Yeast Slants

[RdeVjun]

Not too lazy to do a search, just while this thread is live at the moment where do you guys source your test tubes and what $ ? What's the best type of tube, plastic or lab quality glass? Do they have pop on or screw on lids? If pop on then do you seal them by dipping them say in melted candle wax like some winemakers with their corks??

Why so many questions two dogs? :icon_cheers:

I got my first batch of about a dozen for free from the skip at work! Thankfully they were empty and intact, cleaned them myself of course and then filled with agar/wort and sterilized. But, in the long term, I'll be needing some more too, which brings me to my question- do many folks use Falken tubes or centrifuge tubes for slants?

(Source: Proscitech)
I just happen to have some handy plus a couple of racks, would make the whole slanting caper a bit easier if I don't have to go and buy some others. The ones on the left are free- standing which is neat, but we have the racks anyway.

Oh, BribieG, the glass ones I sent you guys were just stand- ins that I had at the time, again from the magic skip at work. The lid is a bit suss for mine, but I just happened to have about the right number handy to propagate some more from the original/ master slants.
BTW- again, many thanks for those Mike! Actually, the ones he sent me were similar to those in the photo above, so I know at least one person does use them, just wondering if there's many others.

Also, thanks Pete, have just seen your post, I might just give the plastic tubes we already have a go. I also got some glass dishes from the magic skip, jeez I had a yeast field day when I spotted that it was full of useful goodies they were (so wastefully-) tossing out from the pathology & entomology labs!

 

[~MikE]

Not too lazy to do a search, just while this thread is live at the moment where do you guys source your test tubes and what $$$ ? What's the best type of tube, plastic or lab quality glass? Do they have pop on or screw on lids? If pop on then do you seal them by dipping them say in melted candle wax like some winemakers with their corks??

Why so many questions two dogs? :icon_cheers:

a lot of people get their stuff from here. http://www.proscitech.com.au/cataloguex/online.asp?page=l9 - but any lab supplier should stock them.

either the 50ml centrifuge tubes or the 30ml sample tubes work well, they come sterile, and are polypropylene, so can be autoclaved/boiled for re-use without losing their shape or integrity. plus they're cheap

edit:
beaten

 

[Sammus]

yeah those vee bottom containers about 1/3 the way down were standard for all here a while ago, many a bulk buy happening. Well, ones that looked like it anyway, they were discontinued recently, and those ones and the ones under it look very similar. I got the PP version of the vee bottom which isn't listed anymore, id probably get PC if I did it over again.

 

[altone]

a lot of people get their stuff from here. http://www.proscitech.com.au/cataloguex/online.asp?page=l9 - but any lab supplier should stock them.

either the 50ml centrifuge tubes or the 30ml sample tubes work well, they come sterile, and are polypropylene, so can be autoclaved/boiled for re-use without losing their shape or integrity. plus they're cheap

edit:
beaten

So even the caps on those things survive autoclave/pressure cooker temps ok?
(I differentiate betwen autoclave and your average pressure cooker, as mine only runs at 8psi - so lower temp)
If they do I'll get some when I run out of my sterilized 1 shot tubes.

confirm if you can,
Ta

 

[~MikE]

So even the caps on those things survive autoclave/pressure cooker temps ok?
(I differentiate betwen autoclave and your average pressure cooker, as mine only runs at 8psi - so lower temp)
If they do I'll get some when I run out of my sterilized 1 shot tubes.

confirm if you can,
Ta

the centrifuge tubes, 30ml sample tubes and i'm guessing their lids as well are polypropylene (they'd say if they weren't), and the vee bottom tubes are polycarbonate with polypropylene lids, all are autoclavable. http://www.proscitech.com.au/cataloguex/plastics.asp

 

[altone]

the centrifuge tubes, 30ml sample tubes and i'm guessing their lids as well are polypropylene (they'd say if they weren't), and the vee bottom tubes are polycarbonate with polypropylene lids, all are autoclavable. http://www.proscitech.com.au/cataloguex/plastics.asp

Thanks for that, I don't trust generic specs as one lot of lids I purchased recently are meant to be polypropylene but they change shape after a trip through my pressure cooker (it's only an 8psi job).
I'm using them as one shots because of this.

Just wanted to confirm with someone who'd actually autoclaved them that they work fine.

Cheers

 

[Sammus]

I haven't used an autoclave but in cook PP in my pressure cooker at 16psi all the time, once for 2 hours, never had a problem.

 

[RdeVjun]

Sounds perfect, many thanks chaps! Pretty soon I'll be giving the tubes and lids I have on hand a whirl in the cooker with some agar & wort. :icon_cheers:

Oh yeah, WRT melting caps, there's specs and then there's specs. I seldom trust manufacturers or suppliers as far as I can kick them, be it lab consumables, kit, sensors etc, they're often just a pack of thieving liars and we've learnt to test some ourselves before placing big orders. For instance, we bought around a hundred 500kg strain gauges for a large array of field sensing, but I bought a few before that and tested them thoroughly to be sure they'd be up to spec. Sure enough they were, but because they were a good bit cheaper than competing products I had serious doubts. Being surprised like that doesn't happen very often, but its far better than the unpleasant surprises later on when we find that the supplier was pulling our leg/FoS. There's more to it than just performance though, longevity and integration with existing systems are important too but I'm getting way, way, way OT... sorry...

 

[pdilley]

I have 3 pressure cookers in storage in the states, they all went up to 25 PSI, built like nuclear reactors with thick walls and tie downs.

Google All American Pressure Cooker Canner to see photos

Are the pressure cookers you guys have the stove top one that looks like a saucepan with a slide locking top? I have one of those as well over there but never got to use it before moving back here.

EDIT: Nevermind, found photos of them:




Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[~MikE]

Thanks for that, I don't trust generic specs as one lot of lids I purchased recently are meant to be polypropylene but they change shape after a trip through my pressure cooker (it's only an 8psi job).
I'm using them as one shots because of this.

Just wanted to confirm with someone who'd actually autoclaved them that they work fine.

Cheers

i think it'd be more of a temperature thing than pressure, i dunno how temp control is having never used a pressure cooker before.

 

[pdilley]

Mike,


With pressure cookers, the pressure and temperature go hand in hand. Steam sterilisation requires atmospheres of pressure to aid the heat penetration.

Its overkill for most beer brewers but Its from my past when I used to run the mycology lab at the mushroom farm. :icon_offtopic: When I'm all kitted out and in full gear in all my brewing endeavors I might fire up my mycology lab in my house and pump out some fresh gourmet mushrooms. God knows its hot enough during summer here in Canberra but the dry climate is the killer. I'll have to assemble a humidity controlled grow room. Fresh Paddy Straw mushrooms, injected with tamari soy when still in egg form and baked in the oven for a flavour explosion when eaten, YUM!

Making mould for sake production will probably get me off my arse and down the road to kitting out my home lab again.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete