What will happen if a corn tek is too dry?

To the moon alice... My last corn job is officially failed both jars were too wet one had no clonization the other had some but the rest of the corn turned dark and rotted with a slight red color. I want to go on the way drier side this time with extra pressure cooking because my jars are big any tips about this or what will happen if i have it too dry?

Also boiling vs simmering?��

Last time I used corn (popcorn to be exact) I soaked for about 24 hours replacing the water several times over that period with fresh hot water. Then I simmered for 30 minutes or so and drained, turning the corn every minute or so allowing the steam to evaporate off. When you load it into the jars, you want a bit of moisture, but not so much that the kernels stick to the jar or each other. Quart jars I ran for 90 minutes... wouldn't go bigger than quart size as it'll take longer to colonise and more chance of contams.

Honestly though, if you've got a pressure cooker, start making your way to WBS (wild bird seed) like millet. Much more surface area which will in turn lead to much faster colonisation when you shake your jars at 25%, and again when you spawn to HPOO or whatever your substrate will be.

Popcorn can handle a more vigorous boil without busting the kernels than WBS can, so if you're still going that route you can be a little less cautious. If you start to see a few break open, stop the cooking process and proceed to draining/jarring.

If it's too dry, I suppose it'll slow it down, or the kernels won't colonise all the way through which will in turn lead to contams when you spawn...

Yeah i got some split kernals is this not worth doing?

Whats the point of this boiling is it killing something the pcooker wont?

Point of pre-soaking for 24 hours is to germinate some of the endospores and nasties that are resistant to temps during pressure cooking. Once germinated, they're a lot more succeptible to being killed off during cooking as opposed to their dormant state. The boiling is just to get them to absorb more water, and to add the heat needed to evaporate off the excess moisture before loading into the jars. If you've only got some cracked kernels, you're ok, but if more than 25% or so I'd start over as the starchy insides will goo up your other kernels. Ideally you want plump soaked kernels with the shell intact.

Id ask canndo..he knows wats good.

I boil my popcorn simply to get it to the right moisture level quicker, I don't soak it. A few burst kernels tell the tale, your Korn kooking is komplete.


If your kernels are too dry your subsequent flushes will be poor (if you are fruiting from spawn) as the limiting factor in longevity of fruiting in popcorn is moisture.

canndo said:

I boil my popcorn simply to get it to the right moisture level quicker, I don't soak it. A few burst kernels tell the tale, your Korn kooking is komplete.


If your kernels are too dry your subsequent flushes will be poor (if you are fruiting from spawn) as the limiting factor in longevity of fruiting in popcorn is moisture.

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so i used to spend alot of time over at the shroomery, and one thing some people would do is

fully colonize there grain spawn and then add water to the top of the grains let it soak for a while and then drain all the water off, before spawning or casing.

they reported that it increased yeilds.

ive never tryed it but it sounds good to me, im not sure how it would work cased however as there would be no media to absorb the light coating of water that would surround the grain.

oxanaca said:

so i used to spend alot of time over at the shroomery, and one thing some people would do is

fully colonize there grain spawn and then add water to the top of the grains let it soak for a while and then drain all the water off, before spawning or casing.

they reported that it increased yeilds.

ive never tryed it but it sounds good to me, im not sure how it would work cased however as there would be no media to absorb the light coating of water that would surround the grain.

Click to expand...

doesn't make much sense to me, but mycology is a wonderment and a mystery. Sounds sort of like advanced "dunking". They got that dunking idea from the practice of floating wood chip/sawdust/bran blocks of fully colonized wood mushrooms (shitaki) in water for a day or so to prompt another flush.


I don't like growing shitaki, for some reason they are boreing and ponderous