callmehippie said:

Do you guys wipe the lids of your QT jars inside of a sab before doing an A2G tranfer.

I'm going to be doing my first ever grain inoculations with agar today.
And I just want to make sure everything goes smoothly.

I watched Stipes YouTube video on it. it's very short simple and to the point. Basically just shows the technique of making the transfer. But He doesn't really talk about prep or sanitation. I'm just trying make sure I do everything right the first time.

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callmehippie said:

Do you guys wipe the lids of your QT jars inside of a sab before doing an A2G tranfer.

I'm going to be doing my first ever grain inoculations with agar today.
And I just want to make sure everything goes smoothly.

I watched Stipes YouTube video on it. it's very short simple and to the point. Basically just shows the technique of making the transfer. But He doesn't really talk about prep or sanitation. I'm just trying make sure I do everything right the first time.

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Stipe-n Cap said:

callmehippie said:

Do you guys wipe the lids of your QT jars inside of a sab before doing an A2G tranfer.

I'm going to be doing my first ever grain inoculations with agar today.
And I just want to make sure everything goes smoothly.

I watched Stipes YouTube video on it. it's very short simple and to the point. Basically just shows the technique of making the transfer. But He doesn't really talk about prep or sanitation. I'm just trying make sure I do everything right the first time.

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Never wipe something thats already sterile. So, when jars vome of of the pc, they're sterile, this is why I use tinfoil on the jars, it acts as a touch barrier to maintain sterility.

The only time I'd wipe down a jar would be if it was sitting on a shelf for a while.

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You only wipe down if it's been sitting on the shelf for a while. Only if they don't have the foil any longer?

Or even if they have the foil?
Mine have been sitting on the shelf for 3 days with foil.

nektar61 said:

So what's the story with Cabin Sequestration?

Is it that contam doesn't grow across, only down? or something else?

When I first heard of it it sounded like voodoo bullshit, like astrology or something, then saw the source material, was from high-end clean-room labs, so I didn't think it was a tek for here, at least for new users.

Now I see people making it work and I'm curious about it. I rarely get contam anymore but once in a while, and I have microscope slide cover slips already since I have a microscope, so..want to know.

Anyone who has done it successfully, what's your favorite tutorial here?

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Mub said:

Just ordered 6qt instapot can anyone tell me which size of jars might be appropriate?

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nektar61 said:

So what's the story with Cabin Sequestration?

Is it that contam doesn't grow across, only down? or something else?

When I first heard of it it sounded like voodoo bullshit, like astrology or something, then saw the source material, was from high-end clean-room labs, so I didn't think it was a tek for here, at least for new users.

Now I see people making it work and I'm curious about it. I rarely get contam anymore but once in a while, and I have microscope slide cover slips already since I have a microscope, so..want to know.

Anyone who has done it successfully, what's your favorite tutorial here?

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Smellyhobbit said:

I do not keep foil on my lids since it can trap moisture in the PC cycle and saturate the SFD. No foil during the PC cycle either.

If I know I’m gonna use them in a day or so I don’t wipe them down. If it’s been a couple of weeks I do. I did today. Just as a precaution.

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callmehippie said:

I did have that issue with some moisture getting trapped and the sfd getting wet. So does that mean my jars are done for? some of them were definitely kind of wet.

And if you don't cover with foil during the PC then how do you keep them from getting wet? Seems like a double-edged sword.. what's your trick?

And now I see I need to invest in the leak proof one piece plastic Lids because handling these two piece metal Lids while trying to make transfers from agar is a super pain in the ass.Especially since my Lids weren't flipped upside down..

I don't have high expectations for these jars just simply because of that fumbling with no experience . So fingers crossed.

The orcha plates that I transferred were growing up the sidewalls and started to grow between the crack of the lid and the plate itself another day or two and it would have been outside of the dish. But it's all I had so I went for it anyways.

Halfway thru I decided to take a piece of tape and put it on top of the ring and lid so that they held together to make it easier to remove and put back with one hand.

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Axman said:

callmehippie said:

I did have that issue with some moisture getting trapped and the sfd getting wet. So does that mean my jars are done for? some of them were definitely kind of wet.

And if you don't cover with foil during the PC then how do you keep them from getting wet? Seems like a double-edged sword.. what's your trick?

And now I see I need to invest in the leak proof one piece plastic Lids because handling these two piece metal Lids while trying to make transfers from agar is a super pain in the ass.Especially since my Lids weren't flipped upside down..

I don't have high expectations for these jars just simply because of that fumbling with no experience . So fingers crossed.

The orcha plates that I transferred were growing up the sidewalls and started to grow between the crack of the lid and the plate itself another day or two and it would have been outside of the dish. But it's all I had so I went for it anyways.

Halfway thru I decided to take a piece of tape and put it on top of the ring and lid so that they held together to make it easier to remove and put back with one hand.

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I definitely recommend single piece lids, they're all I use anymore, using bands and lids is for canning food IMHO.

In order to keep moisture off of my lids instead of covering each one with foil I made a circular foil "plate" that I place on top of the 7 that sit on the lower level, imagine a trivet sized piece of foil, then I place the 3 horizontally on top of those. It seems to keep most of the moisture off of the lids.

I know most people like the Ball grey lids, but I've had good luck with the white cheap lids from Amamzon and Walmart. They've survived PCing several times without any noticeable warning issues. I run modified with a filter sticker RTV'ed on. Then after inoculation I use parafilm or grafting tape to seal between the bottom of the lid and the jar.

This method works good for me. I'm sure some of my steps are unnecessary but it makes me feel better.

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callmehippie said:

Ok . I'm glad to know that works. I actually considered making a foil plate type thing like you were talking about on the last run but when I put it in there I thought about it for a second and thought  this is just another roof for condensation to build up on and now it's closer to the jars than the actual lid of the pc.  so I thought maybe it wouldn't actually be effective for keeping moisture off. but if it does that's awesome.

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Axman said:

Jrey16 said:

I am having problems making LMEA agar with my new Presto 23qt PC. This was first PC'd at 15 PSI for 20 minutes but there was a bunch of shit still floating around so I thought to myself it didn't fully dissolve. So I PC'd it for another 40 minutes and it was still the same. So I PC'd it again at 17 PSI for 20 minutes and this is how it turned out.









What is going on? I never had a problem making LMEA with my old pressure cooker which only went up to 11 PSI and I'd PC it for 45 minutes.

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Do you combine ingredients and boil before you PC?

When I make my LME agar I add all the ingredients into a small sauce pan and use an immersion blender to help everything dissolve evenly, bring it to a boil, then I put it in a container and PC it.

I exclusively run a Presto 23qt and have never had any issues with agar of any type. I steam for 10-20 minutes after the stopcock pops up, and then PC for 45 minutes. Haven't had an issue yet.

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