Yeast Starter question

[Philip1993]

My guess would be that you'll end up with superheated dme/water that will explode all over the inside of your microwave if you try to boil the mixture for long enough.

Superheating tends only to occur in low mineral content water boiled in nearly new plastic. In order for it to happen, no nucleation sites can form. Add a few scratches, a little soap residue, anything to start the process and it just boils. I've tried unsuccessfully to repeat the superheated water explosion without success. And, I have been boiling my water, tea, baby formula, etc in the microwave for years without incident. Oddly, though, I never thought about starters/beer (why?!?) and will be doing that going forward.

That said, my advice is be aware of the hazard and look at your water to see that it did boil before sticking your face over the vessel an inserting a spoon.

 

[mthogan1997]

I always boiled my starter in a microwave and have had no problems. However, last week I boiled water in the microwave and when I opend the microwave door, the water exploded and scared the poop out of me. I am now leary of boiling anything in a microwave.

 

[DSean]

I always boiled my starter in a microwave and have had no problems. However, last week I boiled water in the microwave and when I opend the microwave door, the water exploded and scared the poop out of me. I am now leary of boiling anything in a microwave.

If you stick a toothpick in the container (floating on the top of the water), you won't get any more explosions because the water won't be able to super-heat, as pldoolittle described above. I've done this before and never had a problem. [I removed the toothpick before doing anything with the water].

 

[bitteral]

This will be my first batch using liquid yeast, and the idea of making a starter right in the primary fermenter sounds really appealing. A couple of rookie questions:

1. Two quarts of water and 2 cups of DME would do the job for the starter's wort?

2. I'll be fermenting in a bucket fermenter. To aerate the wort would it be ok to just stir it vigorously in the fermenter. (The fermenter and spoon would be sanitized, of course)? If not, how? I'd be boiling my wort in a stove pot.

 

[beerdad]

1. Some yeast nutrient is good too. I use 1/8 tsp fermax. I used to use airlocks on my starters but I saw on here someone said use sanitized aluminum foil to let oxygen get in. It's close but I think the aluminum foil is a little better.

2. Running the wort thru a sanitized strainer works good. A good skake works god too. I'm considering buying an airating system for my fermenter.