Chamo said:

What kind of agar do you use?

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mushhead said:

It could be the cooking range that you're using, I use a gas stove with my PC sometimes and notice that it burns hotter with more intensity than a coil or induction burner.

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Stipe-n Cap said:

I really dont know how you guy's can make something as simple as adding powder to water so difficult

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I add water to powder

Yuggoth said:

Sugars other than sucrose will caramelize.

https://www.scienceofcooking.com/caramelization.htm

I don't think agar nor malt extract is burning in those jars, but heat darkens LME (I mean light malt extract -- powder not liquid). Even just at boiling temperature it will darken a lot. It isn't caramelization at that temperature, but the color does change. I pressure can big jars of LME solution for homebrewing purposes, and the hot break boogers I get are brown just like what I see in altford78's pics.

So, those jars are not burning. The darkening and brown clumps of LME are normal. But there is certainly some kind of consistency problem that I can't explain.

Everyone's got their own way of doing things but this is how I make agar and it's been working well.

• Heat water on stove
  
• When almost boiling, slowly whisk in malt extract powder. Whisk it in really good.
  
• REALLY SLOWLY whisk in the agar powder. Sprinkle it in a gram or two at a time and whisk it in really good. If you add it too fast it clumps up badly.
  
• CAREFULLY bring the pot to a boil and hold for a minute or so. Watch out for boil-over, be ready to pick up the pot to get it off the heat.
  
• Pour hot solution into media bottle, cap loosely, and sterilize
  

If I add color or activated charcoal I do that step in the bottle, not on the stove. Just in case I make a mess, it is easier to clean up if the agar isn't colored.

My agar bottle sits on a platform just above the water line in the PC, and I let the PC cool for at least an hour. After an hour it's still far too hot to pour but you can handle the bottle with gloves.

I make 10-20% more agar than I need so whatever clumps of LME snot might exist simply settle to the bottom of the jar, and don't get poured out.

YMMV

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Throwaway said:

I'm willing to bet you're using a low qual agar or nutrient source

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You shut your whore mouth, you might be right. That's the only LME I can get locally without paying out of my ass for shipping for some luxury LME from abroad. It comes in 1kg vacuum bags where some dude wrote LME with a marker. I wish it was cocaine but it's not.

SirPsycho said:

Stipe-n Cap said:

I really dont know how you guy's can make something as simple as adding powder to water so difficult

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I add water to powder

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Stipe-n Cap said:

Room temp distilled water; add dry malt extract powder; add agar powder (the order of powders is irrelevant); quick shake, straight into the pc without fussing, pre-boiling, whisking, filtering, etc. 45 mins @ 15psi. Water below the trivet, 15 minute purge. Allow pc guage to reach zero, remove.

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Throwaway said:

I'm willing to bet you're using a low qual agar or nutrient source

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altford78 said:

Throwaway said:

I'm willing to bet you're using a low qual agar or nutrient source

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What brand are you using? Anybody used "Muntons" or "Brewferm" before ?

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