The sterilising is to kill off the bacteria and mould spores on the skin of the veg so that it stores for longer.
I do it to my butternut squashes, i just use the hot water from the tap though, it's about 60deg C.
It worked for me last year, i only had one squash begin to go last year, all the rest were spotless.
No point in growing Chemical free veg only to add it to them later