Mushroom Bag Tek

This is a Spawn Bag Tek that I have perfected through trial and error. This is how i make them and They work very well. I used to make jars, but I found I could make more spawn in the pressure cooker at one time with bags. what you need is as follows:

1. filter patch mushroom grow bag ( http://out-grow.com/mushroom-grow-bags-c-13/large-mushroom-grow-bags-with-02-181m-filter-p-121.html )
2. RTV silicon blue
3. Grain. hard wheat or WBS ( http://www.walmart.com/ip/Augason-Farms-Emergency-Food-Hard-Red-Wheat-26-lb/22985145 )
4. Impulse sealer or vacuum sealer
5. Pressure cooker
6. Tinfoil
7. Heavy plate (stoneware or porcelain)
8. Thermostat for cooking
9. Clear packing tape
10. Choice of alcohol (for drinkin and gettin drunk and shit)

Get yourself some grain. I have done this tek with WBS. However I like to use hard red wheat berries because myc loves it. I use this kind:


Measure out the amount of grain you want to use. Wheat will double in size so if you wanna do a monos worth measure out 2qts since a mono calls for 4 full qts of grain. I have done this tek with 3 and 6 full qts all with success. For this tek i will be making 2 bags each with 4qts of grain.

Measure out 4qts of dry wheat and give it a good rinse. I put a frying pan under a strainer to catch any grain escapees. Then put it in the pressure cooker without the lid on. Fill the pc with water a few inches higher than the grain. Get another pot of water hot alongside the pressure cooker to replace any water evap and hydration.




This next part will take some practice, but when you get it down you will be very pleased with the results.
Simmer the grain until the the center of the grain is creamy caramel color kind of transparent. Use the thermostat to keep the temp at about 205-209F just below boiling.


Check the grain often. If it has any white in the center it is not ready. I split the grain down the middle at the crease with my thumb nails. Check several at a time. When the majority are clear in the center they are done. You will probably notice a very few starting to burst open. This is okay.

This is not ready:


This is done:


The window is very small when they are ready. Thats why you have to check it often. A few minutes more and you can have a bunch of busted berries and that would be oatmeal. When about 90% of the grain you check look done turn the heat off and get ready to cool em down. They will continue to cook while you are cooling them down. Remember the window is small.

Pour the hot water out of the pc into the trainer with the pan. Put any grain that fell into the strainer and pan back into the pc and refill the pc with cool water. Do this as many times as needed till the contents are cooled off. Drain the grain with the strainer and set it aside while you get the bags ready.



I make my s.h.i.p's (self healing injection port) in advance just so i have em when i need em. Nothing like having to wait for RTV to dry. I dab some RTV on a plastic bag and set it out to dry. Then i peal them off when i need them.

Tape down the RTV s.h.i.p in a cross pattern with clear packing tape.


Fill the bags and wrap the excess bag around the grain at the bottom to get all the air out of the bag and seal the top with the vacuum sealer. I usually have to seal it 2-3 times to get a good seal. Make sure the seal is complete and does not burn through the bag.



Place the the following into the pc in this order.
place canning rings at the bottom.

then the rack.

then the bags wrapped. Make sure the filter patch is pointing up and on top of the bag.

I place two more rings in between the bags and a few in between the bags and the walls of the pc. They don't have to be completely separated. Just some.

Then a heavy plate.

Then tinfoil balls to keep the plate down. Make sure the foil does not block the pressure gauge or anything.


Place the top on and pc and cook for 90 minutes at 15psi. After 90 minutes turn the heat off and let the pressure reduce on its own. Once the pressure drops to zero open it and take out the bags and agitate the grain to distribute any moister still in the bag. Let then sit overnight to completely cool.

In the morning agitate them again. They are now ready for nocing. After nocing agitate the bags again once per day for a couple of days so the solution does not settle in the bottom of the bag and fuck up your grain. Keep an eye on that. This size bag can take a 4-6ml shot of solution.


I have done this tek for 3qt bags.

and a full 6qt bag of WBS almost 100%.

I came to a conclusion that 4qt bags are ideal for monos. You can adjust the amount to your needs.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. If you think you know of a better tek I suggest you make a thread and keep your comments to yourself. This tek is for people who want to grow shrooms and not waste time with teks that do not work.

well, I know for certain this works.

do you have trouble with burst bags as you seal before pressure cooking, and when the bag contracts, how do you get the air back in the bag?

canndo said:

well, I know for certain this works.

do you have trouble with burst bags as you seal before pressure cooking, and when the bag contracts, how do you get the air back in the bag?

Click to expand...

By rolling the bag up around the grain you will virtually eliminate bags bursting in the pressure cooker. At first all of my bags were breaking because most of the teks called for folding the bags like an accordion over the top. Since I have been rolling them up I have never had a bag break since. As you agitate the bag to distribute the moister inside air will enter through the micro-filter. As long as the filter is not right against the back of the bag to let air exchange you are good. If you want more air inside just move the bag back and forth at the filter patch and air will enter it slowly.

damn MadDog surprised you dont have more comments
thanks for the write up
can this be done with popcorn, or rye berries.?

I can tell you that this works for all grains. Maddog didn't mention(I don't think) that separation of the bags is crucial to this process. 90 minutes is a short time even when the center of the bags have come to 250 degrees. If the bags are not surrounded by super heated steam they will not sterilize through to the center because the effective mass is too large. Of course you can do a longer cook but then you run the risk of running dry.

DO NOT run your PC dry doing this. Keep your cooker running as low as you can while maintaining full pressure. Otherwise you will have an ungodly mess.

I do not pre seal my bags. I fold them and tape them, when they cool they create a vaccuum. I pull them out and then seal in front of a lafh.

but his method virtually ensures sterility where mine does not. After my bags cool I am forced to hang them for several hours in order to get air back into the bag through the filter.

in my opinion, using bags in maddogs method is the absolute best way to produce large amounts of spawn.

not only that, but if you do get contamination, you have unitized, self contained bags that pose no danger to your grow.

this method enables you to actually innoculate on your kitchen table and you could put your bags in the cupboard with not a care.

well, except that you should try not to let the inner grains or guck touch the inside surface of the filter. Some contaminents have a way of actually germinating through the filter itself. I think a bit of juice exudes through to the outside of that filter.

and then the hyphae forces itself through the pores.

even so only a little care is needed.

do you need to use hot water for rinsing the grains?
ive read a few teks that just soak the grain for 24 hrs then follow up with PC

also im about to start my first grow bag
it is going to contain 3.5 quarts of WBS
as of now the WBS is soaking at room temp

but I forgot to buy RVT silicone..
could I get away with just inoculating through the opposite side of the bag's filter patch than cover with micropore tape?

The material of the bag does not lend itself to puncture. You really are best off with a healing style port.

thanks I will go get some
I was able to puncture the bag fairly easy
then I covered with a few pieces of micopore tape

hopefully it works im still waiting to check the bag for growth

ok so I just checked my bag after about 6 days and I have no signs of colonization
should I wait or go ahead and throw it out and make a new one?

I used 5cc of B+ spores

give it time wait 4 more days

thanks for the reply
but too late, I threw it out about 4 days after posting this
I will be starting another one soon, hopefully my spores aren't bad

Dragging this up from the depths but I found it just when I needed it.