Grain Preparation
What you will see in this short video are a few clips from our grain preparation chapter. The full chapter on our DVD will take you through the entire process of preparing grain spawn for growing mushrooms. You’ll start out by rinsing the dry grains under hot tap water. After that, you’ll soak the grains in water for anywhere from six to twenty-four hours to fully hydrate them, and also to allow some of the present bacterial endospores to germinate.
After the soak, the water is brought to a rapid boil for a few minutes. Stir the pot several times while it's heating up to avoid burning the grains on the bottom. Try to have a kettle large enough that there is at least a couple of inches of water above the level of the grains.
Here's a short preview of the grain preparation video.
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After boiling for a few minutes, pour out the water and catch the grains in a strainer.The video then goes on to explain how to allow the grains to steam-dry until they’re at the perfect moisture content to load into mason jars. The procedures for making several types of filters for the lids are explained.
Among the easily obtained filter materials are Polyfill, which is sold in craft stores as pillow or toy stuffing. Another material is Tyvek, commonly used in disposable coveralls and kite building. A third method explained is commercially made synthetic filter disks, which can be used hundreds of times. You’ll lids for grain spawn made with each of these materials.The chapter ends by loading the jars into the pressure cooker and sterilizing them. Proper technique for getting good sterilization is explained and demonstrated.
Enjoy the short sample clip!
Marc R Keith