24 replies to this topic

[Kevin]

Hello Everyone,

Im new here, this is my first post, I hope im posting in the right spot. Im sorry if this is the wrong area.

Ive spent days trying to find 1/2 pint mason jars in Australia. I just cant find any. K-Mart used to sell them but appear to have stopped. :( They sell quart one still though, dunno what gives.

Nowhere else I can find any, ive looked high and low, looked everywhere on the web, tried all major department stores, kitchen suppliers, everywhere I can think of. I find it hard to believe they just dont exist in Australia. There has to be somewhere!

I've looked at importing, the shipping is mega expensive and alot of places say they are likly to have breakage.

I was reading through the vaults and some people have suggested glass jars using foil and rubber bands to cover as lids. This seams like a great idea to me. I wonder about the wisdom of stacking these in a PC however.

So a) Does anyone know of a place to purchase mason jars in australia?
or b) Has anyone stacked glass jars with foil in their PC
and c) Are jars with foil more proun to contamination?

Thanks heaps for reading my post, hope you all have a nice day.

[the_other_chap]

Have you thought about using jam jars?
It's difficult to find 1/2 pint Masons in the UK too, so I've always used jars like this one.

All you really need is any 1/2 pint jar without any "neck" at the top end (so that cakes slide out easily)

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[golly]

The short tapered drinking glasses should work well for PF type cakes..If you use an extra layer of heavy duty foil and stack so that the second layer rests on the edge [rim] of the lower layer , you should be ok..
An ample verm layer in each jar will be good protection..

To innoculate you can just remove the top foil layer and stick the neadle thru
the lower layer ...Rubber bands are said to hold up in the PC, you could also use electrical tape...

Welcome to Topia Kevin...!

[Odin 13]

Baby food jars. Go to the grocery & look for ANY small jar. Eat what's in it & use them. Even if the jar does not have the right taper, break the jar when it is fully colonized & get more.

[mycobri]

you could always give pp5 plastic chinese food containers a try

good luck finding what you need!

[Kevin]

Cool, thanks guys, lots of ideas, im off to the supermarket to scope out things.

Jam jars seam like the next best thing for the stackability factor. That pic looks nice :) Nicer with white stuff in.
I like the foil on cups idea, im not sold on stacking them on their rims/edges, ill have to see what cups are available.
If both those fail I guess the pp5 will have to do.

Thanks again for the ideas!

[Kevin]

Just a quick thought, with the pp5 in a pressure cooker, will it melt if it touches the side?

hmmm Id imagine they're hard to reuse though :/

Thanks heaps guys

[Hippie3]

you could always give pp5 plastic .. containers a try...

good idea, both microwave-safe containers/lids
as well as bags, oven-safe are good options.

of course since you can find quarts
you could just skip pf tek and go straight to
a grain tek such as rye or even popcorn, birdseed . .

[Hippie3]

Just a quick thought, with the pp5 in a pressure cooker, will it melt if it touches the side?
hmmm Id imagine they're hard to reuse though :/
Thanks heaps guys

no, the PP5 deli containers are pretty tough.
as for re-use, maybe but lids might not.

[eternalfrost]

jars are only really nesecarry for PF cakes.

if you have a pressure cooker, which it sounds like you do? then you can just skip the whole cake route and go with some bulk grains. that way you can put it in any container you please that will stand up to the heat.

that would include pp5 containers(the pseudo-tupperware ones work great) any glass container, or oven bags they sell at the grocery store.

anything you use, wrap it up in a towel before you put it in the PC to keep it from touching the sides and breaking, even glass will from the heat.

[Kevin]

Hmm Thanks again guys...Yep, I got a preassure cooker being delivered today! Yay. Or maybe tommorow :(

Maybe grains is the way to go in quarts...im scared of that though being a newb. I have had some experience with PF cakes but havent mastered contamination problems very well yet.

One other thought i had about stacking glass jars with foil for lids was I could just put a round board of some kind in the preasure cooker to layer it so they stacked ok.

So many options....its half doin my head in :)

[Kevin]

Greetings Wise Ones,
I am going to attempt my first Karo LC.
Problem is I couldnt find Karo or Light Corn Syrup. What I did find was Glucose Syrup (Derived from Corn). Anyone know if that will do the job?
It says on the Ingredients: Glucose Syrup (derived from corn), Preservative (220), Contains added sulphites.
Thanks for any advice. If this is no go I guess ill go to the brew shop and get dextrose.

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[StroFun]

500 ml of spring water and a teaspoon of pure vanilla should give you some good results. Stay away from the imitation vanilla and make sure you cook the jar as vanilla extract has some alcohol in it.

[the_other_chap]

I use malt extract. about 5ml in 250ml of water.

If you can find powdered malt extract, use that. The protein in liquid extract tends to flocculate when PCd and make the solution cloudy/bitty - still works OK though.

[Hippie3]

better without sulphites
but glucose will work

[dial8]

Honey will work also.

[deucedbi9]

Honey will work also.

tate and lyle golden syrup works.it's available in oz i'm told.

[Kevin]

Cool, Thanks Guys,

I got impatient and just used it anyway, cause my preasure cooker came today and I got excited.

I woulda used honey, but from what I read most people say karo or dextrose is easiest to spot contamination, so being a newbie, I thought that the best approach.

I will let yas know how it turned out.

[Kevin]

Hello, Im not having any success :(

It is now day 10 and I dont see much happening.

1 is clear
2 is clear
3 is powdery white (this one i used foil to cover the whole, no tape)
4 is clear but it stinks! Really bad and there is gungy stuff in the hole. I think pressure pushed the tape off.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what Ive done wrong? Should I wait longer or start again? I think ill try dextrose next :)

Here are a few things i pretty sure ive done wrong
1) Filled the bottles up too much
2) I didnt sterilize the sticky tape I used to cover the holes
3) I accidentally froze my syringe water which I used to suck up my spores (i was trying to make it cool quiker after being in PC)

Thanks heaps for any advice!

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[Lazlo]

Since you have access to a brew shop, buy dry malt extract.