Better jar?

[Glasshopper]

Half pint Mason jars come in two varieties:

Short wide ones with wide mouth or,
Tall skinny with regular mouth.

Which do you think is better and why? <cite> </cite>

[Hippie3]

currently researching this
but ATM i'm leaning towards the taller ones
only because it allows for a thicker vermiculite barrier
than the short jars.

[Glasshopper]

Hippie, I goofed, I should have added a third option for those who thought there was no difference and I don't see how to edit it in after the fact. If it is not to much of an imposition, would you please add it?

[Hippie3]

[Raindog]

As Hippy said, the tall ones allow more viable substrate with the same amount of verm barrier and IME are easier to cook without over boiling and introducing moisture to the dry verm.

Then again, substituting tyvek and silicon for the center lid and dry barrier would seem to alleviate both problems.

Wow seems everyones devided

[Stenciler]

seriously? I thought short fat hands down.
*I can reach almost to the bottom and start spores pretty much anywhere I want
*holds a larger verm "case" on top, and there's less surface area exposed to lose moisture.
*having a wider base gives a little more structure, and a larger radius to absorb H20 from the verm on the bottom.

Also, being shorter means my FC's don't have to be very tall. To me it seems tall .5's grow up while my short .5's grow out. Granted, none of this is scientifically tested by myself.

[duncan]

I like the wide mouth pints and quarts. i use tyvek and polyfil and coffee filters for a 3X barrier. Very rarely to i end up with contam's in any of my jars. I have seen the verm barrier before but not sure what the benefits of it are? Again just my .02 cents

[MLBjammer]

The dry vermiculite layer is the buffer between the colonizing substrate and contams in the air; it allows gas exchange to occur with minimal opportunity for contams to attack the substrate.
Folks use this layer with PF TEK jars mostly, and it's a proven method.
I voted for the wide-mouths.

[max]

I think you'll find birthing the cake mush easier when using the wide mouths. Thats why they are the ones suggested in the actual 'PF Tek'.

[chem42]

I just use the tall ones because they were the first 1/2 pints I saw at Walmart.

[nomoreusmc]

but the tall ones aer a pain to get out, and never do intero in them, you destroy the cakes getting them out, atleast I know I did.

[robman1]

I have some tall skinny jars that I bought awhile ago, but they are wide mouthed and tapered. Should there be an option then for tall skinny wide mouthed?

I haven't put them to use so I didn't vote, but I was just confused because they are labeled wide mouth.

I would also think that the verm barrier would be better on the tall ones because the amount used would be less to achieve the same thickness of a barrier. Or you could use the same amount used in the wide jars and get a very thick barrier.

Again, not tested just observing.

traditionally i would say widemouth/short jars are better


however

Quart jars kick both there asses

[AmosMoses]

I like the short jars. They are just easier to birth IMO. On a side note, at least you can tell people vote their minds and are not [sic]"intimedated" by your vote Hip. Enjoy.

[Hippie3]

one would hope so.

[motograter]

If I'm doing cakes, I prefer the wide mouth short 1/2 pints, I find they colonize MUCH faster (5 or 6 days) when using a multi spore syringe.

[scotia]

I'd also say short and fat for all the above reasons given; plus the fact I've seen taller, skinnier cakes topple over if some shrooms at the top get too big for them - higher centre of gravity.

[BuckarooBanzai]

My FOAF likes the short fat ones. No need for a thick verm barrier with tyvek vents and silicone injection ports.

[Doctor D]

I like the short, fat jars because they colonize more quickly than the tall tapered jars. And I dislike the tall jars because after double-end casing, they are a bit top heavy. I tend to knock them over more often than I do the short ones.

However, it seems that between flushes, I always lose a little bit off the top and bottom of my cakes after I scrape off the DEC for dunking. Or, my knife cuts into the cake and lops off a chunk. With the tall cakes being taller and less wide, I lose less substrate between flushes due to scraping, cutting, and whatnot. With the short cakes, after a few flushes, they become noticeably shorter, whereas the tall ones are still tall after the same amount of flushes. Does that make any sense?

I tend to favour the short tapered jars over the tall ones, however by my reasons above, the tall ones have more benefit. I guess I'll call it a draw.

[tbonus]

I myself like the short ones 'cause the cake comes out easier when its time to birth.Just my .02 cents.

[Cryingblackoil]

My friend likes them short, fat, and ramseyed.

[Boboso]

I chose short and fat cause it's a pain in the ass to get cakes our of a full pint. In that sense, short fat ones would have less side surface for friction to slow the cake's removal. I haven't actually used a half pint though, so I could be wrong...

[ez_goin]

Short and fat, by far, for me. They are much faster to colonize in my experience and seem to fruit better as well. And to oppose my last statement, I have had big fruits that grew to a size where they went side heavy and fell over into the perlite below. I like to do the short fat ones and stack one on top of the other. Seems to fit more in the FC and they small "forests" of mush are beautiful.

Just my 2 cents.

[GadgetGuy]

When it comes to 1/2 pints I like the short fat ones.... they seem to colonize quicker for me. I loves me the full pint wide mouths though with a good strong LC. They still tear through it in a couple weeks or so....

[PsyBearknot]

I voted for the tall jars just simply casue they seem easier to find all the time AND they are the only 1/2 pint jars I can find around here at all right now and I needed some jars.

If its colonization speed I can understand the love for short and fat. I must be the slow kid on the block cause I cant get anything I had to colonize in under 3 weeks or so.

I guess I dont understand why so much concern about the tall jars in the fruiting chamber?

If its a question of space why not cut the cake in 1/2 and roll it all in verm. 2 cakes are better than one, and it flushes out quicker. (so the vaults say)

If its a question of the cake tipping over on its side why not just roll the whole thing in verm and lay it on its side. still can fruit from the ends AND all the side. No worry about it tipping over. (waiting for some one to complain about it rolling over on the other side)

PBK

[ggod]

I prefer the wide mouth jars. Not for any reason other than we use wide mouth cars for canning at the house. It is nice to have a "standard" lid size. It cuts down on the various different canning and hobby supplies I have to keep on hand.

[Boboso]

Originally Posted by ggod

I prefer the wide mouth jars. Not for any reason other than we use wide mouth cars for canning at the house. It is nice to have a "standard" lid size. It cuts down on the various different canning and hobby supplies I have to keep on hand.

Good call!