|
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
|
bodhisatta
Smurf real estate agent
Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,891
Loc: Milky way
|
BOD's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK 148
#24180711 - 03/21/17 03:07 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
This tek is part of bod's cultivation is easy as fuck link listBod's Pressure Cooker Use TEK how to run a jiggle weight pressure cooker quietly and with littler water lossQuote:
bodhisatta said: Use of a Presto Pressure Cooker
Cultivation Videos
I strongly recommend the Presto 23 quart pressure cooker (pressure canner) Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker
It will hold 10 Quart jars How you ask? 7 on the bottom and 3 on top Wide mouth jars fit this way
Narrow mouth jars fit this way
The 16 quart Presto model will only hold 7 Quart jars. Presto 01745 16-Quart pressure Canner and Cooker
The manual for the presto 23q says it only holds 7 jars. Because they would never tell you to put jars on their side. It's fine for our spawn jars and this way you can get 10 done in a run.
Other Pressure Cookers work, You can use All American brand stereoclave/autoclave/sterilizers/pressure cookers. Or any other size cooker of any brand mirro or presto, etc...
I personally would rather buy a few more 23q prestos than buying an AA. AA makes an amazing product that holds its value. They also look like bombs, are heavier, and cost a fortune up front. If you need the bling factor get an AA.
This TEK will cover the use of pressure cooker/canners that use a jiggle type weight on top. Sterilizers use a toggle valve to release over-pressure. AA canners can be turned into sterilizers by replacing the jiggle weight with a toggle.(click for example)
Some sterilizers also have built in heating elements. Thus being able to be used anywhere that has a power outlet. AA makes sterilizers with built in elements. They're pretty fucking badass.
First Things First Read the user manual for your pressure cooker
You can find the PDF for the presto models on their website https://www.gopresto.com/products/products.php?stock=01781
Water Level
The presto 23q says to use 3 quarts of water. This may seem like a lot of water but it's fine, DO IT. Your pressure cooker may say to use more or less water depending how big or small it is.
In addition to the water you add you'll want to add 1-2 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar. This will make your jars come out looking sparkling clean rather than white and dingy from the hard water deposits.
Ideally you would use distilled water but who is going to buy jugs of distilled just to run their pressure cooker, Tap water works fine with the vinegar trick. I use very hot tap water to fill my cooker. Routine maintenance means I never worry about mineral deposits or hard water problems.
Obviously, The cleaner or more filtered your water the better, less mineral deposits, less corrosion that you'll have to clean etc... you could also use an electric kettle or microwave to pre-heat the filtered or distilled water to speed things up
here's 3 quarts of water in a presto 23
here's where it comes up to on the first layer of jars
Later on I explain the importance of venting, it's very important. Because we do not want trapped air in the pressure cooker I ensure I leave no air bubbles from the space under the jars here's how
put these jars in first leaving the 7th jar to go in on the side not the center.
tilt the jars into the water so there's no air bubble trapped beneath them. practice with empty jars if you have to see the bubble and how to get it out.
when you get to the 7th jar like in the above picture tilt that one as well and do your best to get the air bubble out.
then you can put the other 3 jars on top
The Trivet
every cooker should come with one of these, otherwise you'll want to buy one that fits in your cooker.
Above I said to use the recommended water level, With the presto 23 that's 3 quarts of water.
If you put 7 quart jars in the bottom the water will come just under half way up the side of the jar, This is fine.
As long as half of your jar is above water there's sufficient contact surface for STEAM. STEAM is what does the sterilization you want your jars to have at least 50% of their surface above the water so that steam can transfer energy to the jars.
Say you only want to sterilize a few jars or a bottle of agar. You put the jar(s) in your presto 23q cooker and put 3 quarts of water in. You'll find out the jar(s) start to float or wont sit on the trivet. This doesn't mean you should use less water. It means you need to raise your trivet up.
The best way to raise the trivet is to put some balls of foil, jar lids, etc... anything that wont melt and can stay in a pressure cooker during a cycle. With the trivet raised up your jars will not float away when you're only trying to sterilize a few things at once.
For example pasty plates(clickable link) will require you to raise the trivet up otherwise they'll float around and tip over during the cycle.
The Gasket Most pressure cookers use a rubber gasket to seal the lid to the bottom. These gaskets will easily last 3 or more years of routine weekly use if maintained. Regardless it's less than 10 dollars for a replacement so even if you destroy it after 2 years it's dirt cheap.
Every cycle remove the gasket and inspect it for cracks or other defects.
Stretch the gasket out a little bit using your hands by pulling on it. While you're gently stretching the gasket have a little mineral oil or petroleum jelly on your hands to slightly lubricate the gasket (Petroleum jelly isn't recommended for rubber but well it fucking works great)
The best option would be silicone oil which can be found in the plumbing section. This will not deteriorate the rubber at all.
Gently put the gasket back into the lid. Then put the lid on the cooker as per instructions.
Starting Up the Cycle: Venting
My thread dedicated to the importance of venting. Yes it deserved it's very own extra thread
I usually will use very hot tap water or near boiling water to fill the pressure cooker.
Once the lid is on MAKE SURE the weight is OFF. Turn the heat to high
Once it starts to boil you'll see steam coming out of the top of the lid. After a minute or two the safety plug and the locking mechanism will pop up, at this time you will not be able to remove the lid unless you kill the heat and let the safety valve drop back down.
Once steam comes out of the top set a timer for 10 minutes. NO LESS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_pressure You don't want to pressurize AIR you want to pressurize water vapor/steam
if you do not properly vent there will be air trapped in your jars still and in the void space in the cooker. Your gauge will eventually read 15psi but if you know anything about partial pressure you will not actually be at 15psi of steam pressure but X psi of steam and Y psi of air where X+Y=15. This means you're sterilizing at a lower temperature than expected. In a static volume each gas in a mixture exerts the pressure it would as if it were the only gas in that volume. All of these partial pressures add up to the total pressure you see on the gauge. This is Dalton's law of partial pressure.
as you can see from the graphs at 1bar or 15psig 100% steam is 121C or 250F
Say you still have 10% air left from improper venting. If your gauge reads 15psi you're actually at ~116.5C or ~242F. Not only that but it actually makes the steam transfer heat less effectively so it's a compounded problem
if you can imagine the jars are filled with air(let alone the volume of the PC), this needs a good 10 minutes to escape. As the heat increases in the cooker, the grains will start to evaporate/boil their moisture and push the air out through the filters/lids of your jars. The whole volume of void space in jars and in your PC needs to be filled with water vapor/steam. Since there's no way to test this we vent at least 10 minutes.
Starting Up the Cycle: Pressurizing
once you've vented for 10 minutes you may notice that you're at a few PSI on the gauge. That's no problem.
Put your weight on and you'll start to see the needle rise. I leave the cooker on high to medium-high during this stage.
There's many different shapes and kinds of weights, yours may not look like that one.
As soon as the pressure gets close to 15 you will need to turn the stove down to maintain pressure. If you leave the stove on too high the weight will jiggle, make noise, you'll lose water more quickly as well. You only need the stove hot enough to MAINTAIN the pressure.
I put 3 quarters (15-18 grams) of weight on top of my jiggle weight. I simply used some tape and put them right on top
This is how I run my pressure cooker quietly and with very little water loss.
The cooker is designed so that the weight jiggles at 15psi and we're trying to sterilize at 15psi. So with no added weight the weight will jiggle and make noise the whole cycle. Fuck that.
If you add a little weight to the jiggle weight. Then you can leave your pressure cooker at 15psi by adjustment of the heat and it will not jiggle. The added weight makes jiggling at 18-19psi so as long as you run it at 15-18psi it will be nearly silent and you'll lose almost no water.
|
Germs
Space Force
Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,607
Loc: Texas
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: bodhisatta] 2
#24180753 - 03/21/17 03:22 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Greatness. If only I had this last night when the forum was down... Thanks Bod!
--------------------
|
Explicitdetail
Rickshaw Bandit
Registered: 02/03/17
Posts: 592
Loc: North of the Equator
Last seen: 3 months, 5 days
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: Germs] 2
#24180826 - 03/21/17 03:49 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Another killer write up. Thanks bod!
-------------------- "Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way."
|
JewishLawyer
Gypsy Witch
Registered: 02/22/17
Posts: 339
Loc: Iraniganistan
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: Germs] 3
#24180829 - 03/21/17 03:49 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Huh, always imagined Bodhi as an "All American" type of guy, I have the same PC as you, the 23 quart with two of the canning racks, one on the bottom, and one on the top of my first layer of jars, I can PC 17 jars at once
Thanks for all the tips though, definitely gonna try the vinegar thing as well as taping quarters to the top, my first run I left the stove on too high and I was extremely lucky to still have some standing water when I finished
I just use olive oil on my gaskets because rubber + petroleum products = breakage, it's the same reason they tell you not to use petroleum based lube with latex condoms
-------------------- Niffla said: my dog ate some of my peyote, unlocked the secrets of the universe and now has tenure at Yale
|
bodhisatta
Smurf real estate agent
Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,891
Loc: Milky way
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: JewishLawyer] 10
#24180836 - 03/21/17 03:51 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
I'm the even if I had a million dollars I still wouldn't buy things that cost too much for what they're worth.
|
tombosley8
Full on... Bossley Baggins
Registered: 10/14/13
Posts: 3,660
Last seen: 9 months, 28 days
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: bodhisatta] 2
#24180870 - 03/21/17 04:01 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
God this is amazing.
Took a lot of reading bits and pieces over a long period of time to figure all of that out.
Thanks for compiling it all in one place and with such good detail.
Wish I had this when I first started.
--------------------
|
psilly the kid
Hedge wizard/ Cultist
Registered: 05/17/16
Posts: 4,615
Loc: Stoprock City
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: bodhisatta] 2
#24180875 - 03/21/17 04:02 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
thank you for the write up. didn't know about the air thing. I'll star evacuating this next cycle.
-------------------- CA weed @ all times unless specified currently this high pebbles suck its turtles all the way down
|
Explicitdetail
Rickshaw Bandit
Registered: 02/03/17
Posts: 592
Loc: North of the Equator
Last seen: 3 months, 5 days
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: JewishLawyer] 4
#24180883 - 03/21/17 04:04 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
JewishLawyer said:
I just use olive oil on my gaskets because rubber + petroleum products = breakage, it's the same reason they tell you not to use petroleum based lube with latex condoms
What are a condom?
-------------------- "Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way."
|
The_breadsticks
Stranger
Registered: 09/23/16
Posts: 220
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: JewishLawyer] 2
#24180897 - 03/21/17 04:08 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
JewishLawyer said: Huh, always imagined Bodhi as an "All American" type of guy, I have the same PC as you, the 23 quart with two of the canning racks, one on the bottom, and one on the top of my first layer of jars, I can PC 17 jars at once
Thanks for all the tips though, definitely gonna try the vinegar thing as well as taping quarters to the top, my first run I left the stove on too high and I was extremely lucky to still have some standing water when I finished
I just use olive oil on my gaskets because rubber + petroleum products = breakage, it's the same reason they tell you not to use petroleum based lube with latex condoms
What size of jar?
Many 22qt only holds 10 quarts and it doesn't do it as comfortable as a 23 at does.
-------------------- FREE TUMP
|
mushboy
modboy
Registered: 04/24/05
Posts: 32,666
Loc: where?
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: Explicitdetail] 5
#24180901 - 03/21/17 04:11 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Explicitdetail said:
Quote:
JewishLawyer said:
I just use olive oil on my gaskets because rubber + petroleum products = breakage, it's the same reason they tell you not to use petroleum based lube with latex condoms
What are a condom?
wouldnt olive oil burn at those temps? wouldnt that burning be bad for the gasket? you dont use jelly on rubber cause it can trap bacteria and shit which can degrade the rubber(i think) but since its in a PC i dont think that matters.
hahahah. condoms?
|
JewishLawyer
Gypsy Witch
Registered: 02/22/17
Posts: 339
Loc: Iraniganistan
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: The_breadsticks] 2
#24180913 - 03/21/17 04:16 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
The_breadsticks said:
Quote:
JewishLawyer said: Huh, always imagined Bodhi as an "All American" type of guy, I have the same PC as you, the 23 quart with two of the canning racks, one on the bottom, and one on the top of my first layer of jars, I can PC 17 jars at once
Thanks for all the tips though, definitely gonna try the vinegar thing as well as taping quarters to the top, my first run I left the stove on too high and I was extremely lucky to still have some standing water when I finished
I just use olive oil on my gaskets because rubber + petroleum products = breakage, it's the same reason they tell you not to use petroleum based lube with latex condoms
What size of jar?
Many 22qt only holds 10 quarts and it doesn't do it as comfortable as a 23 at does.
I use regular mouth quart jars, and I don't put any of them on their sides, I have two trivets so I put one on the bottom of the PC, then put in 9 jars then put the second trivet on top of the first layer of jars and put another 8 jars on top of that, standing up. Kinda have to be careful in the positioning of them as well as how much foil you use, 17 is the max I can fit in there and it's a tight squeeze so I PC at 15 for a little longer than 90 minutes
But I didn't even think about that, my gasket is still in good health and not experiencing elasticity reduction so I don't know if the olive oil is harming it, that's a good point though
EDIT: The smoke point of olive oil is at 405 Fahrenheit and 15psi is not that high of a temperature so I think it's a suitable substitute
-------------------- Niffla said: my dog ate some of my peyote, unlocked the secrets of the universe and now has tenure at Yale
|
bodhisatta
Smurf real estate agent
Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,891
Loc: Milky way
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: mushboy] 4
#24180924 - 03/21/17 04:19 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Petroleum jelly is like a solvent to rubber so it degrades them over time. Regardless the gaskets last a long time and are really cheap. And the jelly isn't destroying mine
@ jewishlawyer There's no way Either you don't have a presto 23 or your jars are not quarts
|
JewishLawyer
Gypsy Witch
Registered: 02/22/17
Posts: 339
Loc: Iraniganistan
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: bodhisatta] 2
#24180976 - 03/21/17 04:38 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
9 jars on bottom
8 jars on top
putting trivet over bottom layer of jars
I think they're quart sized jars...
I knocked over and broke 4 petri dishes of inoculated agar in the taking of these photos
-------------------- Niffla said: my dog ate some of my peyote, unlocked the secrets of the universe and now has tenure at Yale
|
bodhisatta
Smurf real estate agent
Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,891
Loc: Milky way
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: JewishLawyer] 2
#24180989 - 03/21/17 04:41 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
There's something up there's no way to get more than 7 quart jars per layer
|
JewishLawyer
Gypsy Witch
Registered: 02/22/17
Posts: 339
Loc: Iraniganistan
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: bodhisatta] 3
#24180998 - 03/21/17 04:43 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
bodhisatta said: There's something up there's no way to get more than 7 quart jars per layer
they're off brand jars that I obtained at a discount store, they're definitely bigger than a pint but probably not bigger than a true quart jar
Yeah, my bad, they aren't as big as a full quart sized jar, still, I can fit a lot of those bastards in the PC
-------------------- Niffla said: my dog ate some of my peyote, unlocked the secrets of the universe and now has tenure at Yale
|
bodhisatta
Smurf real estate agent
Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,891
Loc: Milky way
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: JewishLawyer] 2
#24181009 - 03/21/17 04:48 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Pint and a half?
Looking at those pictures is like some David Blane shit
|
Germs
Space Force
Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,607
Loc: Texas
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: bodhisatta] 2
#24181094 - 03/21/17 05:20 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Petroleum jelly also causes gaskets/o-rings to swell over time with repeated compression in my working experience. A water-based lubricant like Magic Lube is best, they have a few different kinds but the blue cap is best for gaskets that get wet but aren't continually in contact with water. Regarding what Mushboy said about jelly attracting bacteria and debris; in vacuum systems this will create an air leak so I imagine the same would be true for a pressurized system, but at the most it would be a minor leak.
--------------------
|
bodhisatta
Smurf real estate agent
Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,891
Loc: Milky way
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: Germs] 2
#24181874 - 03/21/17 10:03 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
If you have oring lube or any actual suitable rubber gasket lube use that. If not petroleum jelly, regardless of not being recommended, works just fine in my experience
|
mushpunx
Fungus Punk
Registered: 04/20/14
Posts: 13,394
Last seen: 1 month, 21 days
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: bodhisatta] 2
#24181950 - 03/21/17 10:38 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
bodhisatta said: Pint and a half?
Looking at those pictures is like some David Blane shit
Hahahaha Yea those can't be quarts. I used to use pints as grain masters , they stacked in like that
Man I want my Presto back. I just use it for grain prep right now it needs a new gasket
-------------------- Amateur Mycologists United AMU Q&A
|
Dactylium
Don't touch me I'm sterile
Registered: 08/12/16
Posts: 696
Last seen: 1 year, 17 days
|
Re: Bod's Easy AF how to use your pressure cooker for mycology TEK [Re: mushpunx] 2
#24182009 - 03/21/17 11:20 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
|
|
Holy fuck I haven't been venting my cooker
|
|