The effect of plating technique and incubation temperature on bacterial counts

Abstract
Summary: A comparison of plating methods and incubation temperatures for aerobic bacterial counts, carried out on samples from lamb, beef and meat processing equipment, showed that the spread plate counts were generally higher than those by the pour plate procedure. This was particularly so for samples which had been exposed to low temperatures for long periods. Incubation of plates at 25 and 30°C gave similar results but the 37°C counts were usually lower and more variable. Replication of dilutions or plates was found to give little or no increase in accuracy.

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