Is this contamination?
Inoculated this bag a month ago with 2.5 cc of liquid culture. I did a break and shake at 20%, and within 4 days the bag looked white from the outside. After 7 days, I assumed it was ready and did another break and shake to check. That revealed the core still hadn’t fully colonized, so I figured I might need to start over.
It’s now been 8 days since the second break and shake, and most of the bag is white except for the top, which still feels flimsy. Some of the grain has stuck to the sides of the plastic and separated from the main mass, which makes parts of it feel squishy. The majority of the bag feels solid, but there’s still some give on the top and sides. I also think I’ve seen water pooling in a few spots, and those areas look more translucent.
The whole time since inoculating I placed a heating pad under a folding table, with the grain bag on top of the table spaced away from it using two blocks of wood and a metal rack. I’m wondering if this caused uneven heating, condensation, and pooling. The bag doesn’t smell off, just like mycelium, but the growth has been slow and I’d really like the whole bag to feel solid by now. I attached a picture of the translucent grains. It’s mostly one big chunk at the front and a bunch of small ones throughout the bag.
Does this sound like bacterial contamination? Has the bag stalled? Should I toss it and start over? I’d hate to waste more time waiting on a bad bag it’s already taken forever.