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What Is Cold Water Lime Pasteurisation?
Cold water lime pasteurisation is a method used to prepare substrates that have little to no supplementation. It’s ideal for processing straw and sugar cane mulch. Using nothing more than cold water and hydrated lime substrate can be pasteurised overnight.
This same method can be used for hardwood fuel pellets. Use a tied pillow case to allow for easy retrieval and drainage. It’s important to note that substrates containing soy hulls or high levels of supplementation are to be sterilised instead of pasteurised to avoid contamination.
What You'll Need
For this project we recommend using a large bin (65L) and laundry basket to create a lime bath with removable insert for easy drainage.
You will also require between 2 – 4 grams of hydrated lime per litre of water used. Hydrated lime can be purchased from the concrete section in your local hardware store.
Step 1. Prepare Laundry Baskets
Drill holes in the bottom of the laundry basket to ensure that the substrate can drain easily once removed from the lime bath.
Step 2. Make Lime Bath
Fill each bin with water allow space for adding the sugar cane mulch. For each litre of water add between 2 – 5 grams of hydrated lime.
Step 3. Submerge Substrate
Pack the laundry basket with straw. Submerge in the lime bath and place weights on top. Leave submerged for 16 – 24 hours.
Step 4. Drain Substrate
Remove laundry basket and allow the substrate to drain. The substrate is ready to be used once it can be squeezed and it no longer drips excess water.
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I’m Luke and I’m mad about mushrooms. I operate a small scale family run business located 40 minutes west of Brisbane. We’re passionate about fungi and we look forwarding to sharing our experiences with you.
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