Food doesn’t get much more local than mushrooms you grow inside your house. The Detroit Mushroom Factory, a two-person business operating out of a home in the North End neighborhood of Detroit, grows and sells gourmet mushrooms to restaurants and individuals in southeast Michigan.

When Chris Carrier and Deana Wojcik decided to start this business two years ago, they sold most of their possessions and left California to drive around the United States and determine where they would settle down. One item that Chris couldn’t part with: his autoclave. We don’t blame him. The materials for their business are 100% reusable, so sterilization is a crucial step to successful inoculation.

From food prep to QA testing, sterilization in an autoclave (as opposed to, say, a dishwasher or pressure cooker) is necessary for local food manufacturers who want to grow beyond cottage food laws. Priorclave’s benchtop autoclave is small and energy efficient, making it a great tool for your home-grown operation.

[Photo credit: Leslie Seaton, CC BY 2.0]