56 replies to this topic

[Lazlo]

Ok! First things first. The supplies.

1 bottle of vanilla extract
500 ml's of H20
A 1qt. Jar w/lid
A sharp razor knife
1 6" piece of 7/16" radiator hose (available @ any auto parts dealer)
1 tube of 3500 psi Plastic Welding System epoxy (available @ Wal-Mart)
scissors
80 grit sandpaper
And 1 tablespoon

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[Lazlo]

First put the lid rubber seal side down on a phone book or magazine. Next you'll want to take the hose and trace around it 2 circles on the lid like so with a permanent marker. Like a Sharpie. Then simply take a sharp razor knife and cut out the circles, leaving the mark on the lid still. Just push down lightly. Sorta jigsawing slowly to make the cut. It's easy. I'd suggest using a drill, but I did it this way because not everyone owns a drill.

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[Lazlo]

Next you'll want to cut a 1.5" and a 3" piece of hose. Then take your sandpaper and rough up one end of it. About an inch or so. This will help aid the Plastic Weld to bond to the hose better.

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[Lazlo]

The next step is put the 2 pieces of hose in through the holes you cut out. If you took your time and made the cuts neat, the hose should fit in perfectly. Just a bit snug. That's what you want. Now here's the deal! This tek is for using the rubber seal side down on the jar. So you'll you want to leave an inch of the hose exposed on the gold side of the lid. I'll explain why later on.

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[Invitro]

One problem with the Vanilla Extract is that there's alcohol in it
other than that it looks like some good ideas .

[Lazlo]

Now you'll want to mix up a pile of the Plastic Weld. Don't be slack with it. You'll need enough to do a beed around both hoses, top and bottom of the lid. You can use a nail to mix the epoxy up and apply it around the hoses. Apply all 4 beeds and smooth the beeds around the hoses with a saran wrapped finger tip. But work fast! This stuff dries in a matter of minutes. Don't be concerned if it gets a bit messy or you didn't apply enough. Simply mix another batch and go over the beeds again. If you get sloppy, this stuff sands down rather easily after it dries with the 80 grit sandpaper. Just make sure you get a good seal of the hoses(top and bottom of the lid) so no airbourne contaminates can get through the beeds. If you made your holes as I showed, this really helps make the beeding easy and helps prevent contamination issues also. Allow the epoxy to dry for 30 minutes.

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[Lazlo]

Now this is what the top should like like after you've glued in the hoses. Now you can ball up poly fill and stick the balled up poly fill into the hose ends for gas exchange.

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[Lazlo]

Now after your lid is built and dry. Add the 500 ml's of H20 along with 3 tablespoons of vanilla extract. There's no need to worry with the alcohol in the extract. It won't survive the sterilization process. And there's no need to add shards of glass either. With this lid set up, you can shake and swirl the culture vigorously without getting the filters wet. Do you see were building the lid rubber seal down comes into play? You can tilt the jar almost on its side without a leak. This way you can remove the poly fill plug and stick a syringe into the 3 inch hose, leaning the jar, aspirating in your gloove box without removing the lid. Then simply put the polly fill back into the hose. Thanx to Mycota aka Agar for the syringe tip. :D Now you'll want the lid a 1/4 of turn loose from being tight during the pressure cooking run. This will ensure that the rubber seal doesn't stick to the jar. Now you'll want to cover the lid with foil and pc the jar for 30 minutes @ 15 psi. After you finish pressure cooking, snug the lid down immediately while still in the pressure cooker. Allow to cool and innoculate the jar through the 1.5" hose with poly fill still in place. Here's the results of one I did 8 days ago. It has almost caught up with my karo culture that's 24 days old. After germination, this jar took off like a rocket. I shook this one prior to taking the pic as you can see. There are already ping pong size growths from the spores. And that's only 8 days after innoculating with multispore, further proof the alcohol is gone after pc'ing. OK! Now i'm done. Tell me what ya think! I can't wait to try vanilla in cakes and grains. Has vanilla been done before, with some major draw back i'm not aware of, besides it dark color? I like it a lot so far. I also like the fact that the extract doesn't contain sugars, or the sugar content is very minimal. I'm going to knock up some jars with it now to see some results.

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[Lazlo]

One problem with the Vanilla Extract is that there's alcohol in it
other than that it looks like some good ideas .

Ya sorta needed to let me finish the thread man. Alcohol can't survive a heating process at all. Just read the final part of the tek. It was done with a multispore knock up.

[vrooota]

I wonder what is in vanilla extract that the myc eats

[Lazlo]

Sure. Here's some pics at almost 9 days since innoculation. Look at the size of the balls of mycelium. Truly remarkable IMO. I've tried everything on the store shelf possible for LC's, and the vanilla takes the cake for sure. By a long shot.

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[Lazlo]

I wonder what is in vanilla extract that the myc eats

Vanilla beans are highly nutritious in amino acids and anti-oxidants. But I haven't really had time to research and make comparible values among other grains or beans for instance. I'll do a lot of research tommorrow. Right now i'm building mad laundry baskets to use up this bail of straw before I move. :D

[Lazlo]

Well! So far nill on finding any good info on vanilla's total nutrient content. On the web anyways. I guess i'm library bound. Great! But I did find out the Indians thought as vanilla as the "Food of the Gods". LOL! But that really doesn't help huh? LOL

[shobimono]

I too wonder what it is eating, there is like no sugar in vanilla extract. Since you mentioned alcohol, I assume you are using imitation vanilla extract and not real vanilla extract?

Real vanilla extract
http://www.calorie-c.../item/2050.html

Imitation vanilla extract with alcohol
http://www.calorie-c.../item/2051.html

Imitation vanilla extract without alcohol
http://www.calorie-c.../item/2052.html

[Lazlo]

I have no clue guys. Here's the product i'm using. On the other hand, it does contain corn syrup. But on the link for the product it has no nutritional value what so ever. I'll give it a few more days and we'll see if the growth stalls.

http://www.mccormick...ail.cfm?id=6032

[cillyman]

For liquid culture jars I have found these vents to be cheap easy to use and very effective. http://www.tissuequi...faqptfeinfo.htm. Nice people sell them also. Cilly

[Lazlo]

Poly fill will work just as efficiant as those Cillyman. The whole idea behind my lids is to prevent contamination from shaking and swirling of the cultures. Using poly fill or those filters in your link will best used with a stir plate. If you don't own a stir plate, then these lids are great for preventing contamination due to a wet filter. A wet filter from shaking or swirling will wick contams into your cultures quickly. Not to mention the 3" hose for aspiration of the culture right into a syringe. Curtousy of Agar for the tip on that.

[cillyman]

The filters I point to are "hydrophobic" meaning they dont get wet. According to the makers and under practical experience. Cilly

[cillyman]

Oh and if you use a glove box to aspirate the culture into a syringe through the hose. Why not just take the top off. I use a glove box, remove the top and aspirate into a syringe with no needle. I had some nice septums for drug vials I installed in some caps. But I could never get the liquid culture into a syringe with needles. Even after I used the stir plate to break up the liquid culture, still couldnt pull it through a needle. Cilly