Question for Port tong users

[SEAN C.]

How do those of you who use Port tongs heat the tongs up? Obviously the best method would be to leave them in the hot coals of a fireplace, however that is not possible for me at the moment. Has anyone ever had success with a propane torch?

[Andy Velebil]

I turn my gas stove top burner on high, and use a hand held propane blow tourch to get them glowing red hot. This works quite fast and I've never had a problem getting them hot enough. Just be sure to remove the metal part that pots normally sit on, as the propane torch can discolor them (as I found out )

[Ronald Wortel]

I use the same method as Andy, it works perfectly for me.

[SEAN C.]

Thanks...is it possible to use just the propane torch? My stove unfortunately is electric
Also I've noticed the tongs don't exactly seem to "clamp" around every bottle, is this normal or will it cause problems because the metal isn't in contact with all of the glass neck 100%?

[Andy Velebil]

As for the clamp, a couple of bottles I've used it on had the same issue, without any ill effects.

Yeah, I guess you could use just the propane torch, but you would need to get a section at a time hot, then keep going back to that spot so it doesn't cool too much. The flame on the stove is mainly to keep what you already got hot with the torch from cooling to much.

Or you could have someone else help and hold a second torch, one for each side of the tongs?

[John Danza]

I've never used tongs because I've always been concerned about small shards of glass escaping and getting into the wine. Is this a problem? How is it prevented?

Thanks,
John

[Andy Velebil]

John,

Typically you break the glass just barely above the bottom of the cork. When the glass cracks you pull up about 1mm (just eneough to expose a small gap between the 2 parts of glass, you can either blow it out, run a little water over it, etc. Then remove the cork all the way.


I prefer to decant through UNbleached cheese cloth, that way there is no way any possible chips could get through.

That being said, if done right I've never seen any splinters of glass. Where the break is, it looks like the glass is melted along the flat part of the seam, it is that smooth.

[John Danza]

Thanks very much Andy. Maybe I'll take the plunge and give it a try (he says nervously). :)

[nicos neocleous]

What Andy said. :)

[Julian D. A. Wiseman]

Tongs:

Some tongs, such as … these, have a ring that is perpendicular to the handles. Others, such as these*, have the ring parallel to the handles. Parallel is better: one can lie the tongs on the cooker, make millimetric adjustments so the gas is heating the right place, and wait a few minutes for the tongs to turn red. The perpendicular model must be held by hand, and our hands are not steady enough over a period of several minutes, so it takes longer, and weariness makes things worse.

* This model comes painted black, for reasons not explained by modern science. If buying these then, before first use, remove the paint, perhaps by heating in an open fire.

Though, better than a cooker, are the embers from a real fire, which make the tongs superbly red-hot. Gas stove is second-best.

Next, it is possible to buy 50-metre rolls of double-thickness muslin from Leon Jaeggi & Sons, 77 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5DU, at something like £2+VAT per metre. Cut from such a roll an 8" slice, and fold four or five times. Decant through this: an eight-fold thickness of muslin. No glass fragments will get through that.

[John Danza]

Thanks very much Julian. My wife sews quite a bit, so I can access muslin very easily. I'll use your technique for decanting.

All the best,
John

[Moses Botbol]

If decanting through double/triple cheesecloth and mesh strainer, I would not worry about glass at all.