How To Sterilise Glass Bottles

Knowing how to sterilise glass bottles is important for anyone in the business of selling food and drink. As well as getting the glass clean of any dirt or residue that could be leftover from warehousing or transportation, the sterilisation process also kills off any nasty bacteria that would not usually be removed by just giving the glass a quick rinse in water.

Why Is Sterilising So Important?

You must sterilise your glass before use in consumer products for the following reasons:

Customer safety. If your glass is not sterilised properly, there could be some nasty germs lingering inside that could make your customers ill when they eat your product.
Product integrity. Some types of food or drink could react negatively with any bacteria that has been left on your glass packaging, therefore causing the taste or texture of your products to change.
Increases shelf life. By removing the germs and bacteria from your glass bottles and jars, you are increasing the amount of time that your product can be stored and safe to eat.

So how can you sterilise glass at home?

How To Sterilise Glass Bottles: Step By Step

This short guide is perfect for home bakers or small food producers to follow, however if you are a large producer, then it is more efficient for you to use large machines that are specifically designed to sterilise on a mass scale.

Step 1

First of all, you need to take your glass bottles and wash them throughly with hot, soapy water. DO NOT dry them with a tea towel.

Step 2

Next, you need to heat your oven to 140 degrees celsius or higher, place a sheet of baking paper on a middle shelf, then lay your glass bottles and *lids on it. Make sure that they are not touching each other, then leave to bake for 20 minutes until they are dry.

*Do not bake any lids that have rubber seals in the oven, as they will melt or lose shape. Instead, you will need to boil them in hot water and leave to dry in a rack.

Step 3

Take your glass out from the oven and leave to cool. Do not attempt to fill your bottles when they are still hot, as adding cold liquids to hot glass can cause the glass to crack. Once your bottles are cool, you are then free to fill with them with whatever wonderful drinks you so desire!

It’s that easy.

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