Joan....You may need a helper.....Don't feel obligated to do it on the precise date...they can stay upside down for awhile after riddling...Last summer we had somestragglers sitfor 6 months before we dégorged them...they were fine as long as they stay upside down.
I had been dropping the bottles from about 2 inches onto their tops when I twisted during the riddling process...we had one stopper leak once....the bottle was only half full at riddling...[ flat..no bubbles] the stopper must have had a crack...I never saw liquid on the floor...so it must have been a slow leak and the newspapers under them soaked it up...Now I am not so aggressive at riddling.
Put a thermometer in your freezer...we like it to be 0 to -5*F......We have a chect type freezer....If it's warmer the bottle tops may not freeze at all.....Then put the bottles...[top always down] into the freezer...a few at a time as they greatly drop the temp of your freezer....do 6 or so ...just to get the hang of it...or 3....then you have more to taste after you refill the others...
keep a close eye on them!!!!!Ours take about 1 + 1/2 hours...depending on how many we do....sometimes some freeze quicker...depending on their placement in the freezer...I stick them around with the food holding them up....When there is about 3 inches of ice in the neck...YOU ARE READY TO GO...Do them as they freeze...keep the topping up bottle in the fridge.
*****I always want to try the ice with salt soulution...that is suppose to work too...guess the salt makes the ice colder..or something????
While you wait.....get some newstoppers cleaned, sanitized, rinsed... and in a bowl of hot water...also have new wires and your handy little tool...we also have a small funnel with about a 5 inch piece of hose to refill the bottles....[heat the hose to slip over the funnel...we just leave that funnel for this purpose] have everything ready to go....
We have a plastic milk crate with a stack of newspapers in the bottom and a cardboard bottle divider in it to hold the bottles...Take the bottles out of the freezer [still up side down]...take them outside....
Jim steps in at this point....Elevate the top of the bottle to a horizontal position...the ice plug kind of stays frozen to the stopper.....Elevate the top above the horizon...He uses a pliers to undo the wires....***** Then he uses a channel lock pliers to twist the plastic stopper off....***** it seems like its frozen on and it is very stiff from being so cold...Then it gets forced out of the bottle and the plug flies...QUICKLY...put your thumb [reasonably clean] over the top of the bottle and place it back in the crate...proceed with the next bottle...they will foam over a bit...[that's where the newspapers are handy] Take them into the house and put in a sink....proceed to refill the bottles with one of them...they say to pour the liquid slowly down the side of the bottles...the funnel/hose works good for us...They will foam...when you get them about filled right...wipe the top, place hot/warm stopper into the neck, wire closed.....Wipe the bottles off, let dry and once they return to room temp and quit sweating you can label....
Place upright on a shelf in your storage area and wait.....again...for a month or two....We have bottles that have been dégorged for a year and some from 3 months ago...they have equal bubbles....Once in a while we try them too soon and are disappointed.....THEN....START ANOTHER BATCH!!!!!
Edited by: Northern Winos 
