5 replies to this topic

[Pakil]

I prepped rye jars this week for oysters and a few others. I soaked 24 hours instead of 12... now I’m getting the amount others were suggesting from the start. The grains expanded probably twice as much with that extra 12 hours. I did the soak - boil for 10 - fling boiling grains all over from colander to colander to bowl to pot trying to flash-dry them. LOL. I filled jars and had way too much grain, so I filled another quart. 
 

This being said, I’m thinking my slow colonization of everything from reishi to shiitake might be caused my my under-hydrated grain. I’ve got a few jars that are almost 2 months old and not fully colonized. My house is around 60°F, so I’d been blaming that.

 

Question - I have a few jars that look very colonized. Not the thick ropes white oyster myc, but it appears each grain is covered. Nothing moves when I tilt the jars. The part that makes me nervous is that the very top grains in the jars are not covered in white myc. They aren’t loose, but they’re not coated like the rest of the jar. I don’t want to expose the grain to the air if it’s unprotected, but I don’t want to let it sit so long that the myc is unhappy. I’ve got a 3/8” hole covered in tyvek on each. I’m not sure what to do. 

Has anyone else suspected dry grain but moved forward anyway? My PCing must’ve worked, because there are no signs of contams. 

 

I definitely learned something about my huge bag of rye, though.

 

[Mycol]

Did you shake the jars ? Sometimes I can get the top half to break loose when I shake and then leaving the bottom intact speeds the recovery time a little . I’m working on my moisture levels rn . Got fed up with wbs, the ingredients change and then you get some different grain that splits like all get out.

You might be ok moving forward . Keep us posted

Edited by Mycol, 07 May 2020 - 04:58 PM.

[Pakil]

Did you shake the jars ? Sometimes I can get the top half to break loose when I shake and then leaving the bottom intact speeds the recovery time a little . I’m working on my moisture levels rn . Got fed up with wbs, the ingredients change and then you get some different grain that splits like all get out.
You might be ok moving forward . Keep us posted

Thanks. When I tilted a few of the jars, that top layer did move around. Just about 1cm on top, so I swirled it around and tapped on the table to settle the grain back down. One of the jars had more that was loose. Do you think these will still colonize being so dry?

Or when I open the jar to go to sub, do I just zing the loose grains in the trash?

Thanks



I like your name. LOL. I’ll be Date Myc. Nice to meet me :) :)

[Mycol]

They’ll probably take forever, you could just dump that loose part off before mixing with sub . The myc might be a little weak be of the lack of moisture but can definitely bounce back when it gets in the sub .

[Pakil]

Three days ago I got my sub ready, opened each jar, did the sniff test - all good. I swirled the loose grains into a bucket and spawned. The mycelia was nice throughout the jars, so all seems well. Growth starting today. I’m glad the inside stayed clean, even if it was too dry. I’ll definitely be soaking the rye from this bag the full 24 hours. The newer rye jars are colonizing so much faster! I should be eating a new fresh oysters in a month at this rate =)

[Mycol]

Very cool !