woof woof woof Posted July 9, 2002 I am thinking of sterilizing not pasturizing , but sterilizing Poo/Straw/Verm. what containers can I use to sterilize the substrate in, if you do not have direct access to spawn bags.... I was thinking to load the substrate direcly in the PC and then afterwards....dump it in a plastic food container, grain spawn innoculate when cool, then close and shake vigerously every other day. Care to add tips on how to furher go about this. Or maybe another usefull container to sterilize the poo/verm/straw mix. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darklight Posted July 9, 2002 Oven bags are the berries ( thanx Rev )as they can withstand high heat, which includes pressure cooker temps. Watch out tho, you might want to double-bag as they are a bit fragile, or maybe I just got a bad batch. Fold them down zig zag style, several times over, squeezing the air out before you sterilise them ( 15psi for an hour ) The nice thing about oven bags is you can shake the bag once they're innoculated, just a bit, to mix the innoculum through. Then refold, seal and stack into cardboard boxes til they're ready Takeaway plastic food containers ( ie Chinese food type containers ) are a viable single use vessel, but from experience in TC not as good. They warp under steam sterilisation sometimes, so leave the lid sitting loosely off the top of the container when you're pressure cooking, and cover with a piece of alfoil so water from the pressure cooker doesn't run into the mixture. Wait til cool and, leaving the alfoil on the top of the container, press down on the lid to close. That can help with the warping prob, but you'll still need good tape to seal them ( Parafilm for example ) as they are harder to keep contamination out of. Plastic food containers are available cheaply and in bulk from catering suppliers. If you're aiming for more sterile conditions, such as working in a flow hood or under a perspex tunnel, they're OK- just. But for propagation of sufficient material to eat I'd go with the oven bags [This message has been edited by Darklight (edited 09 July 2002).] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spiders Posted July 10, 2002 big arse tuppaware work a treat! I even autoclave these Share this post Link to post Share on other sites