Pressure Cookers

[Pursewarden]

I've never tripped before and became interested in the idea about two years ago. We've asked our 'guy' if he could hook us up with 'shrooms and he told us he'd be on the look out, but he doesn't think so.

I've asked most of the people that I know that I can trust and they all tell me the same thing, don't know where you could get any, just grow them yourself.

So that is what I did. I got myself the book Psilocybin Mushroom Handbook: Easy Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation. They explain EVERYTHING that you would need to know to grow mushrooms. They explain the PF Tek method and what they call the PF Tek Improved method.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51B3MTDS4FL._AA240_.jpg

Now the only thing holding me up is this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41lMIcC5HeL._AA280_.jpg

So I guess what I'm asking is this:

Where do you go about getting a pressure cooker and should I just bite the bullet and get the best?

The one that I'm looking at now, the All American 25 Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner is REALLY expensive. And we do plan on canning vegetables at some point in our lives, well, it's still expensive.

[llamabox]

The pressure cooker is the #1 piece of equipment for home mushrooms growers.
But it can be done without one if you plan on buying pre-sterilized grain.
I myself use a Mirro 22 Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner. You can find them on ebay for $30-$75 bucks or check the local thrift stores.

[Ostritt]

Hey pursewarden, have you thought of getting a growkit? I tried growing with one but I kind of fucked up on the whole sterilisation front and got a mould infection... will try again in the future. No idea about pressure cookers, but I would guess a cheap one would do, all it does it create pressure and if it can do that you're sorted. Again, I really don't know much about them so I may be wrong.

Also, "we do plan on canning vegetables at some point in our lives" may be one of the greatest sentences I've ever read. It's like a snippet of a conversation you would pick up walking past someone on the street. (I know- I'm a strange person).

[Pursewarden]

Hey pursewarden, have you thought of getting a growkit? I tried growing with one but I kind of fucked up on the whole sterilisation front and got a mould infection... will try again in the future. No idea about pressure cookers, but I would guess a cheap one would do, all it does it create pressure and if it can do that you're sorted. Again, I really don't know much about them so I may be wrong.

The pressure cooker is for sterilization. It's to make sure that you don't get any other types of fungus growing with your mushrooms. So it's the fact that you need to create an environment that NOTHING can survive in, and spores can survive some pretty crazy conditions, hence the need of a pressure cooker.

And the problem with grow kits, IMHO, is that they cost almost as much as a good pressure cooker. So it becomes the whole, give a man a fish vs. teach a man to fish. Once you have the necessary components you can grow as many mushrooms as you want, but the grow kit only lets you grow one crop.

But it's also a big investment, hence my whole back and forth with it. But knowing that I can hit up some thrift stores to find one fills me with hope. The wife is planning to buy me one for Xmas (Horace's Birthday), well, if we can find one she's planning on buying one.

Also, "we do plan on canning vegetables at some point in our lives" may be one of the greatest sentences I've ever read. It's like a snippet of a conversation you would pick up walking past someone on the street. (I know- I'm a strange person).

Ha ha, I do the same thing. It has caused me some problems in the past. It's actually how I met my wife. If you are ever in the smokeout session that we have on skype just remind me to tell you the story. It's funny in a long kinda boring way. Like a slide show, but with text. Ha ha.

[Star]

Hey,

Glad i stumbled on this thread. I too am in search of a Pressure Cooker. I'm in the UK, does anyone have any particular models or brands that they recommend? (website references).

Because of...

A) Not trusting any sources enough to buy them from
B) Not trusting my own judgment when picking them from the wild (an believe me i looked)

I've decided to...

C) grow them myself... Thank you internet!

An thx in advance for responses.

Star*

[VictoriaPandora]

Also, "we do plan on canning vegetables at some point in our lives" may be one of the greatest sentences I've ever read. It's like a snippet of a conversation you would pick up walking past someone on the street. (I know- I'm a strange person).

HAHAHA! You ARE strange Ostritt;)

[Pursewarden]

Hey,

Glad i stumbled on this thread. I too am in search of a Pressure Cooker. I'm in the UK, does anyone have any particular models or brands that they recommend? (website references).

C) grow them myself... Thank you internet!

An thx in advance for responses.

Star*

Although I still haven't taken the plunge, I'll try to help out with what info I've gathered over the past year or so...


This is the book that I started with
http://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Handbook-Outdoor-Cultivation/dp/0932551718/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201813576&sr=8-1

The book is very well written and very easy to follow.
From the back cover:

Find essential information on:

The supplies you need, and where to get them
Mushroom biology and life cycle
'Sterile culture technique' practices
Updated PF Tek methods
Starting and growing on agar, grain, and wood chips
Making spore syringes and spore prints
Harvest and storage tips
Guidelines for preperation and use


They recommend that you get this pressure cooker:
http://www.amazon.com/ALL-AMERICAN-Quart-Pressure-Cooker-Canner/dp/B0009HPSW4/ref=pd_sbs_hg?ie=UTF8&qid=1201813759&sr=8-3

This is to pressure cookers what the Volcano is to vaporizers. I was planning on trying to track one of these down on eBay, but after some more research (And the price tag) I've decided to look into getting a cheaper canner/pressure cooker.

If you want some websites:

http://www.fungi.com/index.html

http://fungi.net/

http://www.sporelab.com/

http://www.mushbox.com/

http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/pictures/mmgg04.htm

I hope that gives you a good start. I'm in the process now of finishing up some projects and once I've got the funds together, I think I'll be picking up a pressure cooker, I've been saying this for months, but I think I may be getting one in the next few weeks. If I do I'll make sure I post about the process.

And the more research I do into the realms of psychedelics, the happier I am that I've waited this long, I figure, what is another few months if it's been this long already?

[Zeke0]

You should post up a grow log when you start up PW. I love me some mushroom pictures. :D

[Star]

Thanks for the info Pursewarden.

That does look like one hell of a mean machine Pressure Cooker. Unfortunately I can find it on the UK amazon site. Hopefully it won't cost much more on delivery to the UK.

The pressure cooker is the last piece of the puzzle. Well... i need to find some good glass jars too, but overall I'm ready to rock and roll. I've no doubt the first few runs will be problematic but thats what the cultivation learning curve is allll about :).

Here's a link to a video I've watched, this certainly helped me a lot. I'm sure the link has already been circulated around, but no harm in relinking.

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3286686859329905674&q=magic+mushroom&total=784&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Thanks again for the info.

zeke0 - I'll be sure to take some pictures if it's a success.

Star*

[cereus]

Just thought I should mention that it is possible to get by without a pressure cooker, just use a process called tyndalisation. You basically kook your grain/substrate tree times, this should take care of all bacteria and fungi. It is a proven method.

Stage one- soak your grain (brown rice and or rye) in the right amount of water for 12-24 hours this awakens most bacteria and some fungi spores.

Stage two- kook the substrate for one hour and let it stand for 24 hours, this takes care of most of the awakened spores and other contams. And it awakens heat resistant spores.

Stage tree- kook it 40 minutes and let it stand for 24 hours, this takes care of the previously awakened thermopile spores.

Stage four- kook it 40 minutes and let it cool down over night is good, this is mostly as a precaution, but if one of the first sterilisations was incomplete this should do the trick.

Stage five- inoculate with some material from your colonised agar dish and wait.

This method can be used on agar also, although if you use food grade agar it can be cooked too much and end up as sludge instead of a firm agar plate.

This method is not as good as pressure cooking but is used by professionals some times, some contamination may still get trough if things is not don correctly.

hope this can be of some help
good luck :)

[Star]

Thx for the info cereus,

Its nice to know there is an alternative. I still plan to get a pressure cooker (like you said it is the best method) but until i can afford one i might just try the technique you mentioned and see how it goes.

Star*

[Zeke0]

I'm checking out canning jars on amazon.com right now, and in the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" section, there are some interesting items listed.

Such items include:

-Various brands of vermiculite
-Organic brown rice flour
-Perlite
-"Psilocybin Mushroom Handbook: Easy Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation" by L.G. Nicholas
-"Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home" by Paul Stamets
-Honeywell TM005X Wireless Thermo Hygrometer
-"Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story" by Alexander Shulgin

Just made me giggle.

[Star]

Haha!

Love it! The more people growing mushrooms the better place the world can be :)

Star*