blue.magic
Rising Star
I just got this simple autoclave off eBay (prolly just a chinese remake of the legendary All American pressure cooker).
This one is electrical with a resistive heating element inside. One advantage is that is heats up really quickly and does not need a stove.
There is no power switch or heating control so I plugged it in an extension cord equipped with an on/off switch.
Unfortunately, controlling pressure this way is quite tricky. Once 15 psi (or 121° C) is reached, turning the power off will cause sudden drop in pressure followed by slower decrease then. One has to considerably over-pressurize it and repeat the re-heating every few minutes. This is very daunting since sterilizing grain jars takes 90 minutes or so.
I don't care that much however, since the sterilization time is reduced by using higher pressure so there are not as many on/off cycles.
However, I have an idea of picking a Variac, or variable transformer, to smoothly regulate AC voltage until the pressure gauge stays at place. This will simulate the delicate act of regulating flame on a stovetop when pressure cooking.
Of course one still has to keep an eye on the autoclave (as the pressure can build up very slowly anyway), but there will be less manual labor involved. And it will be more fun to set up.
Another idea is to bring more insulation, maybe thick aluminium foil or some pipe insulation material.
What do you think?
This one is electrical with a resistive heating element inside. One advantage is that is heats up really quickly and does not need a stove.
There is no power switch or heating control so I plugged it in an extension cord equipped with an on/off switch.
Unfortunately, controlling pressure this way is quite tricky. Once 15 psi (or 121° C) is reached, turning the power off will cause sudden drop in pressure followed by slower decrease then. One has to considerably over-pressurize it and repeat the re-heating every few minutes. This is very daunting since sterilizing grain jars takes 90 minutes or so.
I don't care that much however, since the sterilization time is reduced by using higher pressure so there are not as many on/off cycles.
However, I have an idea of picking a Variac, or variable transformer, to smoothly regulate AC voltage until the pressure gauge stays at place. This will simulate the delicate act of regulating flame on a stovetop when pressure cooking.
Of course one still has to keep an eye on the autoclave (as the pressure can build up very slowly anyway), but there will be less manual labor involved. And it will be more fun to set up.
Another idea is to bring more insulation, maybe thick aluminium foil or some pipe insulation material.
What do you think?
