12 replies to this topic

[ShortcutSlim]

I didn't want to bump up an old thread,so I'mma stick my neck out and ask the question here regarding my grains turning a dark color after PC'ing. I likely followed bad advice re: a youtube video, I did thusly: 230gram whole oats to 150grams water with a pinch of gypsum.. I then PC'd for 2.5 hours per instructions. My grains came out pretty dark. After reading another thread here that stated 90min in the PC,that gave me pause to wonder if I PC'd too long. I use my Instant Pot to do my pressure cooking,and always let it go a little longer to compensate for the difference in pressure.

 

Is the difference in time the likely reason my grains came out so dark do you guys imagine?

 

Thx.

[jrh]

Are you hydrating and sterilizing your oats in one go?

 

I normally do 14 mins in an instant pot to hydrate. Then I load into bags or jars and sterilize @ 15 psi in an electric pressure canner for 2 hrs.

 

If someone has a recipe for one and done then that's pretty cool. How much is that supposed to make? And do you wash your oats first?

Edited by jrh, 17 June 2022 - 10:08 AM.

[DonShadow]

It sounds like excessive moisture, excessive cooking time, or both. If you’re using whole oats with the husk, this recipe works very well:

Combine 250ml oats, 160ml water and a pinch of gypsum in a standard quart jar fitted with a filter lid. Swirl the jar to wet all the kernels. PC at 15PSI for 90mins. Allow the PC to reach atmospheric pressure and immediately remove jar and shake to distribute moisture and eliminate clumping. If you are rinsing the grains first you’ll want to allow the kernels to drain well and reduce the water to 120ml per jar. Also, you should have no problem extending the PC time to 2 hrs to compensate for the lower pressure in the instant pot, but I personally wouldn’t bother since (I’m assuming) this is for grain-spawn, and the duration of heat beyond 90 isn’t likely to make much difference. Oh, and as always, cover lids with foil to prevent condensing water from getting through the filter.

You may have to play around with the water-grain ratio a bit, depending on the water content of the oats you’re using. I have to vary between 150-160ml of water, but that seems to be the sweet spot for almost every large-kernel grass seed I’ve used for spawn.

Edited by DonShadow, 17 June 2022 - 11:30 AM.

[jrh]

Combine 250ml oats, 160ml water and a pinch of gypsum....

 

Is that 250 g whole oats?

[DonShadow]

Milliliters. I just use a level half-pint PF jar.

[ShortcutSlim]

Are you hydrating and sterilizing your oats in one go?

 

I normally do 14 mins in an instant pot to hydrate. Then I load into bags or jars and sterilize @ 15 psi in an electric pressure canner for 2 hrs.

 

If someone has a recipe for one and done then that's pretty cool. How much is that supposed to make? And do you wash your oats first?

Yes @jrh. Hydrating and PC'ing at one time. Just sounds so stupid easy,but I still muffed it. Guess that says something right? LOL

 

 

It sounds like excessive moisture, excessive cooking time, or both. If you’re using whole oats with the husk, this recipe works very well:

Combine 250ml oats, 160ml water and a pinch of gypsum in a standard quart jar fitted with a filter lid. Swirl the jar to wet all the kernels. PC at 15PSI for 90mins. Allow the PC to reach atmospheric pressure and immediately remove jar and shake to distribute moisture and eliminate clumping. If you are rinsing the grains first you’ll want to allow the kernels to drain well and reduce the water to 120ml per jar. Also, you should have no problem extending the PC time to 2 hrs to compensate for the lower pressure in the instant pot, but I personally wouldn’t bother since (I’m assuming) this is for grain-spawn, and the duration of heat beyond 90 isn’t likely to make much difference. Oh, and as always, cover lids with foil to prevent condensing water from getting through the filter.

You may have to play around with the water-grain ratio a bit, depending on the water content of the oats you’re using. I have to vary between 150-160ml of water, but that seems to be the sweet spot for almost every large-kernel grass seed I’ve used for spawn.

I took the liberty of converting the amounts you gave @DonShadow and came up with 239-240g oats and 13g water. That is 3 grams more water , and 9-10g more oats than I used. I'll follow your recipe as you have had good luck with it. I'm of the opinion that the processing time is the likely culprit. I'll give it another go following your recipe and processing instructions and see how that works. I'm attaching a picture of one of the grain jars for your amusement. :)

 

Thanks so much for the help...as always.

 

on edit: Do you suppose these grains are toast,or do you maybe think they could be used without serious consequence?

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Edited by ShortcutSlim, 17 June 2022 - 02:42 PM.

[DonShadow]

That jar looks just fine to me… only I would recommend not filling the jar quite so full - makes it more difficult to break up the spawn once fully colonized. If you follow the recipe I suggested you’ll end up with jars that are just over half-full once colonized.

On second thought, I would suggest not using 250ml of grain and go with the level half-pint jar to measure. I mistakenly assumed that the half-pint jar was 250ml when that may not actually be the case… a half-pint is closer to 240ml I believe. The real recipe I use is 1 level half-pint jar to 160ml H2O.

Regardless, that jar looks fine to me. That’s exactly what my oats looks like when they come out of the PC.

[ShortcutSlim]

That jar looks just fine to me… only I would recommend not filling the jar quite so full - makes it more difficult to break up the spawn once fully colonized. If you follow the recipe I suggested you’ll end up with jars that are just over half-full once colonized.

On second thought, I would suggest not using 250ml of grain and go with the level half-pint jar to measure. I mistakenly assumed that the half-pint jar was 250ml when that may not actually be the case… a half-pint is closer to 240ml I believe. The real recipe I use is 1 level half-pint jar to 160ml H2O.

Regardless, that jar looks fine to me. That’s exactly what my oats looks like when they come out of the PC.

I weighed up a level 1/2 pint jar and it was right at 125g of oats @DonShadow. My concern is that I'd need to do 4 quart jars to get 2 full qt jars of oats. I'm not complaining mind you, but I think the ease of the tek probably cancels out the down side. At least it does for me. I should think about the 23qt pressure cooker,but there goes the simplicity that the Instant Pot delivers. Choices choices. :)

 

Now,if I had my math down, I could adjust all the measurements and get closer to a jar with more grains, all the while leaving room to shake the jars.

 

Thanks for easing my mind on the color of my oats too. I was concerned about that.

 

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[ShortcutSlim]

I ran across some different measurements so did a test run pc'ing at just an hour to see what the level would end up being. This one calls for 200g whole oats and 145g water (plus a pinch of gypsum of  course) and ended up with a level that looks to be about 3/4 full. I may drop the water to 140g as it looks to be a little on the wet side.

[ShortcutSlim]

I ran across some different measurements so did a test run pc'ing at just an hour to see what the level would end up being. This one calls for 200g whole oats and 145g water (plus a pinch of gypsum of  course) and ended up with a level that looks to be about 2/3 full. I may drop the water to 140g as it looks to be a little on the wet side.?

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[jrh]

A lot of the time grain that looks a little wet after PC will be fine after a couple of days.

 

I should try one of these recipes then measure how much I get, then tweak the recipe so that I have 2 qt bags, or maybe 3 qt bags. That would be much easier than my 2 step process.

[DonShadow]

I agree with jrh, oats look especially moist after the PC. If they’re over hydrated they will usually appear mushy at the bottom and will stick together. Your jars look fine to me. The 1 hr cook time seems a bit short, though I understand that was just for the purpose of the test?

[ShortcutSlim]

@jrh @DonShadow  The 1hr pc was just for the test. I should have considered that given some time the excess moisture would have have been absorbed by the oats,but instead I tossed the test grains. Live and learn,right? I expected that the bottom half of the oats would contain the majority of the water,but I wrongly assumed that excess moisture would be eliminated after a quick hot shake.

 

I'm gaining on it slow but sure. :)