Sourcing a Pressure Cooker Ireland/UK

Hey guys,

I've always picked mushrooms in the wild but I have decided to try and grow them for the first time.

I just wanted to ask two questions:

1) Does anyone here from Ireland or the UK know where I can source a pressure cooker at a fair price?
2) I was looking at the 20 liter size, (22 qua. ) approx, does the size matter significantly or is smaller just not practical?


Thanks
Dom

Are you talking about the sort that you put on a standard kitchen hob, with a pressure release valve on top? I haven’t seen one in years over here.

On the other hand, you could get something like an instant pot. Does the same job as a pressure cooker, but uses a LOT less energy because it is well insulated. Plus you can use it to cook with, when no inoculating bags of sawdust.

Michael Cox wrote:Are you talking about the sort that you put on a standard kitchen hob, with a pressure release valve on top? I haven’t seen one in years over here.

On the other hand, you could get something like an instant pot. Does the same job as a pressure cooker, but uses a LOT less energy because it is well insulated. Plus you can use it to cook with, when no inoculating bags of sawdust.

Hi Michael,

Yeah, that's exactly the one I'm talking about. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into an instant pot, have a feeling they'll be on the pricey side though, but you make a good point in terms of energy efficency and multi use!

Thanks so much

Instapots, at least the ones they sell here in the US, don’t reach the temperature or pressure needed to sterilize mushroom bags.   And I’d say get the biggest pressure cooker you can.  I can only get two bags at a time in mine.

Kevin Hoover wrote:Instapots, at least the ones they sell here in the US, don’t reach the temperature or pressure needed to sterilize mushroom bags.   And I’d say get the biggest pressure cooker you can.  I can only get two bags at a time in mine.

A quick search suggests 110 degrees C to 118 degrees C is typical for instant pots.

https://archersmushrooms.co.uk/pasteurising-vs-sterilising-when-mushroom-growing/

This link suggests that these temperatures should be suitable for “super-pasteurisation” which is essentially the same as sterilising, which technically needs to be able 120 degrees C.