Wine Corking Machines Information
Corking a wine bottle is a key consideration for bottling companies and home bottling operations. Proper corking seals a bottle and prevents contamination by microbiological organisms. Corking machines are used by home wine makers and commercial wine bottlers to ensure a tight seal to stop contamination, preserve the wine and prevent leakage. Does this Spark an idea?
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Manual Wine Corking Machine
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Wine retailers like Winestuff.com sell wine corkers for inserting corks manually into bottles. They can range from $20 to more than $200 (for high-tech corkers). Choose a wine corker based on practical and safety considerations. For example, select a corker that prevents the bottle from sliding while corking, regulates the depth of insertion and ensures clean and complete insertion.
Automated Corking Machine Operation
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Wine bottling companies use automated corking machines. Operators feed sterilized corks into the machine's hopper. In the "Introduction to Wine Laboratory Practices and Procedures," Jean L. Jacobson notes, "The cork is fed into a set of sterile 'jaws' that grabs the cork, radially compresses it, and inserts it into the bottle neck at a pressure of 5-6 atm (Margalit, 1996)."
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Vacuum Corkers
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The atmospheric pressure inside a sealed wine bottle is important for keeping the wine sealed properly to prevent contamination and leakage. The right amount of pressure also ensures the bottle will not spontaneously combust. Some automated corking machines are equipped with a vacuum-corking mechanism. Jacobson cites Boulton et al in explaining that, without the vacuum system, the atmospheric pressure inside the bottle will raise up to 2 atm; the vacuum mechanism will reduce this amount inside the bottle to below 1 atm.
Floor Corker Machines
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An alternative to the hand wine corker is the floor wine corker. Some wine makers prefer floor wine corkers because they do not rely on human muscle strength to compress the cork so that it fits snugly into the neck of the wine bottle. A floor corker is ideal for specialty wines bottled individually by home wine makers and small wineries. A model like E.C. Kraus' CKR 410 cost less than $100 and can cork up to 150 bottles in one hour.
Antique Corker Machines
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Corks are hard and must be softened before being inserted into wine bottles. Consult a book like "Introduction to Wine Laboratory Practices and Procedures" to choose from options like steaming or soaking corks before inserting them into bottles. Consider investing in an antique wine corker for bottling at home or for using as a decoration in a wine shop, home bar, kitchen or wine cellar. To effectively and safely use an antique wine corker, consult the laws in your area for how to ensure that the corking process does not contaminate the wine once it is sealed.
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