A question, How long did you put the jars in the microwave to sterilize? Has anyone else tried this? Sounds a lot easier than boiling.

After experimenting with the microwave in the kitchen here (I'm in a dorm so a pressure cooker is out of the question) I found the best time was 6 - 7 minutes on high. The trick is to sterilize the cake without overdrying it. I'm sure its different with every microwave.

I used 10oz. Rubbermaid jars (purchased at Meijer) and the standard PF formula. To keep things sterile as possible, I had each jar soaking in a lysol water solution until i was ready to fill them. I put the lid on loosely so it didn't snap down and put it in the micro. You need to have a glass of water in the microwave along with it.

As soon as I opened the door to the microwave, I snapped the lid down (be careful of the steam!), lysoled it, and duct taped over the holes and duct taped all the way around the lid to seal the crack between the lid and jar.

I didn't have any problems with contamination, but it could have just been a fluke.

Good luck.

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sat in a tree for a while got my life back

[This message has been edited by joncrow (edited December 07, 1999).]

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your gunna die in the end
anyways so what dus it really matter?

I've been keeping the temperature just below 80F, except I cold-shocked them down to about 60 for 12 hours or so. I brought the temperature back up to 80 about 40 minutes ago.

I have a couple cakes that are doing really well with a lot of nice healthy looking pins, but the rest are dissapointing. Few if any pins on those. I'm hoping the cold-shock will help.

bigwill

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i spent most of my money on beer and women the rest i wasted

i was under the impression that they were substandard spores from what i've heard from other people.

[This message has been edited by MoMan (edited December 08, 1999).]