pretty much what you said,,, good comercial food grag ferment barrels, i use silicone on my racking and bottling hose, SS rack canes, and glass carboys and a few 5 gal SS keg barrels for long time bulk agingFirst, , My point of view is food industry;
*I replace plastic equipment when showing age. This frequently is cracking as in gaskets on SS flanges which can trap organisms and prevent sanitation. Cracks leading to busting also happens in bulk containers/ trays/ tubs which have functions as collecting food which leaks through a SS belt and will be put back into the process stream or picking grapes.
*Equipment which is colonized by mold can not be cleaned so is tossed.
*Specific plastics have chemical resistance and basically hold a brine or acid all their life, ex a half inch wall polyethylene which I have had over twenty years.
*Plastic can pick up flavors, items with strong flavor as garlic are dedicated.
*Plastic can pick up chemical residue, chemical containers never get used for food.
*I use plastic in test fermentations, PET has excellent oxygen resistance so makes a good carboy, HDPE has low oxygen transmission so it lets me produce a sherry flavor without the angels share. Pouches as metalized film and EVOH and fumed silicate are excellent oxygen barriers so good for long term storage. You find many thing you eat in these and will have more because it is cheaper. PET is commercially available as food packaging in lots of different sizes and is used for two gallon and ten liter carboys which are hard to find in glass.
*tubes and hoses are the main concern for replacement on a routine basis. They are basically impossible to clean if one gets elderberry green gunk in them, cheap, readily available at the hardware store
*I use lots of silicone tubing as push connectors for the vinyl or polyethylene which is replaced at least every year. Silicone has minimal exposure so it is reused for years. I also use silicone as covers on Big Mouth Bubblers.
Plastics are here to stay since they work and are cheaper and perform better than glass, ,,,,, especially in retail stores.
I have yet to toss out a PET better bottle, / big mouth bubbler, carboy ,,,, but lose at least one glass a year
I've never had a problem with long term use.Years ago I heard that plastic equipment should be replaced regularly because it can absorb odors etc. that cannot be removed by sanitizing. I have followed this advise but would like to hear this forums input.
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