Mustard seed core usage

[Jsefcik4958]

Hello guys... i was on a site called pyrodirect.... local store and they have mustard seed cores for sale... obviously they are used somehow... ive done lots of reading and such are they the same type of stars i see being used in all sorts of fireworks? Along with the balls i hear rattling in mortar balls? I see they get covered in bp am i correct?

[pyrokid]

Proper round shells should not shake like maracas. The shape of the break is dependent on how the components of the shell are arranged. If there is enough void space for the break and stars to shake around inside the shell, it's usually a sign of cost cutting and an indication that the break won't be very symmetric. Mustard seeds are sometimes used as cores for rolled stars. Star composition is rolled onto the star. Black powder is coated onto a carrier, such as rice hulls, and used as a burst charge.

[Jsefcik4958]

So will mustard seeds doing coverd in black powder? Like if you rolled them up in a piece of paper for example and lit it ?

[BetICouldMake1]

They are used as cores for rolled stars. Gives the comp something to stick to when getting started.

[dynomike1]

I use 9 shot me and mustard see couldnt work together.

[Richtee]

I use 9 shot me and mustard see couldnt work together.

 

Try moistening the seeds. I used ‘em a couple times with good results. Not as good at the filter media stuff tho. Never tried 9. Bet it works well, but ya got the lead thing going on.

 

Plus..you can make mustard too! Which i am a big fan of. fresh mustard will raise yer nosehairs

Edited June 9, 2020 by Richtee

[gregh]

Mustard seed is too expensive. I use rapeseed. I got 25 pounds for 40 bucks at the door. That makes a LOT of stars (appr. 200k/lb). Millet can also be used. Some people don't even use cores when rolling, but I still like them. Edited June 14, 2020 by gregh

[Richtee]

Mustard seed is too expensive.

 

Well, I guess it helps when you have a meat rub/brine company who has wholesale access to mustard seeds Guess I din’t consider retail prices.

[robbo]

Mustard seed is rape seed, basically. The stuff called mustard seed has been bred for flavor and is thus not produced in large amounts. The demand for condiment mustard is only so large. Rape seed however has been bred for making cooking oil and is produced on an unbelievably large scale. That's why it's so cheap. How does rape seed taste compared to mustard seed? Anybody know?

[SharkWhisperer]

Mustard seed is rape seed, basically. The stuff called mustard seed has been bred for flavor and is thus not produced in large amounts. The demand for condiment mustard is only so large. Rape seed however has been bred for making cooking oil and is produced on an unbelievably large scale. That's why it's so cheap. How does rape seed taste compared to mustard seed? Anybody know?

Taste?

 

Mustard and rape are from the same family of plants, but are not necessarily identical. Rapeseed oil is canola oil--cheap, tasteless, neither very bad nor good for your health in terms of fat intake. I have no idea what a canola/rapeseed plant tastes like, but have too much of various mustard varieties growing right now out of control, and their leaves are very tasty in salads and stirfries. That said, my local Indian market is happy to sell you Canola Oil and Mustard Seeds (2 types) for cooking. And also Mustard Oil, a bottle of which which my girl bought after a few selzers thinking it'd make a spicy salad dressing or marinade....no such luck--big disclaimer on bottle that it's for external use only (aka massage, etc.), and not to eat it, supposedly because of the quantities of erucic acid (apparently toxic to some degree) that it contains. Incidentally, I learned that boring old Canola Oil (rapeseed oil) gets its name from the CANadian OiL compAny, and is bred to less than 2% erucic acid levels (the "bad" stuff from India supposedly contains around 43% erucic acid).

 

Did that clarify or confuse? I'll taste my huge bottle of Mustard Seed Oil/dangerous Canola oil, and report back like a good guinea pig!

 

I use mustard seeds for pickling cukes and such, but we learn something new every day...

Edited June 15, 2020 by SharkWhisperer

[SharkWhisperer]

Hello guys... i was on a site called pyrodirect.... local store and they have mustard seed cores for sale... obviously they are used somehow... ive done lots of reading and such are they the same type of stars i see being used in all sorts of fireworks? Along with the balls i hear rattling in mortar balls? I see they get covered in bp am i correct?

BTW, this website's generous offer of $8.99/lb for mustard seed may or may not be a bargain, depending on if it's also free shipping, tsk tsk. Unlikely, and cheaper in local ethnic shops. Not that it's a rip-off. It's not. Just cheaper locally, and shipping by itself would cost almost as much as the product.. Just sayin'

 

Opinion: Folks, those that do, please stop using #6 or #8 lead shotgun shot for cores. There's already so few polluted waterways in the Continental US...

[spectra1]

Back in my undergrad days I had a number of lectures by various professors who help genetically modify the rapeseed and produce the "canola" variant. It was actually quite interesting and canola has a number of good things going for it and practically none of the bad associated with rapeseed.

[Richtee]

BTW, this website's generous offer of $8.99/lb for mustard seed may or may not be a bargain, depending on if it's also free shipping,

 

Just ordered some matter of fact. Not free shipping but commercial rates. Can’t tell you how much because 150 lbs of other products came with it. But the seed was 3.95/Lb itself.

[gregh]

I am not really concerned with the flavor and/or the health benefits of my star cores so the giant bag of dirt cheap rapeseed is just perfect for me.

Got mine from seedworldusa.com

[Richtee]

I am not really concerned with the flavor and/or the health benefits of my star cores

 

 

i just like multi-tasking... try my BBQ sauce. Star core based ..lol

[Arthur]

Mustard has small seeds and they are roundish. So they make good cores for rolling stars and they are naturally biodegradable which has to be an advantage.

[SKC]

Mustard seeds are good choice when the target is round star. The uneven surface helps forming round stars too. In this part of the world it is very cheap. We get two varieties one is yellow another is black. Yes it is good for health not the rape seed oil. Fry the fish or the chicken in mustard oil and do not forget to saute for a longer period with spices if you are preparing a curry.

[MinamotoKobayashi]

Excuse me but .. what is the advantage of the mustard seed vs the classical 1.5mm lead shots?

Leads shot are heavier and it is easiest to roll a core when it is heavier.

Mustard seeds are light and tends to stick against the star roller walls.

[SKC]

Excuse me but .. what is the advantage of the mustard seed vs the classical 1.5mm lead shots?

Leads shot are heavier and it is easiest to roll a core when it is heavier.

Mustard seeds are light and tends to stick against the star roller walls.

Sorry, I do not know how you use 1.5mm lead shots to roll stars so can't comment on that. Can you please elaborate a bit on that subject?

I'm rolling stars for 300-400gm total composition over mustard seeds for my hobbyist purpose with no problem of sticking against star roller. I am applying this technique only for colour stars not for high charcoal contained streamers.

[MinamotoKobayashi]

I always used lead shots since the beginning for rolling all types of stars, water based, alcohol based, water-alcohol based, alcohol+acetone based.

I always thought it was a common and normal procedure to use lead shot to roll the stars.

I never thought for a moment of using other types of balls to roll the stars.

And I never even asked myself the problem of the pollution that the dots could cause, since they are extremely small and that the chemicals contained

in the stars are much worse and in quantities much greater than the weight of the dots themselves. .

[kingkama]

Why not use pasta, a little kind with the hole inside is the best, try and you find that can be a perfect and natural media.

[Mumbles]

Lead shot is probably the easiest core material to use since it's fairly heavy and dense. It does have some environmental undesirability though. From everything I've heard, the lead core does burn up or melt or is otherwise consumed so there is little danger of it returning back to earth.

 

There are other popular star rolling core materials though. Small seeds such as mustard seed, millet, or peppercorn are also fairly common. Lighter materials are better suited to larger batches. The issues with cores sticking together and limited mass causing ineffective rolling cascades are reduced with scale. It's been said that the real masters in Japan can roll stars starting from a grain of sand or a drop of water. I've done the water thing before in a way. It's pretty neat to watch happen, but is somewhat tricky to do.

 

Other materials like pasta have been used as well with success. Anything that tends to swell can lead to cracking and poses issues for some. The same issue presents itself for some seeds and other natural materials as well, but you hear about it more with things like pasta.

[kingkama]

 

Other materials like pasta have been used as well with success. Anything that tends to swell can lead to cracking and poses issues for some. The same issue presents itself for some seeds and other natural materials as well, but you hear about it more with things like pasta.

Yes, with pasta you can't roll a big star in only one session, fast drying is mandatory, more if you made up Charcoal stars or Dextrine bonded.