Mushroom thread

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Frankster

Frankster

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So much knowledge in the endeavor of becoming a incoherent.

I need to go over to my buddies and get the big pressure cookers and do something, I keep looking at this stuff and I'm jealous. You guys are the kings of mushrooms. Do you ever put any leftover spawns in your cannabis soils?
 
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beluga

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Well, apparently i have 2 pressure vessels now lol. And the smaller one has a pressure guage. I think this might be the one to use for the first few runs. Its older but in ok condition, and has an emergency pressure relief. Looks to be about 16qt or so. Actually had this one already stashed in the metal pile at work lol.View attachment 1055825
Woah. Never seen either of them, but that gauge is sweet... shows you the sterilizing temperatures of the steam above the boiling point relative to the atmospheric pressure.

That's something I've had a hard time explaining to people.. that the boiling temperature of water is relative.

I took a pretty hefty dose about 2 hours ago, so that whole thing might not make sense. Words aren't wording like they usually do and it's even weirder with a phone suggesting other adjacent ones...
 
amekins

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Woah. Never seen either of them, but that gauge is sweet... shows you the sterilizing temperatures of the steam above the boiling point relative to the atmospheric pressure.

That's something I've had a hard time explaining to people.. that the boiling temperature of water is relative.

I took a pretty hefty dose about 2 hours ago, so that whole thing might not make sense. Words aren't wording like they usually do and it's even weirder with a phone suggesting other adjacent ones...
Perfect sense.
 
Frankster

Frankster

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Woah. Never seen either of them, but that gauge is sweet... shows you the sterilizing temperatures of the steam above the boiling point relative to the atmospheric pressure.

That's something I've had a hard time explaining to people.. that the boiling temperature of water is relative.

I took a pretty hefty dose about 2 hours ago, so that whole thing might not make sense. Words aren't wording like they usually do and it's even weirder with a phone suggesting other adjacent ones...
Yea, your boiling point is going to be 212 f at sea level with pure water.

boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding environmental pressure. A liquid in a partial vacuum has a lower boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure. A liquid at high pressure has a higher boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure.


In other mixtures of miscible compounds (components), there may be two or more components of varying volatility, (ie. alcohol and water) each having its own pure component boiling point at any given pressure. The presence of other volatile components in a mixture affects the vapor pressures and thus boiling points and dew points of all the components in the mixture. The dew point is a temperature at which a vapor condenses into a liquid. Furthermore, at any given temperature, the composition of the vapor is different from the composition of the liquid in most such cases. In order to illustrate these effects between the volatile components in a mixture, a boiling point diagram is commonly used. Distillation is a process of boiling and [usually] condensation which takes advantage of these differences in composition between liquid and vapor phases.

Also, dissolved solutes are always going to INCREASE boiling point, so as a mixture boils down, it becomes more concentrated, further increasing the boiling point.

There are a lot of different factors to learn about boiling points in relation to molecular chemistry, molar masses of dissolved substances, ect... Certainly not a terribly complex subject, but some basic principles, and lot's of maths.
 
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beluga

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Yea, your boiling point is going to be 212 f at sea level with pure water.

boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding environmental pressure. A liquid in a partial vacuum has a lower boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure. A liquid at high pressure has a higher boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure.


In other mixtures of miscible compounds (components), there may be two or more components of varying volatility, (ie. alcohol and water) each having its own pure component boiling point at any given pressure. The presence of other volatile components in a mixture affects the vapor pressures and thus boiling points and dew points of all the components in the mixture. The dew point is a temperature at which a vapor condenses into a liquid. Furthermore, at any given temperature, the composition of the vapor is different from the composition of the liquid in most such cases. In order to illustrate these effects between the volatile components in a mixture, a boiling point diagram is commonly used. Distillation is a process of boiling and [usually] condensation which takes advantage of these differences in composition between liquid and vapor phases.

Also, dissolved solutes are always going to INCREASE boiling point, so as a mixture boils down, it becomes more concentrated, further increasing the boiling point.

There are a lot of different factors to learn about boiling points in relation to molecular chemistry, molar masses of dissolved substances, ect... Certainly not a terribly complex subject, but some basic principles, and lot's of maths.
Right.. that's stuff we weird people get... but taking it to laity is more like:

More pressure + different stuff = different outcome. Capiche?!

🤨🤨🙉
 
Dirtbag

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Also yeah, this little pressure cooker is awesome! lol, i totally forgot i even had it. 🤪

Its built like a tank. Super thick aluminum with a flat bottom. Only thing is the gasket doesnt look like its easily replaceable. Seems like its stuck in there good, so ill need to see if it even holds pressure.
It holds 5 quart jars perfectly, so this is for sure the one to run for my first go at this. Itll come up to pressure a lot faster for sure.
 
DavidMykel

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Right.. that's stuff we weird people get... but taking it to laity is more like:

More pressure + different stuff = different outcome. Capiche?!

🤨🤨🙉
Different is good, i always said it wouldnt be, but if someone puts you in a creepy zone, "more pressure different stuff creates a man like me who can see and create an outcome, just real talk, so you know, David Mykel Bruce Bell
 
beluga

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Different is good, i always said it wouldnt be, but if someone puts you in a creepy zone, "more pressure different stuff creates a man like me who can see and create an outcome, just real talk, so you know, David Mykel Bruce Bell
I'm not following.
And I took a lot of mushrooms, which I think might qualify me more for this... but, alas.
 
beluga

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Now I think I'm following.
I don't like that that occupied my attention so much.

But if it was a jab at my 'laity' comment, I assure you, I hold myself on no ground, let alone ground deemed more precious than another's.

If not, then, yeah, I'm just really not following even with reality creeping back in.

All love or some kind of objective neutrality here, my fellow.
 
Dirtbag

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Fired up the little pressure cooker tonight with a dry run of a 1 qt jar of water in it.

Little thing works good! The weight is kinda funny. It controls pressure by the size of the vent hole rather than weight really. Came up to 15 psi in about 45 min on the glass cooktop.

@beluga did you find you had to keep the heat at high with your glass top stove? Im not sure it will maintain pressure lower than that, though jt might. I only ran it for a few mins at 15 to pressure test it. Ill run one or 2 more trial runs before cooking grain with it.
Also how much water should I have in this thing for a 90 min run? Fill it like 2/3 up the jars? Id hate to run out of water...

I wonder how old this thing is. Made in Canada which is kinda cool and unheard of these days.
20201114 215915
 
Dirtbag

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Cool Canadian history in this thing. It was made between 1939 and 1953. Judging by how National is written on mine Id guess it was made in the late 40's or early 50's.

Heres a Canadian government archive of one that was used for sterilizing medical equipment. Kinda neat, the one i have has all the extra baskets and risers etc.
 
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amekins

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Fired up the little pressure cooker tonight with a dry run of a 1 qt jar of water in it.

Little thing works good! The weight is kinda funny. It controls pressure by the size of the vent hole rather than weight really. Came up to 15 psi in about 45 min on the glass cooktop.

@beluga did you find you had to keep the heat at high with your glass top stove? Im not sure it will maintain pressure lower than that, though jt might. I only ran it for a few mins at 15 to pressure test it. Ill run one or 2 more trial runs before cooking grain with it.
Also how much water should I have in this thing for a 90 min run? Fill it like 2/3 up the jars? Id hate to run out of water...

I wonder how old this thing is. Made in Canada which is kinda cool and unheard of these days.View attachment 1055970
FYI, you won’t lose water (at least very very little) because it all stays in until the pressure is released. Typically, you have water up to that lower outer lip (about 3/4 inch from top) of the jar.
 
beluga

beluga

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Fired up the little pressure cooker tonight with a dry run of a 1 qt jar of water in it.

Little thing works good! The weight is kinda funny. It controls pressure by the size of the vent hole rather than weight really. Came up to 15 psi in about 45 min on the glass cooktop.

@beluga did you find you had to keep the heat at high with your glass top stove? Im not sure it will maintain pressure lower than that, though jt might. I only ran it for a few mins at 15 to pressure test it. Ill run one or 2 more trial runs before cooking grain with it.
Also how much water should I have in this thing for a 90 min run? Fill it like 2/3 up the jars? Id hate to run out of water...

I wonder how old this thing is. Made in Canada which is kinda cool and unheard of these days.View attachment 1055970
For the heat - it'd have to be on high for a while to get it up to pressure, then I'd drop it to around medium medium low to maintain 15ish psi.

Couldn't say on the water level for sure, but, for reference, the 23 quart presto calls for 3 quarts.

That's a really cool piece of equipment. Homage to more genuine times... at least in terms of product quality...
 
Frankster

Frankster

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Also yeah, this little pressure cooker is awesome! lol, i totally forgot i even had it. 🤪

Its built like a tank. Super thick aluminum with a flat bottom. Only thing is the gasket doesnt look like its easily replaceable. Seems like its stuck in there good, so ill need to see if it even holds pressure.
It holds 5 quart jars perfectly, so this is for sure the one to run for my first go at this. Itll come up to pressure a lot faster for sure.
You can purchase replacement gasket material at an automotive or hardware store, they make different thickness and materials also. I think some of the older North American units are very cheap to acquire, and well constructed, certainly the way to go on a budget.

Chances are, some of those units you could modify, if you wanted, because there made from good solid materials in most cases. It's nice to have some of the bigger units for this kind of endeavor, I suspect.

One of these old pressure cookers was used for the Boston Marathon Bombing, actually. These things can be dangerous, if the valves are not properly functioning, keep that in mind people.

I was a bomb guy in the military (which sparked my lifelong interest in Chemistry, and Science) and I've worked around lot's of dangerous things over the years, and this is one of them. Especially while making Whiskey or ETOH, can be inherently dangerous. Any super heated vapors are not a joke.
 
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beluga

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Well first try with grain jars a bust:(
All contaminated, I shall try again:)View attachment 1056183View attachment 1056184

So, spore syringes are inherently dirty. But that doesn't mean that direct inoculation can't work, but it's a much bigger uncertainty. I did direct inoculation for a while with some success but also a lot of green.

Couple questions, (I think you may have posted, but I suck at going back and forth on my phone):
- Did you vent your PC for 10 minutes once it had a full stream of steam?
- How long did you PC?

Your grain looks prepped quite well, but that doesn't make or prevent contamination... it had to be introduced somewhere.

Couple notes:
- Glove boxes can create a positive air pressure within them that will force stuff into your media. I would pop those gloves out and try it in the Still Air Box form. Deliberate, smooth movements so to not disturb the air much.
- Did I see that you had tape over your grain jar lids? They have to be able to release steam in order to properly sterilize, so there should be some form of air exchange.

Any extra details you can think of, I'm happy to assist in troubleshooting.
 
1diesel1

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So, spore syringes are inherently dirty. But that doesn't mean that direct inoculation can't work, but it's a much bigger uncertainty. I did direct inoculation for a while with some success but also a lot of green.

Couple questions, (I think you may have posted, but I suck at going back and forth on my phone):
- Did you vent your PC for 10 minutes once it had a full stream of steam?
- How long did you PC?

Your grain looks prepped quite well, but that doesn't make or prevent contamination... it had to be introduced somewhere.

Couple notes:
- Glove boxes can create a positive air pressure within them that will force stuff into your media. I would pop those gloves out and try it in the Still Air Box form. Deliberate, smooth movements so to not disturb the air much.
- Did I see that you had tape over your grain jar lids? They have to be able to release steam in order to properly sterilize, so there should be some form of air exchange.

Any extra details you can think of, I'm happy to assist in troubleshooting.
No, I did not vent pc for 10 minutes before,
PC for 1 hour at 16 psi
And yes the tape was installed improperly (learning curb)
I injected in the closet where I’m pretty sure the contamination occurred, or I just did not get things sterile from step one of sterilization.

I should have injected in my fancy glove box?
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