HOW TO MAKE LIQUID CULTURE FOR MUSHROOM GROWING, Non-Vented Lid Jars from Start to Finish 

I think my ultimate favorite part of video two is your extremely effective but simplified way of depressurization/drawing fresh air- I’ve seen other videos which suggest silly techniques like trying to draw air out of the middle of a flame and then push it back in, this simple alcohol air filter technique seems much more reliable and simple!

One more question on LC types- what is your take on recipes which suggest to add a tiny amount of brewers yeast? It seems counterintuitive to add another, much faster growing, organism to the culture- even if you are sterilizing. I understand that yeast is nutritious but the amount is so tiny, I can’t fathom how it would be beneficial enough to be worth it?

@@ChristophHalverson-iw8gk There are tons of recipes and nutrient additives. Brewers yeast has been used for a long time, I wouldn't worry about it hurting your LC, but I like to keep it simple. 4% karo and a pinch of soy peptone, everything loves it.

Great videos! Hey quick tip on the rtv silicone if you spray a teeny bit of soapy water on its surface and your fingertip (gloved if you wish) then you can shape the silicone without it getting stuck to you! lets you make it thicker without having to go wider, if that makes sense. Go on, give it a whirl!

Thank you very much for sharing your expertise. Much appreciated ❤

Glad you enjoyed the video 👍 I'm always here if you have questions. Thanks for watching and subbing.

That's really nice of you to say, thank you 😁 Yes, it only takes a couple seconds for the pressure to equalize, no plunger needed.

@@RenegadeMushrooms thanks for the reply! Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing all your knowledge!

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Awesome, having a flowhood is a game changer.

Good idea, thanks for watching

I find both are useful, so it's good to know how to make vented and non-vented LC.

I was thinking you could use a syringe filter to equalize, then use a syringe cap on the filter to stop the f.a.e. disadvantage to this is you are not eliminating any time or cost on the lids, and stacking sucks with syringe filters. Let me know if you came up with any good ideas!

Yes, the syringe filter would work well for venting also. Theoretically, an open needle in front of a flowhood would work as well, but I've always preferred multiple levels of security mostly because I'm working in a regular old basement with an old forced air furnace so I have some sketchy air currents. If I was in a clean room with filtered air, I wouldn't sweat it as much. As far as venting a jar right away or leaving it in vacuum, you could leave it in vacuum until you're ready to use it. But, if mold or bacteria sneaks in there during venting at any point, your jar is toast. The advantage to venting them immediately and then storing them for later use is that any contam will germinate and you'll know not to use that jar. I've vented them immediately, and stored them for months before inoculation with no issues using this method.

Glad you enjoy the channel 👍 My basement ranges from 60 to 70 F depending on time of year and I see little, if any, effect on the growth of my LC in that temperature range. I would say anywhere from 50 to 80 F is fine.

@@RenegadeMushrooms thank you for taking the time to answer my question

Two injection ports isn't really necessary. I always look at it like any additional holes in your lids are potential contamination points.

@@RenegadeMushrooms i chill ville means like 2 on the same hole 1 on top and one on the inside, the same way the rtv is done but with the self adhesive ports

@@angel2jimenez219 Not necessary.

You want to use it within 2 weeks for best results. If you need to store it longer, it's best to keep it in the refrigerator. A fresh high quality culture will store much better than an older weaker one, but, in general, cordyceps cultures senesce much more rapidly then other species. So, the longer you store them, the weaker they get.

Yes, it is to clean any potential contaminants out of the syringe and needle.

That's an interesting idea, but you would have to add 50 ccs or so of H202 just to equalize a pint jar. I'm thinking that would cause issues with growth. You would need a monster syringe, or have to do multiple injections. This air venting method might seem complicated in the video, but it's actually pretty easy once you do it a couple of times. Thanks for watching 👍

That method will work fine in a SAB, just be careful with the flame and alcohol vapor. Flame outside the SAB, then go in and equalize. I would inoculate right away if it were me. Just always test a bit on a small grain jar before going big time.

You could try it, but my concern would be that the filter patch would grow mold under the scotch tape. The filter patch needs to exchange air and do it's thing to keep it dry. If you cover it with tape, the excess moisture build-up from lack of airflow may cause mold to germinate on it contaminating your jar.

There are lots of designs out there. I prefer a centrifugal fan setup myself. I explain how I built my hood in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AE9tP61JgP8.html

That way you just gotta pull the tab without even lifting the foil covers if it's sticking out enough and then simply tighten and boom done. Saves me lots of time with large batches!

Good tip, thank you 👍

I've used liquid culture for many years, but I just started working with agar and I'm enjoying it as well. I really only plan to use agar to clone wild mushrooms. I recently made a video of cloning a wild Morel on agar if you are interested. The project is on-going. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-G2SiinsEcCI.html

@@RenegadeMushrooms Great thanks!

There are a lot of ways to accomplish the pressure equalization step, this is just what has worked for me for 20 years so I feel comfortable that it will work for others consistently. The air in the syringe stays sterile because you are flaming the needle as you pull back the plunger. It takes a lot of air to equalize the pressure, so if you left the plunger in it would take 4 or 5 syringes worth to equalize one jar. This process has redundant steps to ensure clean air enters the jar.

Thank you👍 I ordered a 30 year supply 15 years ago from a medical supplier in Jersey, but they seem more difficult to find nowadays. Mycology suppliers seem to be the best bet now. Check out Shroom Supply or other online mycology stores.

Yeah, it might. I actually really like that idea although I would probably go 2 or 3 layers of micropore to be safe. Or maybe glue a small filter disc to it. I'm gonna try it 👍

@@RenegadeMushrooms Awesome, let me know if it works!

@@RenegadeMushrooms Can one use plastic jars instead of glass jar?

@@bestheirs8999 Plastic jars are ok as long as you use thick PP5 plastic, but glass is superior in my opinion.

I've had trouble finding them myself lately, but I know Shroom Supply has 14 gauge needles and they work well.

No, I never have, but I'm sure it would work. I've never really had a problem not hitting the hole though with the red.

You can as long as the spore syringe is sterile, it works great. Thanks for watchin 👍

@@RenegadeMushrooms hey Renegade, I subscribe to over a hundred channels covering various subjects. You are the only one that I know will answer a question. Great job! Really appreciate it.

I'm doing multiple different species of mushrooms, hence the multiple jars. Also, sometimes I use a whole jar per grow with the mycelium flood method I demonstrate in my video on how to grow Cordyceps.

Sorry for the late reply, I missed your comment. The microppose filter discs are .22 micron. The polyfil syringe process I demonstrate is the technique I use to manually equalize the pressure in liquid culture jars with no filter disc in the lid after running them in the PC.

Yes, that would probably work, but it may be more work than it's worth as it takes a lot of air, usually more than one syringe, to equalize you jar pressure. Here is a link to a new technique I just tried that works great: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-28uUicG6M2g.html

I snug the lids down tight and they are the right way, not upside down. I've never had one explode on me, but I only fill them to 300 ml in a pint. If the jars were full of liquid, they might break on you.

Just refill it with iso, push through to clear all the iso, then withdraw plunger while flaming. I've never run it through the PC. Works every time for me.

Cotton, being a natural fiber, absorbs water and is more prone to contamination. Polyfil is cheap and definitely the way to go.

​@@RenegadeMushrooms Thanks for the quick response. I was asking this because polyfil is hard to find near me, only online. I also understand that reuse is the way to go. However, as I don't have polyfil, I'm going to do a test with cotton, but I'm not going to reuse it. Thank you, I learn a lot from you

@@crypto.entrepreneurs You can also use 2 layers of micropore or cloth medical tape if you can find that.

@@RenegadeMushrooms Yes that I have. I'll try it that way too. Thanks

A wine fridge is a great choice actually for LC storage of cold tolerant species. Just remember that tropical species like pink oyster and almond agaricus should be stored at room temperature, as temps down in the 40s can harm or kill them, 65F is good for them.

Yes that would work too. I've done that before with the foil wrap and it worked well.

It's more like 200+ ccs to equalize.

@@RenegadeMushrooms Wow, thats a lot of vaccum ! I wasnt aware it was so much. I understand more clearly now. Thank you for the quick reply. I enjoy your videos so much, I re-watch them every time I go to perform some mycology steps. I'm still a noob. Oh, I tried your trick about injecting sterile water into a colonized grain bag and then aspirating the water back out and then injecting it into a fresh grain bag, It worked!!, no contamination at all. Thank you again :)

@@lycanzhp1141 Awesome, glad it worked for you 👍

I'm actually using a 16 gauge BD needle that I got for free with a LC syringe.

If you can only do 10 psi, I would go for 60 minutes instead of 30 minutes. The tin foil tops are to protect your injection ports and/or filter discs from steam in the pressure cooker. 18 gauge needles are the smallest you can go. They will work, but you will likely get some clogs. 14 gauge works pretty well.

The main drawback to having vents in the lids is the vents are prone to have mold germinate on them if you don't keep them dry. So, if you're not extremely careful when pulling syringes, you can continually soak them with LC and covering with foil can actually hurt in that case because it will cause the filter to remain moist. Once mold germinates on your filter it will punch right through to your jar and its game over, so you really have to focus on keeping those filters dry if you're going to use them. For this reason, I only use filters on jars where I'm going to dump the whole jar to substrate like with my mycelium flood method for Cordyceps and Enoki.

@@RenegadeMushrooms Hello Thx you very much for the quick reply. Yes. Actually I just started growing shrooms. I used 2 layers of micropore tape for venting , but those are constantly wet. I guess because the liquid is breathing through them. Non vented lids are probably a great alternative. I also used spore solution to inoculate the liquid culture (as recommended in a certain book). Problem: The spores multiply but don’t germinate. Lc works much better to inoculate lc. 😉

No, it's never been an issue for me but when you apply your RTV you do want to make it as smooth as you can. Less nooks and crannies vs. more.

​​@@RenegadeMushroomsFor sure! You have a ton of videos and its clear you enjoy making these... It would be awesome if you put out a blooper reel one of these days

microppose.com/products/adherable-injection-ports-for-plant-mushroom-tissue-culture Don't forget you can use promo code "RENEGADE" at checkout to save yourself 10%.

Not a dumb question at all. It is a good idea to give it a swirl or shake every few days during colonization. Just make sure, if you choose to use a filter in the jar lid, that you aren't continuously getting it wet when you shake because it will eventually grow mold. If you use a lid without a filter, you can shake at will.

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If you were going to do that, then you would just use a lid with a filter disc in it like I show in my 101 video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NvGWP_jFZmo.html

I use a syringe once, pulling in LC and then dispensing it into jars. IMO pulling more LC back in risks introducing contamination without resterilizing the syringe. Not saying you couldn't get away with it but I don't do it. Syringes can be washed, wrapped in foil or placed in a jar, and re-sterilized in the PC though. I also use 20cc syringes when doing transfers so I get a little more volume. Syringes with LC left in them can be stored for a couple months in a ziploc bag.

Thanks for the reply. I'm a big fan of the show. Being new at this, I have to "pick my battles" to save money, and I'm not willing to risk an entire batch in order to save a few bucks

Yes, if it was mounted to the lid, and you used some type of sterile filter media.

Better to buy them online imo. This is where I get mine, they are an affiliate of ours: www.shroomsupply.com/syringes-needles/sterile-syringes/?referrer=CNWR_684691708647669

That's a very interesting idea. Theoretically that should work. The only issue I could see is that it may lead to excessive caramelization of the sugars in your solution, but that may not be an issue. Try it and let me know if it works 👍

Yes I would think so, but I always hand wash them, only take a second.

You can do it with a lighter, but a small torch works much better. You don't need a giant propane torch like I have. A small butane torch is fine.

Yes, as long as you assemble everything in front of the flowhood, that should work fine. The alcohol soaked polyfil is an old school poor man's trick from back in the Shroomery days. It's always worked flawlessly for me so I stuck with it. Try the filter deal and please let me know how it works for you.

@@RenegadeMushrooms Thank you! I will.

Yes it works well with spores too as long as the spore syringe is clean and sterile.

Yes, I re-use them many times, until they get brittle.

They're hard to find nowadays. Shroom Supply has 14 gauge needles the work great though.

@@RenegadeMushrooms I wonder why this is the case. Is preferred amongst drug abusers? 🤔

It works fine for quarts, never tried it for half gallons. I'm sure there is a point where the liquid volume would require a filter to myceliate sufficiently.

Yes, as long as the syringe is sterile.

Probably as long as you incubate in a storage tote. I would go with two layers of medical tape though. Also I wouldn't use a jar bigger than a quart with just a single hole. Anything one quart or less should be fine for air exchange.

I've never used an Instant Pot so I don't know. I'm sure you can find some vids on YT.

oh yeah I see a lot of videos. I didn't know it was even used but I guess some people prefer it. I am going to try to grow lions mane for my first mushroom. any tips? @@RenegadeMushrooms

@@AM2PMReviews Lions Mane vid: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-N-Qpb3K8EL0.html I think some people prefer the instant pot because it's cheaper than a real pressure cooker. If you're going to get somewhat serious about this hobby however, spending a couple hundred bucks on a 23 quart Presto pressure canner is well worth it imo.

You can, but you need to use a lot of LC if you're going to spawn it to bulk substrate. It will be slow to colonize as well, so it's not very efficient and leads to increased risk of contamination. That's why the general rule is LC to Grain to Bulk Substrate.

You could use a syringe filter, but you need to make sure everything downstream of the filter is clean as well. There are lots of ways to vent jars, this is just what I prefer, never let me down.

I'm currently using 18 gauge needles as well. All injection ports will wear out eventually, but a good dollop of high temp RTV is the most durable in my experience. I would say I get about 50 injection/extractions out of mine before scrapping. If yours are wearing out prematurely, make sure you're using high temp RTV and putting it on thick. Your flashlight comment cracked me up because I do the exact same thing and no, a brief exposure doesn't seem to hurt them. Also, I store everything at ambient basement temp which is 60 to 70 F depending on the season.

@@RenegadeMushrooms thank you so every stage likes the same temps. Also I'm using high temp RTV Silicone and it's been the first time I put the needle in. Same with the S.H.I.Ps on some of my plastic lids. First poke and I can visually see the hole. Also it's not that brief of a light show for my babies. I went full production from the start knowing I should start small. I've watched hundreds of hours of videos and read 3 books 2 by Stamets and the mushroom grow Bible. I felt confident enough to dump a handful of cash down on everything I needed including a LFH. I have 25 56qt monotubs. So when I go into the lab I turn the lights on and spend about an hour maybe more inspecting agar cups, LCs and GS. So I'm in there for a few I'd that too long or should I adjust my tek. And a question I forgot to ask... I notice you like to shake up your GS allot earlier than most growers, I understand all the principals involved as well, however, what is too much shaking, when is too early and when is too late. I love your channel and I'm very familiar with good ol awkward Gary. Thanks for your quick response. Also my light is an Olight Warrior 3S so it can go all the way down to half a candlepower and run 1watt. So that should be ok? I was thinking of getting an Ultra Violet flashlight and green laser for some of the inspections, what do you think of this method? Last thing brochacho, I've been manufacturing a synthetic dung via nutrient supplementation, I use it as a nutrient broth when gaining field capacity in my Bulk Sub and it works great! Any time I notice contamination on my agar plates, I drop a few drops of Colloidal silver directly on to the contam, it's worked for everything but yeast and the mycelium doesn't care much and bounces back very quickly. I had a contaminated plate I soaked in Colloidal Silver and then put it up and actually forgot about it for almost a month or more. I stuck my spore syringe into the grain spawn just cuz and it sucked the last of my solution out so fast it hurts. I thought I'd lost my genetics, but I just cut 8 clean plates from that contaminated and treated with CS plate. So I saved the genetics with colloidal silver. I highly recommend CS over H²O² or anything else for that matter. I am going to perform more experiments with it soon lol. Sorry for the novel

@@treehouseconstituents6402 That's a cool idea with the silver. I know it's a potent antibiotic, but never heard of anyone using it for mushroom cultivation 👍 I don't think that brief exposure to a low wattage flashlight would hurt your grows. If you held it on one spot for like 20 minutes maybe, but not just glancing around checking grows. Not sure what's going on with your injection ports, but you may just be over-analyzing. You will always be able to see where the needle penetrated, but there shouldn't be a hole that would allow contams in. If there is, your RTV isn't curing properly or something. I've tried a lot of pre-fabbed rubber injection ports and they all pretty much suck. My favorites are the self-adhesive ones from Microppose.com, but you can't beat RTV for durability.

@@RenegadeMushrooms thank you, and I could see light through the hole. My assumption is that most of the times my needle took a "core sample" lol the core was extricated. So. I just fully processed 32 grain spawn today I have to go to bed it's 5am lmao I didn't even realize. Can't stop mid project though fuck. I can't leave my FC grain out all night all I can do is jar it FML

I've never had a problem with the high temp RTV sticking to the metal lids, but I can see that being an issue on plastic if you don't rough it up a bit.. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I've never trusted just sucking in air from in front of my flowhood right in to my LC jars. The alcohol soaked polyfil serves as an insurance policy to catch any contams that may be present. It's never failed me in 20 years, so I stick with it. A needle right out of the package would not need to be flamed. Thanks for watching 👍

​@@RenegadeMushroomsaway another question, please: why couldn't you tape over a vented lid filter with regular tape, to prevent further air exchange?

@@stephenwalther9702 I don't see any reason why you would want to do that. The only reason you wouldn't want a filter in the lid is because then you don't have to worry about getting it wet when you shake your jar, potentially causing mold germination. Just taping over it won't prevent that.

Yes you run the alcohol through first to sanitize the entire pathway of the incoming air, needle hub, syringe, etc. It is not the same as just cracking the lid in front of the flowhood because you get an extra level of protection with the syringe because all of the air flows through the alcohol sanitized pathway of the syringe, polyfil, needle etc. Just a more controlled way of doing it. Everyone loves to think of ways around doing this, but it's always worked for me so I've stuck with it. I really don't find it difficult, but it's not something I would attempt in a SAB. If you are using a SAB, just use a filter disc in your lid in addition to the injection port and problem solved.

Cool trick 👍 This alcohol soaked polyfil deal is pretty quick and effective as well.

1 year or a bit more under refrigeration.

Not even close, you could dump a full 20cc syringe in and still have vacuum.

You want a 4% solution so just take your total distilled water volume and multiply it by .04, that will be your amount of karo. Not perfect but close enough 😁 I usually put 300 ml. of liquid in my pint jars so 300x.04=12. So add 12 ml. of karo to each jar if you go with 300 ml. You can go a hair over that without hurting anything.

@@RenegadeMushrooms thanks

There would still be enough vacuum that you would need to equalize. You could put a little more liquid in there if you wanted, but overfilling them can cause alot of issues, so if you need more volume, just make more jars.

If the jars were filled almost completely, would there be enough oxygen for a year's storage?

@@RobBanks81 It's possible they may be starved for oxygen if the jar was too full. It could cause all kinds of problems actually, no reason to do it. I've always filled them to 300 ml. for a pint and 600 ml. for a quart and never had any issues.

18 gauge works fine if you don't add the peptone to the LC recipe. It will grow fine with just the karo, just more slowly and not as thick.

How long are you cooking it in the PC? It only needs 30 minutes at 15 psi. Usually really dark color is cause by sugar caramelization from overcooking.

@@RenegadeMushrooms I’ve done it a few times and probably cooked it a bit too long, but I was also thinking perhaps I didn’t have it mixed well enough. It comes out all settled to the bottom and clearly burnt

@@ChristophHalverson-iw8gk What recipe are you using, mine?

I've worked with agar, but never poured my own. Pretty much everything I do is LC. Hopefully another viewer will chime in. You could always ask the people at Shroom Supply too, they might have a suggestion.

If you have have a pc then do no pour agar, its what I do because I use a SAB

Hey Harold.... FWIW I've been using the bottles that Kombucha is typically sold in and the grocery. They are about 500ml, clear and typically built like a tank. Their stickers/labels are a bit of a pain to remove so I steam them for a few minutes, peal the (usually clear) wrapper. To get the glue residue off I wipe with something like Goof Off (acetone) or mineral spirits/lantern fuel/kerosene Never had an issue and I figure I've saved myself enough for some great MSS'. Needless to say, you might want to do this away from your lit torch. :)

I've tried it with up to a 50 cc syringe and it wasn't enough. Maybe 100cc would work? 14 or 16 gauge needle is fine, 12 is a little big so I need to edit that comment. Shroom Supply has 14 and 16 I believe.

Hey RM, is there any disadvantage of using the good plastic lid (with the appropriate silicone seal) when making non vented lids (using the red RTV)? Or do you recommend metal lids? Thanks!

@@mse1333 If you're going to go with plastic lids, I highly recommend the Masontops Tough Tops lids. I wouldn't trust any other plastic lid set-up I've tried for LC. Or just go with the old school metal canning lids.

Plus I the wild, millions of spores are produced with only a small fraction of them ever colonizing and producing fruiting bodies for us to enjoy.

Not necessary, all you need is that initial equalization to relieve the vacuum. Just allow it to colonize for 2 weeks or so and it's ready to use for up to a year with no additional pressure equalization needed.

@@RenegadeMushrooms Thanks for the follow-up. One more question, have you ever tried cooking your grain in agar befor inoc to speed up spawn?

@@diverwa No I haven't, but let me know how it works if you try it.

You could, but when you're keeping a jar around for a year or so, and pulling dozens of syringes from it, there's a significant risk that a taped hole becomes a contamination vector at some point. Not worth the risk imo.

@@RenegadeMushrooms yes every weak link... I'm small time just starting out, looking for ways to prolong liquid culture if I get that far

It will grow if left alone, but it grows faster and won't be so thick that it clogs your needle if you swirl/shake it every day or two. Some people like to put a small marble or stainless steel ball bearing in the jar to help break the mycelium up when you shake. Magnetic stir plates are relatively inexpensive too, and they work great.

@@RenegadeMushrooms awesome thank you!

There are a lot of potential contam vectors in your proposed process unless you're working in a very controlled contam free environment, which I definitely am not. Foil is a very imperfect seal, removing foil and capping could introduce contams, and a cooling PC can pull in contams, potentially introducing them to imperfectly sealed jars inside. Their are lots of ways to successfully sterilize LC. You can also put a filter in the lid that will automatically equalize pressure without introducing contams (I show that in my other LC video). All I can tell you is that the techniques I demonstrate have worked flawlessly for me for 20 years, but there is always room for improvement 👍

Technically yes, as long as you seal them in front of a flowhood. The problem is that your pressure cooker pulls in outside air as it cools, so you are risking contams entering your jars in the PC if your lids aren't sealed, although the foil would help prevent that. I work in a dusty old basement, so even with a flowhood I prefer to leave my lids sealed. This method has always worked flawlessly for me and others, but there are many ways to accomplish the same goals in mushroom growing so I always encourage everyone to do what works best for them.

Thank you for your answer@@RenegadeMushrooms I'll have to experiment then and see if there's a more reliable than not way of this method.

Never measured it and it varies by jar but I would guess it's more like 100 - 200 ccs to initially equalize a pint LC jar. I usually only add 3 or 4 ccs from the syringe. If you injected a jar in a state of full vacuum it would rip a 10 cc syringe plunger down instantly. In theory I get what you're saying, but in practice once you do the initial equalization everything else works itself out in the wash.

Yep you got it. With this method you can expand one LC syringe into pints, quarts, even gallons of liquid culture to inoculate your spawn with. Much cheaper than continually buying syringes, at least for species you think you are going to grow a lot of.

Valid point. I like to pressure cook a jar of syringes with my liquid culture

That may be, but will the carbon buildup on the needle hinder the sealing of the injection port? Or does the use of a propane torch not cause carbon buildup on the needle? And the idea also was stated to cool the needle so the injection port does not get accidentally melted...

I actually had a video at one point showing that exact technique, as another viewer had suggested it. While it seemed to work for me, I had several reports of the needle leaving a permanent hole in people's injection ports after the PC run. As a result, I took the video down. If you don't want to do the alcohol syringe trick, you can also use a sterile needle with a sterile syringe filter firmly attached to vent your jars. I understand the alcohol/flame business can be intimidating, especially for beginners.

@@RenegadeMushrooms When you tried it what type of injection port did you use. You seem to use a good amount of RTV I've noticed in a lot of videos they didn't use very much maybe that was the problem. Have you tried it with the stick on ports or the rubber ones that you push through the hole? Well anyway nothing is ever simple, but sometime I might try it with all three type of ports and see what happens.

@@samgodfrey8141 I use a good gob of high temp RTV on my LC jars and it seemed to work fine for me. I was also wondering if maybe some people are using regular black RTV, which may create the issue.

@@RenegadeMushrooms I had that exact issue using rtv, permanent hole. Luckily the rtv was nearby and I was able to put a glob on quickly and saved the jars, but I’m not sure of a great solution. I don’t have a flow hood so now I’m a bit worried about trace air being sucked in when I’m taking out syringes full and creating a new vacuum…

@@goodelleric You might be better off just having a filter disc in your lid until you have a flowhood setup.

No, it's a nice supplement. But just karo will work.

Cool, let me know if you have any other questions. My PC rockers are set for 15 psi, and that's fairly standard for most mushroom growing sterilization procedures. I'm not an experienced canner myself, but I'm sure 15 psi is overkill in some situations. I was taught to run at 15 psi, so that's all I've ever done, and I rarely get contams so I've just stuck with it.

In two and a half hours of time, I have five pages of notes! I live in upper Michigan and I thought the coolest thing (besides all your content) was resting the grains. "So I'm going to go ice fishing for 3-4 hours"

@@grizzlybeast5 Ahh cool, yes fishing is my other passion. I fish all year, but I love to ice fish. I have a good friend in the U.P. and he always brags to me about their long ice season up there. In Western NY, we're lucky to get 2 good months of ice, but I hit it hard when we have it.

LMFAO! He can brag all he wants, but if you have to add an extension to your power auger, ice fishing isn't as fun!

@@grizzlybeast5 Agreed lol

Yes, that's normal. Make sure you are only PCing your LC for 25 minutes once you reach full pressure though. If you go much longer it will start to caramelize your sugars and make your LC even darker. It will still work, but this is generally not recommended.

@@RenegadeMushrooms Ooops! I did over an hour. Thanks for the heads up. If it is cloudy after my LC transfer, that indicates contamination, right?

@@mattemmerson5877 Yes, usually bacteria

I just did a new batch of LC jars. Half were extra light malt extract and peptone. Half were light corn syrup and peptone. The malt ones came out of the pressure cooker dark and cloudy. The corn syrup ones are darker than they started but not like the malt, but the liquid is clear. So it'll be harder to detect contamination when inoculating the malt jars. I hope this makes sense.

@@mattemmerson5877 It does make perfect sense, I tried DLME many years ago and I wasn't really a fan for that exact reason. The mycelium seems to love having all those little nuggets to adhere to, but I didn't like the cloudiness.

I'm not sure either. What lids are you using? How full are your LC jars with liquid, and is there water left in the bottom of your PC when the cook cycle finishes? Also, what are you using for a heat source? I've run thousands of jars, and never had one break.