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#1 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 3,104
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Sodastream: food grade CO2?
I bought a Sodastream a while back, not to make flavored soda but just because I like to drink carbonated water, and it's cheaper and less wasteful to make it from tap water than to buy it. Sodastream includes a CO2 tank with a proprietary nozzle or whatever you call it, so you have to exchange the tanks which costs $15 (which in the long run is still cheaper than buying seltzer water in cans or bottles).
So then I found out about the Sodamod, which is an adapter that allows you to use paintball tanks in the Sodastream, which cost only about $2 or $3 to refill, even for much larger tanks. I thought I had read somewhere that there's no such thing as "food-grade" CO2, but after using the paintball tanks (refilled at the chain store, Sports Authority) I noticed the taste was a bit weird, so I did some more Googling and found some indication that there are in fact different grades of CO2, some filtered, some not, and unfiltered gas could have Benzene or other nasty contaminants. http://thebrewingnetwork.com/BN-Army...ths-and-Rumors Anyone know anything about this? I'd hate to go back to $15 refills, but I'm not crazy about inhaling Benzene. |
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#2 |
Muse
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 981
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I don't have specifics, but I am aware of differing grades (purity levels) of compressed gases.
Depending on the volume you're using, industrial gas suppliers, such as Air Liquide, AirGas, etc., may offer a better price. You might need to bring your equipment to them to see if the connectors/valves are compatible. |
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#3 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 3,104
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#4 |
Master Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,915
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Another, potentially larger issue that might be giving you an off-taste is that tanks of gas intended for human consumption are cleaned, and tanks for random uses like paintball are not. I've had the valve off of a paintball cylinder, and it was filthy inside. I took it to be the residue from spinning the tank and machining the threads. I've heard the same from other folks who have opened their tanks for one reason or another. It doesn't mean it can't be cleaned, just that it hasn't been. I'd take the valve off, and use a strong detergent to get all the oil and dirt out, maybe throw some BB's in and swirl them around to help scrub the inside without abrading it.
In other news, I found a youtube video showing how to refill the sodastream tanks at home, using dry ice, which I'm pretty sure IS food grade, since it's sold for keeping food cold, and that implies contact with something that will be eaten. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWcRDMAA8RE |
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"Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world." - Arthur Schopenhauer "New and stirring things are belittled because if they are not belittled, the humiliating question arises, 'Why then are you not taking part in them?' " - H. G. Wells Last edited by Andrew Wiggin; 29th July 2012 at 10:17 PM. Reason: Imbedding disabled, replaced with link. |
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#5 |
Master Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,915
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"Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world." - Arthur Schopenhauer "New and stirring things are belittled because if they are not belittled, the humiliating question arises, 'Why then are you not taking part in them?' " - H. G. Wells |
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#6 |
Cythraul Enfys
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 57,089
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Actually, and more fun (though the useful life is shorter): you can just put a piece of dry ice in the water and as it bubbles it will nicely carbonate the water. My students and I make sodas every year (when studying gasses( by adding flavoring/sugar to water and putting dry ice in. They are surprised when they test it and find it very good and perfectly bubbly. Also, you make a weird cold candy - sugar and flavoring freezes on the dry ice - quite tasty................
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#7 |
Graduate Poster
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Silicon Valley
Posts: 1,282
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There are lots of ways to do it to keep the pricing down. See this page:
http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2010/...-on-club-soda/ |
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#8 |
Critical Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 421
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We buy cartridges at the local homebrew shop-- same size as paintball cartridges, but designed for human consumption.
(When at home we use a large tank for carbonating-- the little cartridges are useful for dispensing beer away from home, though, when we bring a keg of beer to parties, etc.). |
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#9 |
Master Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,915
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You can actually carbonate with those (the 9 gram size) without any equipment at all except a soda bottle, water, ice, and a knife. It's a pain in the ass but I've done it several times basically as proof of concept. I fill a soda bottle with ice cold (literally shaken with ice right before it's poured in) water, use a sharp knife to make a tiny hole in the end of the cartridge, then drop it into the water and close the cap. You want to scrub the outside surface of the cartridge really well, since they don't figure on that touching the beverage, and make sure that you've got the tiniest possible hole, just barely hissing. Even barely hissing is a lot of gas once it's in the water. I rotate the knife around with its point on the end of the cartridge and basically let it dig its own way in. Once you drop it in the bottle, it helps to burp any remaining air out before closing the lid. Then you shake the bottle continuously. If you're shaking hard enough, the CO2 absorbs faster than the cartridge is emitting it and the bottle stays soft and sometimes even collapses a bit. If the bottle starts to get hard and pressurized, shake harder. If you're shaking as hard as you can and the bottle doesn't go soft again, then either you made too big a hole in your cartridge or the water has absorbed all it can. In either case, open the lid a bit and vent off the excess till the cartridge stops bubbling. I use a magnet to take the cartridge out of the bottle, but it wouldn't be a huge issue if you were serving it right away, or pouring it into a different container. Once when I left the cartridge in the bottle though it rusted and gave the water a nasty color and flavor.
You could do something similar with a chunk of dry ice, I'd imagine. If you just let it bubble through it won't be fully carbonated, but with the additional pressure build up in the bottle you could get it completely saturated. Not only that, but the dry ice would help cool the water, which is important for good absorbtion. |
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"Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world." - Arthur Schopenhauer "New and stirring things are belittled because if they are not belittled, the humiliating question arises, 'Why then are you not taking part in them?' " - H. G. Wells |
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#10 |
Muse
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 981
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Actually, I was thinking more along these lines...
You can probably get by with a 10 or 15 pound capacity cylinder, which shouldn't be too expensive. (Leasing is generally the preferred option for the larger cylinders.) Also, home-beer-brewing suppliers might be a good place to go for CO2. |
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#11 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 14,887
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I guess I have my doubts that there is a lower grade of 'industrial' co2. Welders and etc that use the gas need purity too, probably more important than the food industry. I suspect there is only one supply chain with one grade of gas. The stuff is expensive to handle, what with high pressure tank trucks and storage.
Hmmm, next time I get to the keg store for a refill, I shall look at their tanks for a "food grade" designation. Hmmm, when I refilled at the welding gas store, where they knowingly fill tanks for either food or industrial uses, I don't recall them asking about usage. I do both with the same tanks. |
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#12 |
Gatekeeper of The Left
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: The Universe 35.2 ms ahead of this one.
Posts: 37,534
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The purity differences are significant.
http://www.pasuk.com/assets/File/co2purity.pdf And there are industrial systems for purification. If you care about your health, do not use anything other than beverage CO2. |
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For what doth it profit a man, to fix one bug, but crash the system? |
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#13 |
Master Poster
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,549
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Me thinks there could be a bit of oil for lube also
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#14 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 3,104
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Thanks for the helpful replies. Homebrew store sounds like a good bet, and if that doesn't work maybe a big tank.
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#15 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 14,887
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Great minds discuss ideas. Medium minds discuss events. Small minds spend all their time on U-Tube and Facebook. |
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#16 |
Gatekeeper of The Left
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: The Universe 35.2 ms ahead of this one.
Posts: 37,534
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Found some discussion of this as it relates to brewing; http://thebrewingnetwork.com/BN-Army...ths-and-Rumors
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For what doth it profit a man, to fix one bug, but crash the system? |
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#17 |
Master Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,915
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I was starting to get excited, when I saw they were testing for THC levels, till I read down a bit and saw that it was probably their ad-hoc abbreviation for 'total hydrocarbon'.
I do note though that nothing in the article you linked indicated that commercial CO2 didn't meet the standards, just that standards had been proposed, and the company that made the powerpoint was planning to market a gas analyzer to Coke and Pepsi to meet said proposed standards. |
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"Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world." - Arthur Schopenhauer "New and stirring things are belittled because if they are not belittled, the humiliating question arises, 'Why then are you not taking part in them?' " - H. G. Wells |
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#18 |
Guest
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 284
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If you have detected an off-taste due to possible "industrial-grade" CO2 (no control of tank cleanliness, possible lubricants in the system, etc), you should take a look at the fountain drink nozzles at you local fast food joints. Unless they are cleaned regularly in disinfectant, they develop impressive mildew/biofilm/whatever contaminants. Think of it, wet sugar syrup that sits for hours overnight unless cleaned regularly (and this is not purely theoretical but based on, shudder, anecdotal experience).
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#19 |
Master Poster
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,480
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I do wonder why carbonated water is so expensive in the US. When I lived there it was really hard to find fizzy water that wasn't either club soda or perrier, both of which were overpriced. Where I live right now, I can get a 2 litre bottle of carbonated water for 17p (around 30 cents).
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#20 |
Observer of Phenomena
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Location, Location
Posts: 56,741
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Weird. We exchange our Sodastream cannisters for free.
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"This quote was taken out of context." - Randall Munroe |
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#21 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 4,300
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#22 |
Observer of Phenomena
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Location, Location
Posts: 56,741
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Yes, we get unlimited free refills.
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"This quote was taken out of context." - Randall Munroe |
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#23 |
Up The Irons
Tagger
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 33,935
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i loves the little birdies they goes tweet tweet tweet hee hee i loves them they sings to each other tweet twet tweet hee hee i loves them they is so cute i love yje little birdies little birdies in the room when birfies sings ther is no gloom i lobes the little birdies they goess tweet tweet tweet hee hee hee i loves them they sings me to sleep sing me to slrrp now little birdies - The wisdom of Shemp. |
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