(Click to see larger image) A must-have for all frequent plate-pourers is an additional pump-tubing set. Instead of resterilizing your pump-tubing set between plate pouring sessions, why not have another pump sterile, and ready to go when you are?

The PourBoy? 4 has an inexpensive, detachable, miniature, high-tech electromagnetic pump.? For longest pump life, we recommend autoclaving two bottles of water along with your media. Running the nearly-boiling water through the system before you start pouring agar-based media prewarms the pump, tubing, and kills the vast majority of contaminants (and/or washes them away).

The second bottle of water is run through immediately after pouring plates to clean any residual media from the system. We use this technique in our lab and have no problem with contamination of our LB, YPD, or NGM plates. In case of a stubborn contaminant, you can still sterilize with hydrogen peroxide (2% "drug-store-grade") or alcohol (bleach is not recommended). The tubing is pharmaceutical grade silicone rubber and can be autoclaved, but the pump itself cannot.