u/wayb223 asked: “Which type of Agar do you prefer and why?”
You should practice different kinds, honestly. Putting your genetics library through different agar over time keeps it healthy and virile, reducing likelihood of senescence. Here are some ones I enjoy:
1L recipes all sterilized for 30-45 (nothing more than 45 for risk of caramelizing sugars, making the agar useless and promoting of unfavorable mycelial characteristics once caramelized) at 15PSI (w/ 10 min venting):
*Basic MEA (Malt extract agar) for 1L (halve for 500mL recipes): 20g agar + 30g tan malt (+ optional 1g nutritional additive)
*Basic grain soak Agar for 1L: boil grains for 45 minutes, drain grains using the liquid drained for your 1L agar liquid contribution. 20g agar for 1L and 1-2g of gypsum
*Stamets MYPA / MYA (Malt Extract, Yeast Agar)
-20 grams tan malt (brewers malted barley) per 1L
-2 grams nutritional yeast per 1L
-20g agar per 1L
-1g peptone per 1L
*Stamets PDYA / PDYPA (Potato Dextrose Yeast) Agar:
-boil 300g of sliced potatoes for 1 hour, drain that water off into your agar media container, holding back the potaters, a total volume of 1L for this recipe (or half variables for 500mL pours)
-10g dextrose (C6H12O6)
-20g agar per 1L
-2g yeast per 1L
-(optional)1g peptone (soy based)
*Stamets/Pollock Dog Food Agar (DFA):
- 20g dry dog food (assumedly ground up into powder before being added)
-20 g agar
-5g malt or glucose
*Stamets Oatmeal, Malt, Yeast enriched agar (OMYA):
-80g instant oatmeal
-20g agar
-10g malt sugar
-2g nutritional yeast