The real reason you want holes in the lids is so you can get air exchange going halfway through the colonization period. It speeds things up. To inject spores, you shouldn't have any contams if you use the oven tek and lift the lid off the jar just enough to get the needle in. If you use the ramsey seal however, you will be better off if you put holes in the lids. It's pretty hard to do otherwise.I can't really comment on the steaming thing, i've never steamed jars. I hope things work out for you.
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-snarf