Lidstrom:Pouring Media Plates

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Critical:

• Put date on plates. Some antibiotics aren't very long lasting.
  • For example, Ampicillin plates only last 2-3 weeks. (is there a citation for this? -Janet 2012/07/03)
• Wait to put the antibiotic in until it is cool enough to touch the bottle to your cheek.
  • This prevents thermal degradation.
• If you tend to get bubbles appearing in the agar plates after incubating at 37oC:
  • Let the media cool more before pouring plates
  • "plates that have been stored in the refrigerator should be separated on a bench top and allowed to warm gradually to room temperature for several hours before incubating at 37 °C." -- Sturdier 2014

Drew Endy has all the basics here