Friday, November 24, 2023

Phase One: (Step 6) Using the Pressure Cooker For the Grain Jars

 

Disclaimer: What are Your Intentions For Growing or Using? 

It's Pressure Cooker Time

If you've never used a pressure cooker before, this step can seem really overwhelming and daunting. 

Don't fret! I had never used a pressure cooker before this experience, and it turned out great. I'll take you step by step how to do this.

What you will need

🟧 10 wide mouth quart jars with lids and bands

🟧 Special lids you have made

🟧 23 Quart Pressure Cooker

🟧 Tinfoil

🟧 Large silicon oven mitt that covers your forearm and hand

Putting the Grain in the Jars

  1. When the rye berries are completely dry, you can load them into the 10 quart jars. 
  2. Put on the special lids you have made. 
  3. Twist on the bands that will hold on the lids. 
  4. Cover the jar with tin foil. Two layers is helpful.
    1. When I grow again, I will put two layers of tin foil on the jars. 
    2. The first time I did this, I only used one layer of tin foil. 
    3. With two of my jars, the tin foil got ripped on top, when it rubbed against another jar when I pulled it from the pressure cooker (PC). The three top jars are very tightly fit in the PC, and it's easy to rip the aluminum foil.  
  5.  I put the foil halfway down the jar like in the picture above.
  6. The tin foil will keep the white micron filter from getting wet (mostly).
  7. When you put the jars in the pressure cooker (PC), water will build up from all the steam, and you don't want the filters getting wet if you can help it. This could allow contamination in later.
  8. If the filter does get wet, it's okay. I had a few of mine get wet, and it turned out just fine.
  9. The tin foil will also keep the top of the jar extra protected from mold spores and contaminates in the air. 
  10. I take the foil off in the clean room, right before I inject them with the spores.
  11. If you are going to grow more than one type of mushroom in this batch, label AFTER inoculation or right before inoculation, but after going through the PC. I don't think the tape would last through the PC.


 Disinfect The Grain - Pressure Cooker Time!

  1. If you have never used a pressure cooker (PC), you will need to read the instructions that come with the cooker at least a couple of times to get to know how to use it. 
  2. If you don't have the original instructions, find them online. Seriously... this is super important!
  3. Then I recommend watching a couple of videos as well. 
  4. Watch this video below before you start trying anything. 
  5. As I was doing this the first time, I pulled up this video and did all the steps with the guy on the video. It was really helpful!

  6. Get out your pressure cooker (PC). 
  7. Take off the lid. 
  8. Make sure all the parts are there, and they are in working order. 
  9. Put 3 quarts of water into the PC, and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar if you want to decrease the chances of water stains on the inside of your PC, and decrease staining on your jars.
  10. Put the canning rack on the bottom of the pressure cooker. You need this there, or the jars will touch directly on the metal bottom, and it could break your jars. 
  11. This picture below shows what a canning rack looks like. It will come with your pressure cooker. If your PC doesn't have one, you need to buy one.

  12. Put your 10 jars into your pressure cooker. Seven of them will stand up. Three of them you will need to lay down sideways on top of the seven. 
  13. In the instructions, you will see a warning to not lay these jars on their sides. Please keep in mind that we are not canning anything. There is no pressure build up in these jars, because of the filter on the jar lids that is allowing for air exchange. 
  14. We are using a pressure cooker to disinfect the grain, not to can it, so we can lay the jars on their sides without any issue.
  15. You are going to run the PC for 90 minutes at 15 psi.  
  16. You don't start the clock for the 90 minutes, until you have reached 15 psi. 
  17. Turn on your stove top to high. 
  18. Don't put the pressure weight on yet, until the air vent has popped up. 
  19. I have a weight that came with 23 quart PC. This weight goes over the steam valve, and tells me when I've reached 15 psi. It's awesome! 
  20. I know that I've reached 15 psi when the weight dances around and whistles. It makes a bunch of noise, but I love it because I don't have to sit there and stare at it every second. If you hear the whistle, you know that it's at 15 psi.
  21. Even with it whistling, I still checked on the PC every 5-7 minutes. I'm sure that was because this was my first time doing it. 
  22. Here is a video of what the pressure cooker will sound like when it's whistling. 
  23. During this time of initially heating up, it's getting all the air out of the PC. You want only steam inside the PC, not air.
  24. After the air vent pops up, wait another 5 to 10 minutes until you see a steady stream of steam coming out of the vent.
  25. After the 5-10 minutes of steady steam coming out, put the weight on.
  26. Once you get to 7 psi, turn it down to medium heat. 
  27. Once you get to 10 psi, turn it down to medium-low heat. 
  28. Once you get to 12 psi, turn it down to low heat. 
  29. When you reach 15 psi, turn it down just a small titch. Watch it closely! You want to maintain 15 psi!  
  30. If you need to increase or decrease the heat, do it slowly, so you don't have to over correct. 
  31. Watch the guy in the video above. I did exactly what he said, and it went beautifully! 
  32. This is SUPER IMPORTANT!!! You need to have the grain jars in the PC for 90 minutes AFTER you have reached 15 psi. 
  33. So that means the grains need a TOTAL of 90 minutes running at 15 psi. 
  34. Any time it takes to get to 15 psi, does not count toward the 90 minutes. 
  35. It takes awhile to get it to the right temperature. So get a book or watch a movie or something. 
  36. If you drop lower than 15 psi, stop the timer. When you reach 15 psi again, start the timer again. 
  37. For instance, if you had it at 15 psi for one hour and suddenly it drops below 15 psi. You will stop your timer. When it gets back up to 15 psi again, you start the timer. You will need to still have another 30 minutes at 15 psi.  
  38. When you have pressure cooked the grain jars for 90 minutes, simply turn off the stove.

Release The Steam From The PC

Now it's time to release the steam. There are two ways to do this: naturally and quick release.

By doing nothing, the steam will naturally release. As it cools down it will slowly let the steam out. It will take probably 45-60 minutes to do that. 


If you want a quick release, put on your large oven mitt that covers your hand and forearm. You don't want the steam to burn you. 

Take off the weight that is over the valve.  

A HUGE amount of steam will come out for around 2-3 minutes. Make sure you don't do this under a cabinet. It might hurt the wood. It's a lot of hot steam!

It needs to cool off completely, including the very inside of the jars. It's going to take probably 8-10 hours to cool enough. If the grain is too hot when you go to inoculate it with spores, then it will kill the mushroom spores. You don't want to do that!  

So be patient. 😁

I couldn't find a video of someone doing this with a PC, because this is not something you would do with canning. But again, we are not canning, we are disinfecting. But this video is very similar. The only differences are that you don't turn the little black knob that is on the insta pot. 

Instead, you just take the weight off, and it will release the steam. 

 

 

Next Step: (Step 7) Last Prep for Clean Room


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