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royer
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Registered: 05/15/06
Posts: 4,801
Loc: anywhere but here
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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bird seed
#5828878 - 07/06/06 06:49 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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do i have to soak bird seed before i pressure cook or can i boil?
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ComfortablyStond
Mr. Lizard


Registered: 03/15/06
Posts: 239
Loc: Psychedelphia, USA
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Re: bird seed [Re: royer]
#5828893 - 07/06/06 06:53 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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I simmer on med-low for between 30 and 40 minutes before PCing. Some recomend a 24 hr soak prior to PCing, but the simmer tek has worked well for me.
-------------------- "It's not a war on drugs. It's a war on personal freedom. Keep that in mind at all times..." Bill Hicks
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liamtheloser
Advanced Idiot

Registered: 06/07/06
Posts: 1,453
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Re: bird seed [Re: royer]
#5828898 - 07/06/06 06:54 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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you can soak and simmer, or you can do what i do...
measure out your wbs, put it in a big glass bowl, boil some water in a pan at high until it's rolling really good, then dump the boiling water into the glass bowl with the wbs, let it sit for 20 minutes, then drain the bowl, rinse the seeds, put them in the pot with fresh water and low boil for 15 minutes, then drain, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, drain, drain, drain drain drain drain drain then spoon into jars... works for me
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Edited by liamtheloser (07/06/06 06:55 PM)
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splifner180
Student


Registered: 03/24/06
Posts: 1,288
Loc: USA, East Coast
Last seen: 1 year, 3 months
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(1) Fill large pot about 60% with water. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. (2) Dump in 5lbs of WBS. (3) Wait 24 hours. (4) Dump WBS into colander and allow to drip-dry for 5 minutes. (5) Spoon into jars, attach favorite lids, PC.
All done.
The point of soaking/simmering/boiling the WBS is so that the grain is as hydrated as possible. Soaking takes longer but you know your WBS has taken up as much moisture as it can when the water level stops dropping (which always happens IMO within 24 hours).
Yes, you could boil, and it would happen much faster, but then you're risking exploded grains. When that happens, the hull is (obviously) compromised and the contents in the jar becomes more mush than moisture-holding shells.
My advice to you is to use the simmer/soak method outlined above until you've done a few grows. Then, once you know what to look for in your grains, give boiling a shot. Me, I think the simmer/soak method is so idiot proof that I doubt I'll ever boil.
splif
-------------------- First Grow: Ecuador -> LC -> HPoo/Straw -> Monotub Build a Do-It-Yourself Magnetic Stirrer in thirty minutes with no money.
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kristen
Burn out..don't fade away

Registered: 04/19/06
Posts: 303
Last seen: 9 years, 25 days
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Try neither.
Fill jar 40% of the way with washed drained Pennington seed. (It will expand.)
Fill 40% of bird seed height with water/coffeewater/pinch of blood meal or whatever you prefer; and directly PC. Grain hydrates while PCing, and it's less hassle and time. Endospores still dead, and it's the perfect water content.
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Tippinthru
contented

Registered: 04/07/05
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Loc: "The Garden"...
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Re: bird seed [Re: royer]
#5829200 - 07/06/06 07:57 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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24 to 36 hour soak works fine for me.  Even longer, so long as they don't SPROUT, or rot.
-------------------- Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time... [
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monstermitch
Growing in Bags Doesn't Work


Registered: 02/10/06
Posts: 3,911
Loc: Arizona Bay
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I too soak for 24 hours.
to germinate bacterial endospores.
use coffee and gypsum in your soak water.
this also hydrates the grains safely.
rinse very well before hand. until the water runs clear. rinse very well after soaking. until the water runs clear.
drain very well before loading your jars 3/4 full.
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splifner180
Student


Registered: 03/24/06
Posts: 1,288
Loc: USA, East Coast
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kristen writes: "Try neither. Fill jar 40% of the way with washed drained Pennington seed. (It will expand.) Fill 40% of bird seed height with water/coffeewater/pinch of blood meal or whatever you prefer; and directly PC. Grain hydrates while PCing, and it's less hassle and time. Endospores still dead, and it's the perfect water content. "
While I generally don't knock other people's methods, this sounds like a tricky proposition unless the person has some experience with growing AND some experience with this method.
5cc/ml of water can make the difference between a stall, a contaminant and a properly hydrated jar.
splif
-------------------- First Grow: Ecuador -> LC -> HPoo/Straw -> Monotub Build a Do-It-Yourself Magnetic Stirrer in thirty minutes with no money.
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kristen
Burn out..don't fade away

Registered: 04/19/06
Posts: 303
Last seen: 9 years, 25 days
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It’s simpler than the soak and simmer jazz. If someone can’t figure out how to get 50%, and then cut said 50% into 4 quarters then maybe they should go back to school instead of playing with mycology. 40% because 50% may be too wet. Nothing tricky, student.
Simple.
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coda
Banjo Goiter


Registered: 03/20/01
Posts: 8,750
Last seen: 10 months, 3 days
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actually, with a little bit of experimentation, the method mentioned by kristen works quite well. However it usually takes a few runs before you get the levels adjusted right.
Personally i think the easiest way is to simmer for about 1/2 hr then pc for 90 minutes. My grains always come out perfect and colonize quite nicely.
However whichever method you choose to go with is going to take some time to get it perfectly down. It's one thing to read about how to prepare seed in text, it's a completely different animal taking it on yourself. A few pointers, make sure your grain isn't mush when you go to PC it, the wbs should feel a bit squishy but still firm. Make sure to give a nice cold rinse after the simmer, this helps get rid of the starches and keeps the grain from clumping. Double check your PC water levels as a 90 minute run with quart jars is going to take a bit more water then the pf tek requires. Have a towel handy and when your jars are done with the PC process, give them all a good hard shake to keep the grains looes.
Any standing water in your jars after the process is done means it's too wet and you need to start over. The kernels pressed up against the glass should have a slight dampness to them, it should look like a small halo of water around the kernels. However when the jars have cooled completely the grains should shake freely and act as if they aren't soaked down, sticky grains or mushy wbs will take longer to colonize and won't spawn well (the mushy grains anyways).
Good luck, with just a bit of practice you'll find that doing grains is a hell of a lot easier then the PF tek.
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danliten
allas user


Registered: 03/20/06
Posts: 259
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Re: bird seed [Re: kristen]
#5829480 - 07/06/06 09:18 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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try brining a large pot of coffee to a boil, and i mean a pot of coffee on the stove, then trow you wbs in and cook on med high for 30 mins. Turn stove off and let it cool for a couple of hours. Put the wbs in your jars and PC it. Saves times on having to soak for a day or two. I think the coffee may speed up the colonization process. Anyhow, that works for me.
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Capless
Student


Registered: 06/25/06
Posts: 365
Last seen: 14 years, 10 months
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Re: bird seed [Re: danliten]
#5829653 - 07/06/06 10:00 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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I do not know if this has been mentioned yet, but it's a precaution that I take when working with bird seed. I take half of whatever measurement I'm working with(ie. Quarts * .5 = Pint) and add it to the cache of bird seed. So if I'm wanting to fill up quart size jars I measure all my stuff out and add an extra pint at the very end. The reason being is to take up for the seeds lost in translation. However this should be adjusted(give or take) for different sizes.
Also note the seeds to expand with water too. So you might not need this extra step I added.
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Edited by Capless (07/06/06 10:02 PM)
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Tippinthru
contented

Registered: 04/07/05
Posts: 1,131
Loc: "The Garden"...
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Re: bird seed [Re: coda]
#5829677 - 07/06/06 10:05 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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 This is +/- a point or 2 of what it should look like after PC'ing.
-------------------- Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time... [
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