Erlenmeyer flask broke while heating: WTF?

By real deal stir plate you mean lab quality, with the ability to adjust the temperature of the plate I assume.
Leave the heat off. We are making yeast here. A fancy bug from a bio-tech research facility would probably like to have some warmth, but 70 or so is just fine for our bugs.
Cheers.

 

Yes, I mean lab quality, up around $2,000 quality, that I got as a very generous gift. But without a user manual!

 

I almost bought a couple of generic Erlenmeyer flasks from Amazon. Glad I did not after reading this. Thanks for the post OP.

 

I have blow a Pyrex measuring cup before and it's a big mess. From that point on I switch to flasks and heat it in a stock pot filled with water as mediator.
In large starter volume I use my trusted pressure cooker to boil the starter wort.
The pressure cooker reduce time period need to sensitize the wort.

 

No. Although some folks do their Lager starters at more lager fermermention-like temps. I don't normally do that myself, but I wouldn't say they are wrong, either.

 

Given that, is there any real reason to decant the wort once the starter is done?

 

Never particularly trusted glass containers on the stove, no matter what the brand. I've never had stainless steel break on the stove when making starters.

Use a regular pot with a good lid. Heat, boil, cool with lid on. Add to sanitized flask, put on stir plate (or whatever you do with it at that point).

You'll Never have that problem again.

 

I always decant the starter liquid. It's disgusting stuff (very oxidized). The idea of pouring two or three liters of it into my beer kinda triggers my gag reflex. But I typically make bigger starters than a lot of homebrewers.

 

Taste your finished starter sometime and decide for yourself. I decant. But it's funny how many people will painstakingly develop a recipe, and then dump a liter or more of spent starter into their 5 gallon batch.

 

OK, this makes sense.

 

This is all I do, although Ive switched from mason jars to wide mouth nalgene bottles = shatterproof, go ahead ask me why I like them.......

 

I'm looking to probably start pressure canning wort as well. Seems easy enough to do so, put them in a box, and save them for when I need a starter. Pour into the flask, add the yeast, turn on the plate.

Do you add nutrient to the DME and water in the jars when you can?

 

I have no problem using the entire starter if NOT using a stir plate and keeping the temps reasonable.

 

I can only imagine - which bottles are you using now?

Yup, it's an imprecise amount of a "pinch" But regardless, there's always nutrient onboarded into the jars.

 

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At ~7$/bottle they aren't exactly dirt cheap, but neither was the autoclave I use them in

I have 10 of them and actually only fill them with extra wort left over from brewing (I squeeze out the hops and then sterilize in the autoclave). I havent had to boil or cool wort to make a starter in years, and it has been awesome!

 

Ditto. Autoclaving your starters is the way to go. Been three years since I've done anything but either sterilize wort left over from a batch or throw DME and water together on a hot stir plate before autoclaving.

 

electric stove breaks them...

 

Anyone heat their flask with a glass top electric stove?
My first attempt I used a double boiler but the flask was jittering/clanking as the water around it boiled so I pulled it out and put it right on the burner. I was successful but don't want to push my luck next time.

 

In case it's useful for anyone, @OldSock has recently written a post about using a pressure cooker to can starter wort. It seems like a good investment if it's something you do often enough. Just make sure you know what you are doing in terms of ensuring that the wort is sterile.