Australia's Science Forum

Hi everyone,
Pressure cookers were discussed a few years back but I am wondering if anyone has bought one recently for sterilizing agar plates? If so, what brand have you bought and is it good?

Thanks in advance

Kathryn

Hi Kathryn,
I would recommend purchasing an autoclave rather than a pressure cooker if you possibly can. Yes they cost a bit more, but they are designed for the task and tend to last a lot longer. So long term they are actually cheaper. We have an All American 1915X and it is great! I'm pretty sure it is still readily available from some, if not all of our usual suppliers.
Mel

Even the cheapest autoclaves are way beyond our budget atm. Currently we just toss used agar plates but now that they are starting to use far more, I would prefer to have better practice. Any pressure cooker will be better than nothing.

I use some old thing that's been around for as long as me . Gets the job done .
My only suggestion would be to make sure you can fit a class set in it at a time . Mines just a bit small so I have to usually have two runs to get them all done .