I have been enjoying pasturizing different materials ever since I read how to do it here. Its a really simple process and can be done right on your kitchen stove, or even better ...outside.
My main interest in using this technique is to be able to pasturize large amounts of materials and not make a huge mess. This means I have to work outside, especially for draining steps. Poo water on the floor is a sin around here.
First step is to get your materials ready. For this post I will be doing 50-50 straw/poo with verm, you can do whatever plant matter and feces you choose. I like to soak my straw and poo separately in bleach water over night, add lime if necessary and drain well in morining. Next its mixed in a large tub and verm is added.
I like to get very hot water from the bathtub to start. The reason I do this is i'm trying to use the large pot in the kitchen the least amount of time possible. Again this is because of past issues with scratching the stove with my pot/pc (note tinfoil under pot to lift).I take the hot water and dump it into the large canning pot. Turn it up to high. The handiest thing to have is a thermometer when pasturizing. Its key to knowing whats going on with the heat.
I get the water to higher than usual, about 185 F and then dump that into my waiting bucket. Lid goes on to retain heat. Next I repeat the process to fill the canner with hot water and put it on high again. This whole process takes about 20 minutes and allows me to "not get caught".
Now the canning pot is up to 175 F. I take the pot water and dump it in to the large tub with the material in it. Next I dump in the bucket which has cooled down 10 degrees by now. Lastly I put the screen to hold down the straw/poo and put a weight to submerge.
I purposesly leave a bunch of space to add more hot water later. Every hour you want to pasturize you can put in 2 extra gallons of 175 F water. It cools down instantly to more like 165 F. You can check with your thermomter how its going and whether it needs a shot of hot water.
Some do longer, I do approximatley 2 hours + . After the time I put a bungi-cord over the tub and lid. This has done me very well. I love my bungi ! Dump some water out slowly until you can tip it on its side. Prop it up on an angle and let it drip until its completely done dripping. Ring it out if you want, I don't, but thats just me.
After the tub is drained and cooled you are ready to mix with spawn. Now you can make logs, tubs, beds and whatever else you can think of. Just make sure its completly cooled before inoculating.
Best of luck pasturizing.
H
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Edited by Sidestreet, 09 October 2016 - 03:29 PM.
