Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with siphon

Bottles for home-made ginger beer

goingonit — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:59:54 -0800

Are there any good alternatives to 2L soda bottles for fermenting and storing home-brewed ginger beer? I've tried making my own ginger beer (with baker's yeast, if it matters) which I bottle-ferment in 2L soda bottles. It works fine---but I never buy any 2L soda bottles, and I worry about them getting flimsier as I reuse them. They also let most of the carbonation out the first time you open them.

Are there any good reusable bottles that I could buy that will handle the pressure of my ginger beer without exploding? Should I be considering glass bottles of any kind, or is it too dangerous to build up pressure in glass?

My ideal would be some kind of siphon bottle, so I wouldn't have to let the CO2 out by opening the bottle. But most of the seltzer bottles I can find online seem to have a CO2 canister in the nozzle, so they don't actually store any carbonated beverages inside. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

mmm ... fizzy water.

the luke parker fiasco — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:47:20 -0800

Cool-lookin' soda siphons. Where to find? I've recently begun enjoying the wonder and deliciousness that is the homemade soda-water drink, and am now interested in purchasing a siphon. I've seen the iSi models, which are okay, but what I'm really looking for is a cool, interesting, retro-looking (to go with the retro-feel) yet still functional soda siphon.
I remember seeing a siphon companion to this years ago at (I believe) a Crate & Barrel, but no longer. It seems to have been made by a company called Kovočas, but aside from the pictured shaker and a siphon on eBay Österreich, I've not had much luck. (Found this, but alas, I don't read Czech.)

So, hivemind, any recommendations for where to find Kovočas siphons in particular, or siphons of interesting design in general (including vintage, if they take currently manufactured cartridges)? Bonus points for N. America, but willing to do some work to obtain if necessary.

How can I stop someone stealing fuel from my car?

blacksky — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 04:35:29 -0800

How can I stop someone stealing fuel from my car? Three times over the last two weeks, someone has siphoned petrol from my neighbors and my car (an old mini and a mk2 vw golf). They've busted the locks on the petrol caps, and these are both old cars, so don't have any kind of anti-siphon devices fitted. We've informed the police, but they don't seem to hold out much hope of doing anything about it. Any idea how we can physically prevent them from doing this? We're in the UK if that makes any difference.

How to make culinary foam

rush — Mon, 07 May 2007 13:35:35 -0800

How do I make culinary foam? I'm experimenting with some ideas culled from molecular gastronomy, and I'm having a tough time getting my foam to work. I'm using agar-agar and a whipper, but I can't seem to get it right. What is the right ratio of agar-agar to liquid? What are the right steps for producing foam with a good body to it? Any experienced advice would be greatly appreciated.

Home Brewing Question: how to siphon?

scarabic — Tue, 22 Jun 2004 11:41:30 -0800

HomeBrewFilter. I bottled last night and took great precautions to sterilize everything effectively. Then I found myself with the siphon hose in hand, the fermenting bucket up on the table and the bottling bucket down on the floor, and realized I had no idea how to accomplish the siphon without putting my mouth on the hose and sucking. This seems incredibly un-sterile but I couldn't recall ever doing it any other way. I was using a glass racking tube with about 5' of hose attached. Is there some better way to do this? Or should I not worry too much about it? Incidentally, the bucket I was siphoning from does have a built-in spigot, but it's at the bottom of the bucket, where all the sediment is.