Sterilization questions

[lootcorp]

Hi all,

So I am embarking on the great journey of homebrewing and am going to purchase a kit tomorrow and give it a shot. My main worry at this point is sterilization...I live in an apartment bachelor pad and while we are much cleaner than most, we are definitely not going to win any awards.

Does anyone have any advice on the sterilization techniques? I was planning on:

1) wiping down all my counters/work surfaces with a bleach solution
2) using the technique John Palmer wrote about - i.e., filling the plastic primary with water & iodophor and soaking everything else in that bucket

My main question deals with drying the stuff off - I'm afraid to air dry it in my apt , so is it ok to wrap the stuff in plastic wrap (or could it get contaminated by the wrap as well?) I'd love some advice from others who don't work in a "clean room" setting

Also, the methods Palmer writes about in the "beginners" chapter includes putting some boiled water in the fermenter first, then adding the boiled wort after. Also, it mentions cooling the wort by ice bath or similar method. I understand that these aren't ideal methods, but I can't put out for a wort chiller yet. So, am I better off getting a huge stockpot and boiling all 5G at once, or using palmer's method? and will the ice bath chilling method have a big impact on my beer?

Sorry for the long post, but I want this first batch to be PERFECT!

** edited to correct my horrific spelling of 'sterilization'

[richanne]

You don't need to worry about drying things, as they are just going to get "wet" again anyway. Don't put plastic wrap or anything else that isn't sanitary on your equipment. Simply sterilize -- with iodophor or single-step oxygen cleaner -- immediately before using.

Ice bath is fine for chilling, just so long as you don't put the ice in your beer. You don't need to get a huge pot. Put the pot of boiled wort into a sink or tub full of ice and water to cool it. When it's down to about 75 degrees, put it in your fermenter and top with cool water to the mark for your batch size.

[richanne]

Those starter kits you were looking at in the other post -- they all pretty much come with one-step oxygen sanitizer, which is very good. You don't need to also purchase iodophor. Just use the stuff that comes with the starter kit.