Subject: Re: microwave

From: [email-masked] (Paul Stewart)
Date: 18 Feb 1995 13:18:45 -0400

To the person attempting microwave media sterilization:

I asked for info on this on this newsgroup a couple of months ago, and 
got a wide range of replies; everything from, "forget it, it won't work"
to, "our lab has never had contamination in years wih our microwaved 
instruments".  The general consensus seems to be that it is chancy at 
best. I have had good luck with liquid media by nuking for 30 minutes on 
High.  You need to have lots of headroom in the bottle, since it will 
boil over otherwise. I put a couple of coffee mugs full of water and that 
reduces the loss of water from the media. You will still lose about 
10-20%, so make the media up with extra water to allow for this. 
	My guess is you should presoak the grain, straw or woodchips, and 
include a fair amount of water when you nuke it. I had to nuke only three 
bottles of straw/grain at a time for about an hour. No contamination yet, 
but I feel microwave works best on small volumes of liquid, where 
hot/cold spots matter less due to mixing.
	Maybe your inquiry will spark discussion on this. I feel the 
topic is far from having reached a consensus. Wadda ya say experts?
......Paul from the Great White Northeast.

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From: [email-masked] (Joshua Puchalski (GCC/TEME))
Date: 18 Feb 1995 16:19:17 GMT

I am interested in experimenting with microwave steralization. I have a few
questions. Using a 700 watt microwave, how many quart sized jars would I do
at once? Second, how long should I cook them for? Should the grain be
precooked, or should I add dry grain and water to the jars, and put them
directly in the microwave oven? Also most importantly, what should I cover
the jars with?

Thank you for any help you may give.
                                                     Joshua Puchalski

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From: [email-masked] (NDPM)
Date: 19 Feb 1995 13:25:35 -0500

You can do one jar at a time.
It needs to be wet.
You will nedd at least a 10 minute treatment, probably more.
This method is not effecient unless you are extremely small scale.

send SASE to Phil McIntosh, 7205 glowworm Cr. Austin TX for a reprint of a
paper I wrote on the subject.  Good luck!