Hi Marco,
Great question! This is something we’ve been experimenting with over the last few months and we’ll add into the course material when it is updated in 2016.
We’ve found that you can just soak in water and then add straight to the mix without pasteurising. The process by which the wood pellets are made occurs under high heat and pressure and this renders the sawdust pellets sterile. They also then contain such low moisture content that no organisms can grow on them.
To use sawdust pellets, try to source some which are made from hardwood rather than softwood, and then soak in water until the pellets break up (this can take a while and can be sped up with warmer water), then squeeze out any excess moisture and add to the coffee in place of the straw. You can add them at anything between 10-50% of the weight of the coffee.
Hope this helps and let us know how you get on.
Best wishes,
Adam
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