none closer than 2hr away) i talked to a maple equip supplier and sugar maker, and he said the iodine would be OK........the only one i found close were 15 gal and had laundry soap in them.

well i guess if worse comes to worse, i can cut the top off them and and find liners for them.

[markct]

Get rid of them, and liners are a waste on drums that small, brand new they are only like a 40 dollar drum

[jmayerl]

the reason i went with this one ( almost none closer than 2hr away) i talked to a maple equip supplier and sugar maker, and he said the iodine would be OK........the only one i found close were 15 gal and had laundry soap in them.

well i guess if worse comes to worse, i can cut the top off them and and find liners for them.

Whomever this "dealer/ sugarmaker" is is an idoit......note the use of air quotes.

[RustyBuckets]

Okay I agree dont use those things but holy cow when you call someone an idiot you may want to spell idiot right. Thanks for the laughs it was fun.

[pyro]

I wouldn't be so quick to get rid of it before some more tests. Especially depends on how long you are planning to store the sap. For me, I plan to use one for collection straight to the evaporator. So max of 8 hours in the barrel. From what I can tell iodine is safe to drink in small quantities. I'm no expert on this, so you have to do more research to confirm. But if its just a matter of off taste then clean it as best as you can. Fill it with water for a few days and then taste the water. Judge for yourself. What do you have to lose? Even better, you can take a gallon of water out of the barrel, boil it down to 50:1 then taste the remaining.

For cleaning, I just power washed mine this week and now have them sitting for a few days with water and baking soda from suggestions on past threads. I had balsamic vinegar in mine. Don't know yet how clean it will end up being. I had to pass on a local deal that contained a cleaner that was 66% ionized water and 33% urea. Unfortunately the guy on craigslist tried to sell them as 'non toxic' which is debatable.

I have been debating if its better to leave them full with water or air dry to best "leech" the smell out of the plastic.

[seandicare]

well, i guess there are pricks in every group...........not knowing someone and calling them an idiot for not having your same opinion????

the person i got these from ran a REAL LARGE maple business as well......they knew what i was using these for. granted they were trying to sell the barrels, but i doubt they would have been willing to risk such bad PR if these weren't able to be used.....especially seeing how they had dozens of these barrels and i was only getting a few pretty cheap.

thanks PYRO for the recommendation for the testing......that will be my next step......i'll fill one tomorrow and run the tests next week after they sit a few days.

not planning on tapping until the end of the month, so have some time

[jmayerl]

Okay I agree dont use those things but holy cow when you call someone an idiot you may want to spell idiot right. Thanks for the laughs it was fun.
No problem! I have no problem spelling but I do have issues typing on a iPhone screen sometimes.

[jmayerl]

well, i guess there are pricks in every group...........not knowing someone and calling them an idiot for not having your same opinion????

the person i got these from ran a REAL LARGE maple business as well......they knew what i was using these for. granted they were trying to sell the barrels, but i doubt they would have been willing to risk such bad PR if these weren't able to be used.....especially seeing how they had dozens of these barrels and i was only getting a few pretty cheap.

thanks PYRO for the recommendation for the testing......that will be my next step......i'll fill one tomorrow and run the tests next week after they sit a few days.

not planning on tapping until the end of the month, so have some time
I have no problem calling your friend an idiot, as a matter of fact I will call them much worse but not on a public forum. I would also call the New York State department of health or whom ever oversees food production as that container would never be allowed to be used. I'm sorry they misled you so much and took your hard earned money for a useless drum. And yes call me a prick, but I can't stand someone thinking it's ok to MAKE A FOOD PRODUCT that can be potential harmful. This isn't an opinion, this is just wrong.

Here is the easy way to know if you can use a container. If you take a cup of the ORGINAL substance and drink it then you can use the container. I'm guessing that you will not want to drink a cup of iodine so keep looking.

[mellondome]

There is more than just iodine in teat dip solutions. Look around their maple operation. Probably won't find any of those containers holding any of his own sap or syrup.

After reading posts like this, my wife now knows why I won't buy syrup from a store shelf. And people wonder why fda wants to regulate food producers

[seandicare]

There is more than just iodine in teat dip solutions. Look around their maple operation. Probably won't find any of those containers holding any of his own sap or syrup.

After reading posts like this, my wife now knows why I won't buy syrup from a store shelf. And people wonder why fda wants to regulate food producers

ok, but appearently it's not all that bad, seeing how this stuff is not scrubbed off the teet before the milk suction is placed on it. so i'm sure this stuff gets into the milk as well.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

What are you guys doing with new SS drums you buy from the maple suppliers, just rinsing them with hot water??

[mellondome]

ok, but appearently it's not all that bad, seeing how this stuff is not scrubbed off the teet before the milk suction is placed on it. so i'm sure this stuff gets into the milk as well.

You do wash the cows utter before milking. And you don't store milk in the containers.

[seandicare]

I have no problem calling your friend an idiot, as a matter of fact I will call them much worse but not on a public forum. I would also call the New York State department of health or whom ever oversees food production as that container would never be allowed to be used. I'm sorry they misled you so much and took your hard earned money for a useless drum. And yes call me a prick, but I can't stand someone thinking it's ok to MAKE A FOOD PRODUCT that can be potential harmful. This isn't an opinion, this is just wrong.

Here is the easy way to know if you can use a container. If you take a cup of the ORGINAL substance and drink it then you can use the container. I'm guessing that you will not want to drink a cup of iodine so keep looking.

you don't want to drink a cup of bleach, but many use it to clean their equipment all the time..... makes me wonder though, someone mentioned in an earlier post about using a soap container, you going to call them names too? or is that reserved for people not on the BB?

[Super Sapper]

The Iodine is put on after milking. It is just a bad idea to use them.

[pyro]

I think mellondome is correct. I looked up MSDS sheets for a few teet cleaners and some don't even contain iodine. They had a variety of other chemicals. My suggestion would be to get the exact name of the product that was in the containers and then get the MSDS sheet. That will tell you exactly what's in it and if its safe. Google MSDS sheets if your not familiar with them.

[wbreitbarth]

Glad I found this thread. I use these 15 gallon containers, my friends use these to brew beer in them also. We wash them out with hot water and dish soap, and then hot water and bleach. We have also stored clean water in them, and never had any problems with flavor of the water, or been sick drinking the water out of them. Maybe I am immune to it because I played in dirt as a kid, and grew up on a farm. So I will keep using them....