Where can you buy iodaphor for homebrewing in ontario?

Question

im looking to buy iodaphor for home brewing in toronto area.

i can't find it anywhere.

any ideas??

Answer 1

Look in the phone book under beer or brewing or a home brew supply shop.

http://www.weboshawa.com/beerstores.html

http://homebrewsupply.brewersroundtable....

Among the wide range of sanitizing agents available to home brewers, one of the more popular products is a halogen sanitizer/germicide called Iodophor. In spite of the fact that iodophor is a product that most home brewers have used at one time or another, there is an amazing amount of confusion and misinformation about the product. No one seems to agree on the proper concentration, the required contact time, or even what "no-rinse" means. I decided to go directly to the source and called the maker of a popular brand of iodophor… "B-T-F", which is manufactured by "National Chemicals Inc." of Winona, MN. I was connected with the company's General Manager, Dr. L. Charles Landman Sr.

Dr. Landman, who holds a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology, graciously granted me a rather extended phone conversation. The text of this article is based largely on that interview.

Iodophor is a federally approved contact sanitizer that is used widely by the food service/production industry and is most commonly available to home brewers in 4 oz. and 1 liter bottles.

Having used iodophor as my sanitizer of choice for a number of years, I thought that I had a pretty good handle on what iodophor actually is and I certainly felt confident that I used it properly. I did learn, in the course of this interview with Dr. Landman, that even I suffered from some misinformation on the product and its usage.

Not the least of these revelations was that I have been overusing the product. B-T-F Iodophor is effective at a concentration of 12.5 ppm. and at that strength, is an effective sanitizer with a contact time of 60 seconds. My practice has been to add 3 capfuls of iodophor to a 5 gallon container of tap water. As it turns out, the cap on a one liter bottle of iodophor has a capacity of ¼ ounce. This means that I was using a concentration of approximately 19 ppm of titratable iodine. To obtain an effective sanitizer, no more than 2 capfuls, (1/2 oz.), need be added to 5 gallons of water. This creates a solution at 12.5 ppm. At the local, retail cost $11.00 per liter, I am very grateful to know that I can cut my consumption by 30%!

I asked Dr. Landman about iodophor and its usage in the dairy industry as I had read that iodophor was used predominately in that field. He acknowledged that iodophor was indeed a popular dairy germicide but that iodophor is widely used in the general food industry and that breweries were included in that long list. He told me of the original formulation of iodophor sanitizers and I was interested to learn that the original iodophor sanitizers were formulated with acids, (phosphoric and others),. This was done to help in the release of the iodine ion into solution. The "older" iodophor formulations used needed the lower pH to work properly. This low pH was also beneficial to the dairy industry because it also helped them combat a problem they have with "milkstone" that forms on dairy equipment. The "newer" formulations of idophor, (such as B-T-F Iodophor), do not require the low pH to work properly.

I asked Dr. Landman about the "shelf life" of B-T-F Iodophor and he related a story about one of their distributors who had found a case of the product that had been forgotten for 5 years and returned it to the manufacturer. NCI tested the 5 year old product and found that it still met standards. This was, of course, undiluted iodophor that had been well packaged and protected from exposure to light, air etc.

Regarding iodophor that has been diluted to a working solution, Dr. Landman explained that there are a number of things that work to degrade the products' efficacy. Chlorine and protein load were the two mentioned first, but Dr. Landman agreed that both sunlight and exposure to the atmosphere may very well be factors. Iodophor is very stable in it's undiluted form, but will begin to degrade, (albeit slowly), once it has been diluted to a working solution. In either case, it is far more stable than chlorine which begins to degrade immediately upon being manufactured. The color of the iodophor solution is a rough guide to it's effectiveness as a sanitizer. If the solution still has its amber color, it is most likely still active. It is recommended that a fresh solution should be mixed when the color fades or after 24 hours.

I asked about contact time and was told that 60 seconds was adequate. Dr. Landman went on to comment that it is not necessary to keep the surface completely immersed in the solution for 60 seconds. He explained, by way of example, that to sanitize a 5 gallon carboy there is no need to prepare 5 gallons of solution. Swishing a gallon of solution, (at 12.5 ppm), around the inside of the carboy for a minute or two will do the job.

There is much discussion among home brewers about the dangers of scratches in the  

Answer 2

Check here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?i...

You can find it.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I'm sorry, but I'm drawing a blank "iodaphor". Are you sure you spelled it correctly?

Anyway, here is BYO's directory of supply shops...hope it helps?

http://byo.com/referenceguide/supplydire...

EDIT:

The sanitizer! Oh, yeah...anyway I hop the BYO link helped.