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Cracked Corn Preparation Technique

A fast colonizing substrate utilizing cracked corn.



Cracked Corn is an alternative to millet or popcorn.
It is easy to find and is about one third the cost of millet.
It can be found at Pet stores as bird feed and also at Feed stores.
In this tek we will use CC for short.

Note: Upon cooking the CC expands *approx* 2x.

1. Get the estimated amount of CC you want and put it into a large pot.
Next cover the corn with water and set the heat between "medium" and "high".
Stirring the pot often.

2. Simmer the CC 30 - 35 minutes on the stove is enough time, however it depends on how much you are doing and how much
water/corn you are working with etc..
(with small amounts the heat may need to be adjusted lower to prevent boil over)
For large batches this time was correct.

3. Look for the corn to "change", it gets a slime coating on the outside.
CATCH THIS! Do not let it go past this point! As soon as you see the slime coat, take the heat off
and set the pot by the sink. Have a bucket or large bowl in one bin
of the sink and use the other bin of the sink as a work area.
Scoop out enough corn to fill the strainer and run COLD water over the corn THROUGHLY,
then let it drip for a sec... then it goes into the bucket.
Also you can add a percentage of vermiculite (field capacity) to this mix for a good moisture buffer.

You could go right to the jar here...

Or

Take the strained corn and transfer into a new bucket , each time filling the strainer with corn and
rinsing again. Tap it on the sink to get out as much water as possible.

Then transfer it into the new bucket/bowl.

Fill the jars half full, this will allow for easy shaking of the jars after pressure cooking.

Pressure cook for 90 minutes @ 15 PSI
Let cool to 0 PSI with gloves/mitts shake the hot jars to mix the wetter kernels with the drier ones.

Cool to room temp in a relatively sterile environment, and inoculate
2.5 cc of spore solution is recommended for each QT jar.
Incubate per strain specifications.

Best of luck.

This is millet, cracked corn, and whole corn.



Here are quart jars after 8 days colonization.
CC with a dash of coarse vermiculite.


Quart jars of millet after 8 days colonization.



The results are obvious, the CC colonizes over 3 times as fast as the millet!

by Effed Q: Where can one buy cracked corn?
A: It can be found at Pet stores as chicken feed, and also at feed stores.

Q: Which is better? Cracked corn or popcorn?
A: Cracked corn is cheaper, however I have never tried popcorn. The results are comparable.

Q: When the TEK mentions watching for a "slime" coating, does it refer to water that gets starchy and murky during simmering?
A: It refers to the corn getting a somewhat slimy coating on the outside. Its not super critical but.. its does help. The more rinsing you can do the better.

Q: Can't I just chop my popcorn/corn up and make it like CC? Would it work the same do you think?
A: Yes, you can use a food processor or blender. The mycelium can colonize the substrate more readily when it is cracked/chopped.

Q: My friend tried this with CC 5 times now, using different draining techniques. Rinsing or draining overnight and still nothing.. It turns into mushie corn pieces It keeps coming back with nothing, corn turns dark and nothing. Hes using a polyfill filter disks too. What Keeps happening???
A: Over cooked. Excess starch is bad. Reduce your cooking time and results should improve.

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