I think there are a lot of ghost stories running around about sterilization. When I went to Brew U in NY in December, I made a new friend who was almost paralized with fear of contamination because of all of the tales of woe he had been told. Every unexpected smell from every batch was a cause for alarm. The truth is that you need to be diligent about sterilization, not anal, and you will do just fine.
This may get a little long but I'd like to give all the newcomers an idea of what is required to get by using what I do as an example. There are certainly alternative chemicals or methods for every step, but I believe what I do is fairly simple, relatively cheap, and at least a good example for comparison.
I have a plastic bucket I use to sterilize in. At the start of making a batch, I set it on the counter on one side of the sink, put 2 gallons of lukewarm water into it, add 2 tablespoons of "Easy Clean Sanitizer" (available from Leeners, it is basically a one step, no rinse sanitizer), and stir. Then everything that is going to touch the batch (siphon, funnels, steeping bags, etc.) or touch something that is going into the batch (measuring spoons, cups, etc.) goes into the bucket to be rinsed. I also throw the traps and stoppers in as well.
I take the carboy I am going to use, place it on the floor beneath the bucket and siphon the two gallons of sterilized solution into the carboy. I swirl the mixture in the carboy to get a good coating and then pour it back into the bucket. I set the carboy aside for 5 minutes, which is the time the sanitizer needs to work. I place a large tupperware container into one side of the sink and fill with scalding water and use the siphon to draw water out of the tupperware and into the carboy twice, swirling and rinsing with the water. I set the carboy upside down in a carboy drainer to dry. I set the siphon on a clean dish towel on the table. This sterilizes the siphon and the carboy.
I throw all of the items from the bucket into the tupperware and rinse them and set them on the towel to dry as well. Any time anything is used, it is tossed into the sanitizer, rinsed, and allowed to dry again.
I heat two gallons of the water for the batch to 170F in a stainless steel 5 gallon pot and add whatever spices and citrus will be in the batch. I generally allow this to set overnight or at least long enough to be able to fish out items (like cinnamon sticks) from the water without burning myself. I reheat the mixture to 170F, remove from the heat, and add the honey, which typically knocks the temperature down to 140F. I whisk/stir for about 20 minutes and remove the scum but this 20 minutes at 140F is also long enough to achieve pasteurization.
I rack the must into the carboy and top off with bottled water and trap. If I power stir with the drill, the stirring attachment undergoes the same rinse in sanitizer, allow to set 5 minutes, then rinse twice in scalding water procedure as everything else. In fact, everything gets sanitized and cleaned at the end as if I am starting another batch right then.
The only area where I feel my must is at risk involves the addition of fruits. I use purees, Oregon Fruit, currently which I assume are sterile but I am also adding them in the secondary when the amount of alcohol already present in the must will do some amount of sterilizing on it's own. Not exactly sure how I would handle fresh fruit yet, especially if I decide to add them to the primary.
Sorry for the long post but for about a year I would have given my right arm to have someone sit down and go through something like this with me since I like to be shown or told prior to attempting something. The only thing I would point out is that I am trying for a "no chemical" approach and so I use pasteurization rather than chemicals (like Camden) for the inital must. Heating is optional and several others here use no heat methods and have great success.
Best of luck to everyone and don't let fear paralize your efforts.
Pewter