54 replies to this topic

[prism]

Well,

I'm not gonna throw my PC in the garbage but bravo on the PClessness of it all!

I kind of like the shhhhhhhhhttttttsssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhttttttt Sound

Sounds like...VICTORY!!! lol :headbang:

[LotRev]

Nice results so far :eusa_clap

Please explain further the details of getting the right moisture content.
That is the key with seed, and hard to get down.

[Hippie3]

pc 's are better because
a] the longer cooking time
b] the higher pressure
c] the higher temperature
all 3 factors contribute to increased kill rate of contams.
a few minutes at room air pressure & 212*F in a 'wave
might be ok for relatively clean materials
but when the substrate is full of nasty endospores
you need 1-2 hours at 250*F and 15 PSI
to fully penetrate substrate and kill it all.
and even then one sometimes still fails.

[losfreddy]

pc 's are better because
a] the longer cooking time
b] the higher pressure
c] the higher temperature
all 3 factors contribute to increased kill rate of contams.
a few minutes at room air pressure & 212*F in a 'wave
might be ok for relatively clean materials
but when the substrate is full of nasty endospores
you need 1-2 hours at 250*F and 15 PSI
to fully penetrate substrate and kill it all.
and even then one sometimes still fails.

which in the general method of using wbs, it is usually soaked for several hours then put in a pressure cooker. In this method it is boiled for 30 minutes, drained and nuked. I'm sure there is a chance for contames but i think most of them would've died in the boil or nuking

[Hippie3]

one need not postulate
on one hand
hours of soak time
versus 30 minutes boiling
as either can be used to hydrate
regardless of whether one uses 'wave or pc .
i.e. one can boil 30 minutes, strain & load in pc just like the 'wave
conversely one can soak hours then 'wave.
your comparison therefore is biased.

further
any research into sterilization would show that
boiling only reaches 212*F
insufficient for killing endospores.
and that temp is only reached briefly in the 'wave.
it should be obvious that
higher temps, higher pressures and longer times
will kill a higher percentage of microbes.

[losfreddy]

maybe :headbang:

[Hippie3]

lol
ain't no maybe to it, fact.
like i said-
do some research.
see how the pros sterilize,
find me anyone that uses microwaves
other than amateurs .

[Ras Asad]

definitely

[Dr_T]

further
any research into sterilization would show that
boiling only reaches 212*F.

And that's at sea level- around here, I'd be lucky to get to 200 degrees by boiling.

I'm with the others- if a microwave works for you, then do it. But pressure cooking is tried and true, the gold standard of sterilization. For all new growers, and for those who enjoy consistent success more then they enjoy experimentation- use a pressure cooker. They aren't expensive, they aren't rare- and you can use it to cook food too.

[losfreddy]

i find the main problem is not contamination. Rather improper moisture. Too much steam escaping during nuking..

Heres some Pan Cyan cakes i got going. sterilized in the microwave

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[Hippie3]

the dry substrate is also why you see few contams,
too dry for anything to grow there.
but that tall one [2nd from left] does not look well, imo...
some of the others also look questionable.

[vitae1234]

FOAF accepts the challenge, and is going to run a few test microwave WBS jars. She expects to grow a robust colony of trich, but will post pictures if mushrooms somehow contam the trich jars.

[vitae1234]

FWIW, microwave test container didn't germinate.

Possibly too wet -- spores from the same syringe are showing robust growth on conventionally-pc'd jars.

[LotRev]

Excellent follow up!

[Birdman]

PC is with out a doubt the best choice.
But for a newby just starting out it would be nice
to see a good reliable mycrowave tek.They will
soon learn it is much easer to load up a PC with
jars to use when ever any way.I have,but some
don't curantly have a choice.I am really supprized
there are not more teks useing wood pellet fuel.
Very cheep,clean and easy to hydrate.Should work
well with wood lovers.