campden and sodium met

[Delmonteman]

Is 5 campden in 500 ml (per the instructions that come with the youngs stuff) the same strength/ effectiveness as the 10% solution suggested in one of the tutorials?

I'd do the 10% stuff but i have loads of campden tablets to use up first......

[mcblades]

Campden tablets typically weigh 0.44 g each and 10 of these are equivalent to one level teaspoon of sodium metabisulfite.

from wikipedia.

so 10 tabs = 4.4g or roughly a tsp as stated above. a 10 % solution would be 10 tablets to 50 ml of water. So quite expensive to make up 500ml with. 1 tsp (5ml) of a 10% solution (as advocated by Bob in the tutorials) will contain about 0.5g of sodium metabisulphite which coincidentally is about the same as a Campden tablet (but quite a bit cheaper).

Hope this helps.

[lockwood1956]

The main reason I dont like to use capden tablets is that one cannot be sure what else is used in there as bulking agent.

there were issues a while back with certain brands of campden tablets causing hazes in wines (Youngs)

if you are going this route 10 campden tablets in 440ml of water is a more accurate 10% solution, but why not just add one per gallon as directed till you have used them up, or are you going to use them as sanitising solution?

regards
Bob

[Delmonteman]

Thanks guys, I was using them as a santizing solution purely for the convenience factor and that I had a tub full in... I still add them to rackings but only at a rate of half a tablet a time to jtfb's semi-demi-johns... The young's instructions give the impression (can't recall the exact instructions) that 5 tablets in 568ml is suficient to sanitize...

The big bags of sodium met powder that LHBS sells as powder looked like it would last me an age so I went the campden route (small tub, sealed lid). I was worried about the shelf life of the powdered form given the small amounts I use... Does it deteriorate faster with it being in powdered form or like most stuff does it last for ages?

[mcblades]

if you are going this route 10 campden tablets in 440ml of water is a more accurate 10% solution

By my reckoning that would be a 1% solution? ie 4.4g in 440ml = 1g/100ml = 1%

the 10% solution I use for sanitising is 50g/500ml which would be 44 campden tabs in 440ml.

Please delete this if I've got it round my neck

ps Na Meta is pretty stable at room temp if kept dry and in a sealed bag.

[Delmonteman]

Mmm yes I think I see your maths their mcblades. Powdered form is way more economical on that basis... I must have been lucky so far with infections etc. then so I wonder what youngs are on about...

I may need to write to them now...!

[lockwood1956]

By my reckoning that would be a 1% solution? ie 4.4g in 440ml = 1g/100ml = 1%

.

Yikes!

you are indeed correct

[mcblades]

Thanks Bob, It doesn't happen often

I still have a bottle of campden tablets I bought before I joined this forum. They come in handy for 1 gal batches of wine. But that's about it.