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How long can jars wait before being inoculated?  3    

By boomer (Cmos) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 06:17 am:

As a couple of you may know, I innoculated my first jars a week or so ago, but then due to a major security risk(police activity), I had to trash everything I had. But, now everything has cooled off....
So, I did my second set of 12 jars tonight, and I didn't follow the rules..hehe...
When I PCed my first six jars, instead of letting them cool to room temp in the PC, I took them out and let them cool in the open. Did I screw up by doing that?? I don't use tape on my jar holes, just foil. Is the only reason you shouldn't do that for safety reasons, so you don't burn the hell out of yourself?? Or is there a better reason to let them cool in the PC??
I did my other 6 and am letting them cool in the PC, so those should be OK.
So, are my first 6 jars OK??
Thanks in advance.

By An guy (Boomer) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 06:30 am:

When the air cools in the jars, it condenses. This creates a partial vacuum in the jars, and nature abhors a vacuum.

So what happens is, some outside air will be sucked into the jars.

If they're still in the pc, that air is going to mostly be pc air that's been sterilized.

When they cool outside of the pc, they will suck in unsterilized air.

This will increase the chance of contams.

Increase, not guarantee. So, you increased the chance of contamination, but it's not a given, so don't get all discouraged- that verm barrier is a pretty good filter, although not infallible.

If you haven't knocked them up yet, I'd do them over, but if you have, let them grow, they might be allright- I let mine cool some outside the pot- let them cool inside some, and then took them out when I figured most of the air sucking was done. They came out allright...

good luck :)

By An guy (Boomer) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 06:39 am:

DANG!!

I forgot- the*other* reason has to do with heated/cooling air also- heated air takes more volume, why the pc builds up pressure- open that sucker up under pressure, it's dangerous. you twist till the lid is off the lugs, it could get blown out of your hands. Unlikely, but could happen.

To boot, what then happens is, all that thin heated air expands, again creating a partial vacuum which *sucks* in outside, unsterile air.

That sucking exposes your wet jars to lots of stuff, and the jars are wet all over. That stuff can migrate, just by drying the jars off, even....

It's good to try to let them cool in situ...

By boomer (Cmos) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 06:54 am:

COol, thanks An guy,
I think I will go ahead and innoculate the jars I took out anyways, to see if I have more contams by doing it that way.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

And, is there any reason I could't put the PC in the fridge to let it cool faster?? Or do the same reasons apply?? It would cool too fast and suck in outside air?
And yeah, I know better than opening while it still has pressure :-)
Thanks

By Stewie (Stew) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 07:01 am:

I innoculated 24 jars 14 days ago, I took the jars out of the pc as soon as I released pressure.This was done in a nasty stinking dorm room and I haven't had any contams yet.(knock, knock)Cakes are all at 80% or more. I have noticed that my verm barrier seems to have dissapeared. There is a small visible gap between substrate and the lids of the jars. I was wondering if it has anything to do with cooling outside of the pc?

By quote: (Quote) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 06:16 pm:

no, i don't see how that could affect it.

By Dr. Cubesis III (Newbieshroomer) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 06:26 pm:

Geez, after pressure cooking, my friends last batch ( 1/8 pint jelly jars procured from a thrift store )

My friend threw the jars directly into the freezer ( they didn't crack :) ) pulled them an hour later, innoculated them in the oven using only lysol rubber gloves and an alcohol lamp and they are about fully colonized.

since he bought so many damn spore prints after the sept 11th attacks, he's free to experiment.

So far he has discovered that he can degrade sterility each time, and STILL have every jar successfully colonize if he follows just a few simple sterility procedures.

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