cleaning out a barrel

[Dutchman]

so i have ended up with a small barrel/rumlett/what ever you want to call it. It is made of oak and certainly designed to hold liquids. so here is my dilema. I really want to give it a good internal cleaning, reseal it, then use it for water. We have beat the sealing it horse to death, so i'll save us that agony. What concerns me is cleaning it out. It looks like wine was in it at one time as there are red stains around the plug. What is the best way to clean this critter out to make it food grade safe and are there any hidden dangers that anyone can think of? I'm thinking dtergent, bleach, rinse.

[Matty Bottles]

Here are some interesting tips and techniques for commercial barrel clean up, including dry ice blasting! This site does bring up the dangers of wine trapped in wood and breeding bacteria.

http://www.barrelbla...solutions.shtml

Off the top of my head, I bet you could do a good job with filling the barrel with boiling water and keeping it at a boil for fifteen minutes or so, either by the fresh application of water or the introduction of a properly insulated heat element. And I like the dry ice idea, but not by ice blasting, just to displace oxygen and kill some stuff that way.

It actually looks like you can rent those dry ice blasters. Apparently they use dry ice as the cleaning agent because it sublimates and doesn't leave a residue.

Edited September 1, 2011 by Matty Bottles

[adam cyphers]

should have a priest bless it...to drive out the unwanted spirits.lol.id say scrub it down too.

[Jas. Hook]

Hummm... just an idea, what if you filled it 1/3 with fine sand, recorked it and rolled it on something like a rock tumbler to scour out the inside???

Jas. Hook

[Red-Handed Jill]

Baking soda also works pretty well. It's a mild acid and very good at removing organic smells and stains.

[callenish gunner]

warming it in an oven(above 180 F) and then pouring in hot brewers pitch and making sure to get a good coating inside would keep any contaminants away from you and keep the water safe to drink too

[Littleneckhalfshell]

Just a late note on using Baking Soda, you can blast with Baking Soda, Harbor Freight Tools sells a baking soda 'sand blaster' in two sizes.

The advantage that it has over sand and other abrasives, is that it disolves in water, so clean up is a snap, also it is non toxic so it can be used around food items. Just not sure how well any kind of abrasive may work with brewer's pitch? The hot water approach may work better if it melts away the soft pitch.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Don't forget about good ol' vinegar!

Bo