agar recipe and source

[sashurlow]

So I bought my glass ware and etc, I have the materials for my stir plate. Now for the media. I noticed that getting agar for microbiology is quite expensive (http://www.cynmar.com/Products/products-by-category/microbiology/Media) but an internet search found it MUCH cheaper (http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=mT9bT8uWCaPv0gGw8_S2Dw&ved=0CLABEPMCMA8) Is the cheap source just as good as the expensive source.
And once I get my agar, anyone got a recipe? Could I just do the same thing I do with my starters (boiled yeast and table sugar)?

 

[dinnerstick]

any old agar will do the trick, the expensive ones are just highly purified, which you don't need for just growing yeast on plates. you can often find it cheap in natural food stores as a veggie alternative to gelatin, also sometimes called agar-agar. my brew shop sells it in a huge bag for cheap. yeast labs often use YPD media (yeast extract, peptone, dextrose/glucose) but why not just use DME and 1% w/v agar?