Church of the Sacred Mushroom

Source: Grain Tek by Hippie3 (Mycotopia.com)

Introduction:

The first item of consideration when working with grain is a pressure cooker for sterilization. Aside from an autoclave, a pressure cooker is the only way to get the grain hot enough in order for it to become properly sterilized.

For this TEK, a pressure cooker which holds 7 - 1 Qt. sized canning jars is being used (see pic below).


The type of grain that we will be using is known as rye grain and is the most commonly used type amongst commercial grow-ops for creating spawn used with bulk substrates and edible mushrooms. For small-scale apps, grain can be used as a primary substrate or can be used to spawn more prepared grain (which allows one to extend a live culture or spawn to create more substrate mass to fruit from). And, as with the commercial application of grain, it can also be used to spawn bulk substrates like compost or pasteurized wheat straw, etc… to achieve greater yield potential.

Below is a photo reference of the rye grain that may help you to locate what you need. It is also referred to as rye berries. It is actually both of these, so don’t be discouraged if you hear it referred to as something among those lines. You should be able to purchase these rye berries at any local health food store or food co-op that handles bulk foods. You will find it in the bulk food section and should be able to buy it by the lb. It usually goes for 80-90 cents/lb, so it’s worth it to buy a few pounds at a time for future use.

Overview:

Below is a list of all the items you will need to carry out this procedure:



7 Qt. pressure cooker
Large pot for boiling water (5-7 Qt.)
7 – 1 Qt. sized canning jars (w/lids)
1 cup measuring device
1 cup liquid measuring device
Industrial-grade masking tape (not shown in pic)
2 lbs or more of rye grain (rye berries)
1 gallon of spring, distilled, or drinking water

(see pic above for reference)


Initial Preparation:

Before we begin, it's always a good idea to wash your hands and clean the work space that you will be working in before you get started. However, for this procedure it's not nearly as crucial as some of the other procedures, so being overly cautious is not necessary at this point.

What is important for this procedure is to be sure that the jars that you are using are clean. If your jars are new, then it's a good idea to give them a simple washing and drying before carrying on. If your jars are used, then make sure that you get all the visible build-up eliminated and then clean them in a 10% bleach solution and rinse clean. If you don't have bleach, then you can spray lysol directly into the jar to clean it and then rinse it clean. You may want to give them a final cleaning with an alcohol-saturated paper towel to be safe.

Once your jars are cleaned, then you will need to modify the lid so that you will be able to inoculate them with a syringe needle, without having to remove the lid entirely. To do this, we will need to drill, cut, punch, or melt a hole into the center of the lid. (see pic below)


A 3/16" hole would be the ideal minimum diameter to use for this app, while a 1/4" hole would be about as large as you would ever need. I prefer a 3/16" hole as it provides plenty of room for me to get the tip in and out without much effort. Those nail-sized holes don't cut it for me (pain in the neck!)

Once you have modified all your lids to accommodate the syringe inoculation, then you can wash the lids clean and move onto the procedure.


Procedure:

Place the following items in your workspace:


7 – 1 Qt. sized canning jars (w/lids)
1 cup measuring device
1 cup liquid measuring device
Industrial-grade masking tape (not shown in pic)
2 lbs or more of rye grain (rye berries, rye grass seed, etc…)
1 gallon of spring, distilled, or drinking water

(see pic above for reference)

Now you are ready to prepare the jars of grain for the pressure cooking session.
First, scoop 1 cup of rye grain into each of the 7 jars:


Like so:


And now, using a liquid measuring device (must be a liquid measuring cup!),
pour 2/3-3/4 cup of the bottled water into the measuring device. (see pic below)


Add the water to the jar of grain:


Now, add the lid to the jar and tighten it:


Add a piece of industrial-grade masking tape over the hole (I am using hi-temp foil tape):


And shake the #### out of it until the water is mixed with the grain:


(be sure to wash off the grain that sticks to the insides of the jar by swirling the jar around until all the loose kernels have settled back down onto the bottom of the jar in one mass.) Below is a pic that shows the jar before the water is added and after the water has been added to the jar and shaken for proper mixing:


(If the jars are allowed to sit very long, the grain will soak up the water and it will appear differently than the freshly mixed one in the pic above.)

Once all the jars are mixed with the proper amount of grain and water, then you are almost ready to load them into the pressure cooker. First, we need to loosen the lids back a 1/4 - 1/2 turn to allow the jar to breathe and not blow up from pressure. Once you have loosened the lids accordingly, then you are ready to load them into the pressure cooker:


Now, you will need to boil several quarts of water in the large pot before adding it to the pressure cooker (see pressure cooker instructions for correct amount to add):


Once the water has boiled for 5-10 minutes, it's ready to add to the pressure cooker:


Now, secure the lid onto the pressure cooking unit and turn the stove top heat on "Hi":


After 5 minutes, you should begin to hear and see some steam coming out of the top hole of the pressure cooker lid. After another 5 minutes, the steam should be flowing pretty steadily, like so:


And after 10 minutes of steady flowing steam, it’s time to add the stopper thingy to the lid (total duration of time up to this point = 15-20 min):


After 10-15 minutes of the stopper being on the unit, the psi should be up to 15 psi or so and this is when you need to start the 1 hour countdown for the sterilization process to occur. The ideal range for sterilization is typically 15-18 psi for a 1 hour duration.

It’s very important to keep a very close eye on the steps involved and the duration of time spent on each step because, if you allow the cooker to run too long before adding the stopper for instance, then you will loose all the water needed for sterilizing the jars to steam, and they will dry out and get cooked or burnt! Once the cooker has reached the 1 hour mark, it’s then time to turn the stove “OFF” and let the cooker cool down on it’s own for a matter of hours.

**Never let the pressure cooker run for more than 1 and a half hours - from start to finish (the entire procedure). If you do, then you will certainly cook your grain and it will be useless.

**It’s important to mention that you will smell some grain cooking after about 15 minutes into the 15-18 psi range. That is okay so don’t be alarmed if you smell your grain cooking.

After your pressure cooker has cooled back down to room temperature (at least 4-8 hours) then you can take the lid off of it and follow the procedure found below:

Checking for cracks

The first thing that you will want to do upon removing the freshly prepared jars of grain is to check the jars for any cracks that might have taken place while under the intense pressure of the cooker. You'll notice that after the jar is rotated and checked for cracks, the lid is then tightened to allow for shaking.

Shaking and Mixing

The first part of the shaking process is an effort to shake the grain loose from the jar, followed by an attempt to break the grain apart (you will notice a lot of banging and slapping going on to the jar during this part of the movie...a real good reason to check for cracks )

Rolling and Twisting

Also, notice that once the grain is broken up from the shaking and banging, a final rolling (end-over-end) of the jar is applied to help mix the dryer kernals resting at the top of the jar with the very saturated kernels resting on the bottom of the jar. This is a very important part in the shaking process because it enables the top and bottom kernals to become mixed together which allows for a complete mixing of the kernals within the jar. The idea is to flip the jar from end-to-end while simultaneaously rolling or twisting the jar around with your wrists so that the grains cascade from top to bottom, and so on...

A final smack on the bottom of the jar should cause the grain to settle back down into place which will complete shaking process and make the jar ready for inoculation.

If you take a look at the pic below, you can see how a jar grain appears directly after it's removed from the pressure cooker (jar #3) as compared to a jar that has been shaken in preparation for inoculation (jar #4).


(Notice that the grain within jar #4 has increased it's size or mass by almost 3 times the initial dry grain mass of jar #1.)

That's it! The jars are now ready to inoculate.

Inoculation
Here is a list of the items needed to carry out this procedure:



Jars of prepared substrate
Spore syringe(s)
Bottle of rubbing alcohol
Paper towel
Pen marker
and
A very hot flame! (an alcohol lamp, de-natured alcohol and a shotglass, a torch lighter, etc...)

You will need to create a hot enough flame to sterilize the needle tip between inoculations or jars. For this app, an alcohol lamp is considered ideal. However, if you don't have one handy then you can compromise by using a shotglass (or similar glass object that will prove to be highly-resiliant to heat). For the process captured in the movie below, I chose a glass lid belonging to a cooking pot.

However, I prefer to use the good ol' crack (torch) lighter since it's most convenient, efficient and safe to use. I have also noticed that it reaches a higher temperature in a shorter amount of time when compared to an alcohol burner. Here's a pic of the crack torch in action:



The procedure for inoculating a jar is as follows:

1) Shake the syringe very well to agitate the spore solution within the cylinder. Check to make sure that any air bubbles are worked out of the cylinder.

2) Flame or sterilize the tip of the needle.

3) Remove the tape covering the hole in the lid and carefully insert the tip of the needle into the hole. ( steps 2 and 3 are done at the same time so the needle is still sterile when it reaches the inside of the jar.)

4) Aiming for the sides of the glass (directly above the grain), squeeze the spore solution into the jar while rotating the syringe needle around the inner jar in a circular fashion making sure to spread the solution out around the whole circumference of the jar. You will need to pay close attention not to go over 2-3 cc's per jar. You can position the syringe in your hand so that you are able to read the markings better. It may help to draw markings on the cylinder with a pen to help serve as a guide. Eventually, you should be able to just go by "feel" and come suprisingly close to the mark every time

5) pull the syringe out of the jar and recover with the tape as rapidly as possible.

6) wipe the syringe clean with an alcohol-saturated towel and set aside.

7) Mark the jar with a pen to indicate the necessary information for your reference. I usually use the following format for my jars:



ex.

Strain/Variety: GT
How many in the batch: 1 of 5
date of inoculation: 12/02
transfer or syringe: SS (spore syringe)

Now, just repeat the process for each jar until you are done.

That's it! The jars are now ready for incubation.

Incubation

Incubation Chamber Assembly

Overview

Directly after the freshly prepared jars of substrate have been inoculated, the jars are then stored in incubation during the initial colonization phase.

Correct incubation consists of keeping the jars at a constant substrate temperature value of 86' f. The average time required for this initial growth phase to be completed is about 10-20 days. (see chart below for a representation of how temperature value directly affects the growth rate during the vegetative growth cycle)



There are many ways to build an incubation chamber that is capable of accomodating the initial incubation phase, but the one offered below is one of the most easiest and effective for the price and works very well for the job.

One of the most important aspects to consider when setting up an incubation chamber is the way in which it heats the substrate. Dry heat sources (such as heating pads) obtain their increase in temperature by robbing the surrounding
area of its moisture. This is very dangerous to the colonizing jars of substrate because this form of heat can easily dry up the moisture that is available in the substrate jars before the mycelium has had the chance to fully colonize it.

Radiant heat sources will not rob heat from the jars of substrate and are therefore a superior means of providing heat to the incubation chamber.


Items needed:



Styrofoam cooler ($2-$6)
50w Aquarium heater ($10)
Thermometer gauge ($2-$15)
A large glass fruit jar


Assembly:

Simply fill the large glass jug with water:



A cap full of h202 can be added:



Add the heater to the jug:



Place the jug in the Styrofoam cooler:



Adjust the timer so that it maintains a temperature range of 84’f. The substrate temperature is usually a couple of degrees warmer than the surrounding air temperature. If you are using a thermometer that has a probe for outdoor temp reading, then you should place the probe between two jars of grain so you can get an idea of the substrate temperature as well as the inside air temp. (see pic below for reference)



Once the heater is set to the correct setting, it will trickle on occasionally, as needed, to maintain the proper temperature.

During the incubation phase, if you intend to case later, the jars should be kept in complete darkness. A very limited exposure to light is acceptable when checking on growth, but the jars should never be left out exposed to light for any considerable length of time, unless you plan to grow invitro or from uncased cakes.

That's it! Radiant heating doesn't come much easier than this.

Here is something worth mentioning for those of you who may be having trouble figuring out how to get the aquarium heater temperature above the stock setting:

*Note: The aquarium heaters are set to a default setting that will only allow the element to heat up to 75-6'F. In order to make one work, you have to read the instructions that came with the heater. It explains how you must lift the dial setting knob off of the unit and rotate the exposed rod or shaft thing around and then replace the plastic knob back on to the dial. This will allow you to raise the temp to the desired setting, although it may take a few adjustments to get it set at the ideal temp range.