What vessel do you use to make yeast starters?

[bendog15]

Got a stir plate and a 2000ml Erlenmeyer flask for makin yeast starters. Problem is- I need a bigger vessel to make 10 gal batch starters without doing 3 stage starters. And I'm too cheap to buy the 5000ml flask, it's outta my price range for the moment.
Any cheap alternatives?

 

[tjmac5071]

I used a huge pyrex bowl once, worked perfectly, no issue throwing the stir bar or anything. Once it was done I transfered to some Mason jars to cold crash and store the extra 100b or so I made.

 

[arnobg]

Someone in a recent post showed their setup using 2 gallon buckets and also large plastic ice cream tubs.

 

[stever1000]

Im interested in what other people do as I'm in the same boat, a 5L flask here costs $50

 

[GQT]

Depends on your stirplate. Some self-made stirplates are equipped with magnets strong enough to steal car keys out of the pockets of people walking opposite side of the street, so having a thicker-walled vessel like a plastic bucket or alike does no harm. Unluckily my stirplate is a weak one and I sometimes see the bar tossed off to the side of the flask, so I have to stick to thin-bottomed ones. Or replace the magnets.

 

[feinbera]

One-gallon glass apple juice jugs... but, then, I don't have a stir plate (hence, the one-gallon starters). I imagine the fact that the bottom is slightly dome-shaped would cause problems with the stir bar.

 

[jtratcliff]

I also use the 1 gallon apple juice jugs with my DIY stir plate. It works. With the curved bottom, it can take some finesse to get the stir bar to stay in place but if you start slow and don't go too fast, you can get a decent vortex.

 

[atoughram]

2000ml E-Flask works for me for 10 gallon batches... Calculators say I'm underpitching but it's always bubbling in less than 24 hours.