Sanitize bottles in dishwasher but...

Yes, it will be no problem.

 

What exactly is your concern ? I think you'll be fine

 

worst thing that could happen might be that the metal scratches the inside of the bottle, giving it a nucleation point that might cause more C02 to be released?

 

I tried using my dishwasher a few times to sanitize bottles with poor results. The jet of water don't always get up inside of the bottles to help clean them out. This is fine if you're confident that there isn't any gunk, mold, dust, etc inside of the bottle. As for me, it's about as much work/time to take some Star San and a funnel and go to town on the bottles right before I get the wand out.

 

I make sure to rinse my bottles as I drink them, then heat-sterilize them in the dishwasher. Easy!

 

Bam! Easy pizzie. I always wash my bottles after use to avoid any mold build up then hit it with starsan before bottling.

 

It's the dishwasher's heat that is supposed to sanitize the bottles (not the water jets themselves). The bottles should be clean before they go in, just like they should be before any type of sanitizing step. Still, the reason I abandoned dishwasher sanitization when I used to bottle was that some of the water does get inside the bottles, creating a possibility (however small) of dishwasher crud lodging inside (because of the awkward configuration and hit or miss rinsing).

 

I've maybe bottles 25-30 batches using the dishwasher to sanitize. Never had one issue. And my dishwasher is really, really old. A lot cleaner method than StarSan. I think you'll be fine with the dishwasher.

 

For people that use the dishwasher lets say standard size washer. How many bottles can you jam in there? I might be bottling in the near future

 

I can get about 40-50.

 

I been wanting to try this. You think soak in PBW -> hot water rinse cycle x2 would do the trick?

 

I've been using a dishwasher to heat sanitize since my third batch (just bottled #12), and have never had any problems, but I also am using the dishwasher in my basement that only handles dishes from the bar, so no food or any other particles really knocking around in there. For me, the ratio of 22 oz to 12 oz bottles makes a difference in how many I can fit, since the 12 oz bottles fit perfectly if I use every other peg. The bombers on the other hand get a little tight when I do that, and I end up having to give them more space. The batch I just bottled though I used 24 12 oz and 10 22 oz bottles, with enough room to fit probably another 15 or so 12 oz bottles, so I would agree with mattbk on 40 to 50.

 

I've never done sanitizing in the dishwasher. I've always used starsan, but I think the dishwasher should work just fine as long as the bottles were clean going in.

 

I also try to sterilize a case or so, covering the tops with Star-san'ed foil. Got to be prepared.

 

My dishwasher is far from commercial in size, but I also don't think it's the smallest size available (it's a whirlpool FWIW). With a little creativity I can get 12 22's and about 36 long-neck 12's on the lower rack, plenty to do 5 gal and some extra since I stress out over everything.

 

That should be more than sufficient. I don't use the dry cycle, let the hot rinse cycle finish, give the bottles some time to cool with the door closed, and go.