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How To Make Flour Paste For Distilling
How To Seal a Copper Still
Once assembled, Clawhammer copper stills will actually be comprised of 2 pieces: the boiler assembly and the column assembly (see the picture below). These two parts are NOT permanently attached. This allows the still to be taken apart to allow for filling, cleaning, and easy storage. However, the upper and lower assemblies must be sealed together before the still can be used.
If a still has not been sealed properly, vapor could escape from the joint, allowing your precious whiskey to literally float off into thin air. Additionally,a leaky still could lead to a build up of alcohol vapor if the still is being used in a confined space (which is NOT RECOMMENDED). This is bad news, as alcohol vapor is explosive at high concentrations. So, always seal your still and never distill indoors.
Rye flour paste is the traditional method used by moonshiners to seal seams on copper moonshine stills. We recommend using the following flour paste recipe to seal the seam between the collar and cap on the Clawhammer Supply moonshine still. If you have leaks at any other joints, they must be sealed with solder before the still can be safely used. Only use flour paste on the joint between the boiler and column assembly.
Perfect Rye Flour Paste Recipe
- 3/4 cup rye flour
- 1/3 cup water
- Mix the rye flour and water together with your hands
- Roll the flour paste into a snake
- Once the boiler reaches 115 degrees apply the flour paste to the still
- As the still heats up the rye flour paste will cook onto the still creating a seal at the joint
- Always monitor your still to make sure that alcohol vapor is not escaping from the column assembly joint. Re-apply paste if needed.
i make a lot of wine and beer but i want to make some whiskey plan to
buy a small still soon
does anyone know a relatively easy way to mount a thermometer to my 10 gallon copper pot? I’d rather not drill any holes in the pot but will if that’s the best way.
thank you, kind Sirs.
My paste starts leaking after a while of boiling, is that normal ?
Will this work on any kind of still?
hello, I just bought a still(10 gal, all copper with thumper) I ran some water thru it at 220 degrees, and recleaned it, I was going to make a sugar run to start the finial clean out, my question is can I SAVE SOME OF THE FINISHED RUN TO REUSE IN MY THUMPER ON NEXT RUN? OR DO I THROW IT ALL AWAY? THANKS CHRIS
Noob Comment:
Has anyone ever tried flour tortillas?
It’s what I use for Chicken/dumplings because it’s much easier than mixing the flour & water.
I may try soaking some strips of them in water to get them loose then put them on.
Any thoughts?
How do i get the rye flour off my still easily after done stilling?
to the person with the sealing problem i use damp paper towels rolled up to make a gasket clamp down & it should be fine
hold on mate, save those peach pulp squeesings. put them up in small containers and refrigerate. next time you have a bowl of ice cream add some peach pulp!!!!!!! and smile, smile, smile.
Pancake mix and water works great as well
I use corn meal and flour to water works good for me
Is there a permanent way to seal the lid.
I’ve been trying to make a paste to seal a lid on a stainless steel pot but I kept getting leaks. I used regular flour and water and put it along he indent ion on the inside of the lid and kind of made some to lap over the lid and pot on the outside. Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong? I even tried clamps and just putting bricks on top of the lid and it’s still leaking. Thanks guys! Would appreciate the help
i just used flour and water. worked fine. I tried gluten free flour once, its all we had at the house, that did not work well. it didn’t mix into a putty, there was like grains in it like sand it felt like. I made it work in the end, but i would never try it again. Just a word of advice, stay away from gluten free. I only used it because i was lazy and didn’t read the label and assumed it was regular flour.
i just used flour and water. worked fine. I tried gluten free flour once, its all we had at the house, that did not work well. it didn’t mix into a putty, there was like grains in it like sand it felt like. I made it work in the end, but i would never try it again. Just a word of advice, stay away from gluten free. I only used it because i was lazy and didn’t read the label and assumed it was regular flour.
Anybody got a picture of still working.
Trying to see how condenser and wTer lines connect.
Thanks chAs
SGT Greywolf,
I altered this recipe to 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1/4 cup rye flour, and a 1/4 cup oat flour added to 1/3 cup of water. It smells like oatmeal cookies baking as it hardens up, and it flakes off fairly easy when you’re finished.
I’ve used this recipe for the flour paste and it works great .. thanks for sharing. Fact is, it works so darned good I can hardly get it off when cleaning up. anybody Got any suggestions for that little chore?
Kirk Briggs it going to take awhile to make 5 gal patients is a must if ur going to do this the slower the better it will be
I just use cheap bisquits from the store for this it save so much time !