now i did like your tek said,washed with a dot of soap, rinsed and drained 5+ times. soaked for 5 hours, but when i went to cook my seeds (witch was only done for 10 min on 5 setting) a lot of them were busted while a lot of them were still hard and i was stirring like every 2-3 min. not to mention that the water became a blood red? any thoughts on wtf i did?
i could never get the boiling thing same shit would happen bring the water to a rapid boil and pour the bird seed in and take it off the burner and soak it for 30 mins works like a charm for me
I boil my WBS as stated in the tek. And simmering is cooking at the boiling point, so there's only a minor technical/semantic difference anyway. But I boil mine enough to keep the grains moving. But, as stated, I cook it just long enough. Not too long. Taste a few grains as you go.
Boiling, especially a rapid boil, is how I prep grains every time. But that's after an appropriate hydration period. If you don't soak long enough, they will burst for sure. Also, a full rolling boil here is 199.5F. I don't think the temp difference alone causes trouble, but it changes the timing. Still, it's the soak step that's crucial to reduce the burst grains. That and not boiling too long.
ok, so I just followed the tek and Im soaking 2 (uk) pints / 1 ( US qt ) of millet now , I have just got my gypsum so how much and when should I add the gypsum to the water ? I have had varied results with millet and I think it may have been because of the moisture distribution in the jars . im thinking just a small pinch but I never used gyp before so any help would be great ? nice write up Doc !!
I'm always amused by people claiming they are following a tek who ask completely unrelated questions. How much gypsum does the tek call for and when does the tek say to add it? None, it doesn't. I don't use gypsum in jars very often, I've never really seen a reason. I do add it to bulk substrate though. But some people do use it in jars. You can add a little gypsum to the soak water, or add a pinch per jar. Straight millet can be a bit tricky to work with, if you overcook it will get mushy. Still colonizes fine, it's just mushy. So simmer just until it's done enough.
Ha Ha ! yeah sorry I didnt make myself clear , yeah I DID realise that you did'nt use gyps but I have always wondered if it would help . since I have never used it in the past and had some great results and some not so great results , I just thought that it might be something that could eliminate the amount of not so great ones , I got the gyps to add to a coffee / coir / casting sub I am doing . I nearly lost faith in millet ( after buying 20 kilos ) the mushie millet problem is a pain in the arse !! but I was treating it like standard WBS at first kept waking to find sprouting millet after the soak !! then once i got that sorted I would simmer and have the millet bursting on the bottom of the pan . we live and learn !! ha ha
Follow his tek to a T and you wil be ok. Thats all I can say. His way cut my colonization time in 1/2. He does know what he is talking about even though he is kind of a dick sometimes. For small grains like millet and milo, (SOAKING) four to six hours is sufficient. Larger grains like rye or wheat should soak 12 to 24 hours. The soaking step does two things- it prehydrates the grain, so you can get to full hydration later without splitting. Soaking also softens up some microorganisms that survive dry times with endospores or other encapsulative methods.
Cheers treewood will do !! I sussed out the soak times after many fucked up trials , will follow to the T . It was just gutting to find that after all the success I had with normal WBS , millet which I thought would be easier and have more surface for the myc to grab a foot hold was failing at every stage at first ! then when I did get a decent amount of jars on the go that were'nt too mushie, it was not consistant , so I thought Id return to PF coz It's cheaper than the WBS I could get . but I still have about 10 kilos of millet left so I'm determined to use it !!
ZOMG, I get back and it's a whole big thing. Follow the tek, or don't. This is how I do it. I'm not saying it's the best or only way- read the first post if you think I am. Prep grain any way you like. If you do it like I say it will come out right every time. If you prep it some other way it might or might not come out right. I don't use gypsum in grain jars. There's no gypsum used. When do you add the gypsum in this tek? Never. Sorry if that makes me a dick. Using gypsum must be something the cool kids are doing this year?
just so it's clear i only posted that link because he said he had a ton of millet and couldn't get it to work right and millet doesn't work the same according to the other posters. delete it if it's out of the way and i'll pm it to the guy, no offense meant
I dont think anyone contended the contents of the TEK at all, its just that I think that you could answer that simple question; instead of telling people off, it sounds bad.
I used to use millet all the time. I would add 1.5 tablespoons to every 20 cups of seed I was soaking. It worked very well. Beleive it or not I've actually never used wild bird seed, Rye, wheat, brown rice, pop corn, white millet, and millo but never an actual wbs mix.......
