kingboomer said:

I always play it safe and manually vent mine, it usually gets a good head of steam going 5 - 10 minutes after the pin pops up.

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Probably the safest route

auroradawn said:

Grain jars. I keep ending up with (usually mildly) bacterial spawn in them and have been thinking through my process.

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I've never used one so I would just play it safe and manually vent for 10 minutes or when you see a steady steam.

How does your plates look
A good thing to do is let a jar sit uninoculated for a month, then you'll know if thing are getting properly sterilized or not.

auroradawn said:

Kloakk said:

auroradawn said:

So just to confirm something because I believe I have been an idiot: Instapots need to be vented too?

Because my dumb ass has been thinking I didn't need to because the IP will do that as part of its cycle. But now I'm realizing that makes no sense because if I leave the valve closed how would it be venting 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

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In theory the instant pot vents on it's own by design and should be set to sealing as soon as you start. It should vent all air pockets out before it seals completely.

What are you trying to sterilize?

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Grain jars. I keep ending up with (usually mildly) bacterial spawn in them and have been thinking through my process.

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Belintaf said:

I'll take advantage of you guys bringing up the topic, since I recently got myself an Instant Pot. I still don't know the success rate yet because it's only been a week.

All three times I've used it (2 PF-Teks, 1 BRF Pucks), I vented manually for 8 minutes. I ran 90-minute cycles. Mind you — the BRF Pucks came out looking a bit wetter than when I used to do them in a regular pot with steaming.

I wanted to ask — how do you guys prep your grain in there? Or what kind of grain?

I've seen Pudin's Instant Pot Tek and it looks pretty functional. Is anyone using it like that for grain with good results?

Hugs

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kingboomer said:

Kloakk said:

auroradawn said:

So just to confirm something because I believe I have been an idiot: Instapots need to be vented too?

Because my dumb ass has been thinking I didn't need to because the IP will do that as part of its cycle. But now I'm realizing that makes no sense because if I leave the valve closed how would it be venting 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

---

In theory the instant pot vents on it's own by design and should be set to sealing as soon as you start. It should vent all air pockets out before it seals completely.

What are you trying to sterilize?

---

I always play it safe and manually vent mine, it usually gets a good head of steam going 5 - 10 minutes after the pin pops up.

---

kingboomer said:

Belintaf said:

I'll take advantage of you guys bringing up the topic, since I recently got myself an Instant Pot. I still don't know the success rate yet because it's only been a week.

All three times I've used it (2 PF-Teks, 1 BRF Pucks), I vented manually for 8 minutes. I ran 90-minute cycles. Mind you — the BRF Pucks came out looking a bit wetter than when I used to do them in a regular pot with steaming.

I wanted to ask — how do you guys prep your grain in there? Or what kind of grain?

I've seen Pudin's Instant Pot Tek and it looks pretty functional. Is anyone using it like that for grain with good results?

Hugs

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I do grain prep in the IP a little differently.  I'll use it to hydrate the grains, then jar up and PC.  The few runs of millet I ran through mine I vented and ran for 2 hours on high.  JFC I have the 8qt duo.

Grain Prep

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I just started using the instapot at the beginning of the month. I've run 57 jars in it so far. Using.  Pudins tek. 

I've been venting for 10-15min. 

I even trusted him and didn't use a trivet for some of the runs..

Everything came out perfectly..  so I'd say yes you're good to go following that Tek.


Also looks into yoshis no prep Millet tek.  Its a great reference for water/grain ratios. 

#team no prep

Wall.E said:

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Kloakk said:

kingboomer said:

I always play it safe and manually vent mine, it usually gets a good head of steam going 5 - 10 minutes after the pin pops up.

---

Probably the safest route

auroradawn said:

Grain jars. I keep ending up with (usually mildly) bacterial spawn in them and have been thinking through my process.

---

I've never used one so I would just play it safe and manually vent for 10 minutes or when you see a steady steam.

How does your plates look
A good thing to do is let a jar sit uninoculated for a month, then you'll know if thing are getting properly sterilized or not.

---

My plates look good (IMO!). I don't have any pictures of before I send them to grain but this is one I didn't end up using and just let grow out. The wedges I put into grain jars are taken from the edge regions from plates with uniform, ropey growth, but before they get too close to the edge of the petri.

I'll do some test jars and let them sit when I get a chance.

fontinalis666 said:

Are you wrapping your plates or just putting them in sandwich bags?

Not saying thats definitely the problem, but it's a vector for contam you could easily eliminate. You don't need expensive parafilm, you can join Team Clingwrap^TM get yourself a roll and cut a 1" section off the end.

The inner side of the wrap goes towards the plate. I cradle the roll with my pinky finger in my right hand and kinda keep tension on the roll with my other fingers. Plate stays in my left hand and I pinch the big sides between my ring finger and thumb and use my palm to rotate the plate and spin the film on. I'm sure that description probably makes no sense lol.

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Yeah I'm wrapping them too, you just can't see it in the picture

Agar Wedge said:

Looking good man! Glad to see you are getting a solid flush

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Success!

auroradawn said:

My plates look good (IMO!). I don't have any pictures of before I send them to grain but this is one I didn't end up using and just let grow out. The wedges I put into grain jars are taken from the edge regions from plates with uniform, ropey growth, but before they get too close to the edge of the petri.

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DV8DUG said:

We collect from the edge regions when we do transfers. When your plate is clean, then let it grow to edge of petri, then chop the whole thing up and put it to grain.

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I like playing it safe, so I send 1 wedge to each jar 2-4mm before the mycelium reaches the end of the plate