Donāt you still need a pressure cooker?
Edit: Ah. Just looked it up again. Seems like a really good method, but isnāt currently workable for me.
I had been considering this:
I may just skip it altogether and see if I get lucky.
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Steam sterilize, liquids will heat through evenly and come up to temp, pressure cookers are needed for the thicker/dense grains. Rice and popcorn can be steam sterilized (broke boi tek) just like the PF tek.
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Okay, you talked me into it 
Just ordered the stuff, should be here in plenty of time. Got the Pasty containers coming though, instead of jars. And some RTV because itās so handy 
I already have a big bag of ultra fine activated charcoalā¦ How much of that would you add, if you were interested in that sort of thing?
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No idea on the charcoal addition, but yea those do look nice hehe
Oh, each 25g bag makes like a liter of agar
Some people save the water they used to wash/boil rice/grains and use that for agar or LC since thereās plenty of starch in it
Late night edit
Well I cooked up some CVG, boil in bag style, hope to make up three shoeboxes tomorrow after work.
The LC I made are testing clean. These are just small bottles of low sugar apple juice, pre sterilized and shelf stable. Just like agar and other LC, make sure to use a SAB or flow hood when opening! I did make a small hole in the cap and covered it with micropore tape.
Cordyceps Militaris bottle A test (some is already turning orange since I havenāt kept it in the dark)
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Nice! Chubby things, lol
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Harvested my second flush of that tiny aluminum tray that was spawned with half a bag of Uncle Benās rice, and while I didnāt get much of a yield itās enough to get me excited and wanting to improve.
I got my malt extract agar mix and other supplies today, so some time in the next week (health permitting) Iām gonna try and make up some Pasty Plates to play around with.
Iām finding this hobby pretty fascinating. I wish Iād have been able to get into it sooner.
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I donāt like mushrooms in my food normally, been almost 20yrs since I last had the fun kind. the science behind this hobby and lab gear makes me giddy hehe
I got my Landscape morel LC in yesterday 
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I used to straight up hate mushrooms. Iāve grown to almost like a few types now that I know how to cook them properly.
Itās been almost thirty years since Iāve taken any kind of psychedelics, and I probably wouldnāt be getting into shrooms now if I didnāt have treatment-resistant depression and anxiety and an interest in seeing if microdosing will help.
And yeah, the process of it all is very interesting. Will likely switch to culinary types once Iāve got enough meds on hand, just to keep myself busy and entertained
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Speaking of ā¦ went out looking todayā¦ Itās still pretty early but they are starting ā¦ I say that having stepped over this little thing and the lady finding itā¦ She wins this year lol
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Nice! I hope to find one myself, but odds are stacked against me for sure. Theyāre rare in my state and I donāt know places to start looking, and doubt Iāll be timing things right.
You take a tissue sample 
?
I have one gold oyster sample that is growing, need to do a transfer to clean up, or at least cut out the infected pieces till it grows out a bit more.
Saved $5 from ordering a LC and cloned my first culture. Though the agar plates are $2 each and the time doing soā¦ still fun lol
Also, I know itās right in the nameā¦ but holy crap they really smell like seafood 
. I donāt like mushrooms or seafood, why am I growing this thing 
. Iām thinking Iām going to test my Lions mane LC, itās really just developed a few pieces of fluff, maybe just get a fresh piece and start on agar.
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Hereās how thatās looking now:
Itās very weird not being able to see it in person, yet being really interested in how itās doing, lol.
Mineās several days behind his, and not as colonized yet.
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I was going to get my grains broken up and mixed with substrate in shoeboxes. But I want to put those shoeboxes into another larger tote with lots of holes and poly fill. Iām paranoid that the fungus gnats from my plants will make their way into them.
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Which protocol do you plan to use? Iām not so deep in the topic, but I know about two approaches. Psyllocibin every third day, or psyllocibin + lions mane + niacin every day. Psilocibin creates new brain links and lions for making new brain cells. Iām not sure, but I think Niacin is used as a vessel for one of these compounds. Maybe both
I found it very useful to have some new activities where you can follow progres. This can sound stupid but I read some research on depression and found a Japanese study on juggling practice (three balls) and depression
Two identical groups with clinical depression were treated with the same treatment. Medications, psychotherapy ā¦ in one group add juggling practice. The results were significant better
If I remember well, juggling also creates new brain cells, improves coordination, improves awarenessā¦
Now Iām pretty better juggler. In many areas.
And it is fun
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Iām fascinated by the idea of the Stamets Stack, but I canāt tolerate regular Niacin and just discovered a couple weeks ago that Lionās Mane exacerbates my heart arrhythmia, so Iām currently planning on simply finding my lowest effective dose and taking that every three days. I will adjust as needed.
Interesting info about adding new activities. Iām pretty limited physically, but Iāll try to find something that will work for me.
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Well, I guess weāre side pinning now 
Seems a bit early. Got a few pins on top now, too.
Iām a little distressed about it, tbh. Doesnāt seem well enough colonized for that. Might be a contamination itās trying to race? Hope not!
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One of the pieces I extracted from the inside of the stipe and dropped into a container of brown rice appears to be growing mycelium 
Got some growth in the liquid cultures too, but thatās not unexpectedā¦ Looking forward to finding out what kind soon, lol 
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Well I got busy today. Filled some LC syringes, cleaned up the oyster plate, and then started a agar plate with Morel LC. I got the enriched broth and rice cooking when I started, when it was done, I put it into the flow box to cool and dry; while I broke up the 3lb grain spawn and made three shoeboxes (1:1 spawn:CVG). I divided the rice into two small totes, and inoculated with a bottle of LC each (roughly 6oz each). Yes thatās a heavy pour of LC, but thatās what they recommend for cordyceps to get a fast colonization.
Color change on the cordcyeps LC test plate, starts white but I have it sitting out and it is photosensitive.
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Can agar be too black?
Below is the excess agar from my first attempt to make agar āplatesā at home, and it is absolutely opaque. I havenāt looked at the mini rounds that are still cooling, but Iām pretty sure even those are fully opaque.
Will that much charcoal (1g to 250ml agar solution) have any adverse effects?
I hope not, because I think it looks neat
EDIT : According to this, itās not too much.
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