{"id":992,"date":"2022-01-20T03:07:59","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T03:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crystalverse.com\/?p=992"},"modified":"2025-11-27T01:20:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T01:20:54","slug":"msg-crystals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crystalverse.com\/msg-crystals\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Grow Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) Crystals"},"content":{"rendered":"

People sometimes add MSG to food to make it taste better. It has an umami taste that enhances flavor.<\/p>\n

But like salt, it also has a crystalline structure. If you look closely at it, you\u2019ll see that a spoonful of MSG is actually made up of small, elongated crystals. The question is, can you grow big crystals with it?<\/p>\n

The answer is yes!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi, I\u2019m Chase, and I love to grow crystals at home. Over the past 3 years, I\u2019ve successfully grown crystals from table salt<\/a>, alum<\/a>, copper sulfate<\/a>, fertilizer<\/a> and many more. It\u2019s surprising how easily you can crystallize many household materials.<\/p>\n

However, I couldn\u2019t find much information on growing MSG crystals online. So I decided to give it a try, and the results surprised me. In this guide, I\u2019ll share how to grow MSG crystals with you. I believe it\u2019s the only such article on the Internet.<\/p>\n

\"clusterBehold the flavor stone. Umami in its purest form.<\/em><\/p>\n

How to grow MSG crystals<\/h2>\n

The concept is simple. Dissolve the MSG in water to form a saturated solution. Pour it into a dish, and wait for small crystals to form. Then, tie a crystal to a string, and hang it in a cup of solution to let it grow bigger.<\/p>\n

Materials<\/h3>\n

The only thing you need is monosodium glutamate, MSG. 500 g is enough to grow all the crystals you\u2019ll see in this guide.<\/p>\n

\"msg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n

Preparing a saturated solution<\/h3>\n

Prepare a pot of hot water. Dissolve MSG of equal mass in it, and stir until everything dissolves. For example, if you have 500 ml of water, then dissolve 500 g of MSG in it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At first, the solution will be very cloudy. After around 5 minutes, all the powder should have been dissolved, and the solution will clear up.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once the solution clears, immediately turn off the heat, and close the lid<\/strong>. Wait for the solution to cool to room temperature.<\/p>\n

What you\u2019ve just prepared is a supersaturated MSG solution. Since hot water can dissolve more MSG than cold water, once the solution cools, the extra MSG has nowhere to go. Thus, it crystallizes out, forming crystals in the process. This is exactly what we want.<\/p>\n

After cooling, split the solution into 2 portions. Prepare one small portion (50 ml) and pour the rest into a large jar.<\/p>\n

\"monosodiumI\u2019m using beakers, but you can use any container you like.<\/em><\/p>\n

The solution might look yellowish \u2013 that\u2019s normal. The crystals won\u2019t end up yellow.<\/p>\n

Now, put the big portion aside for the moment. It\u2019s better if you cover the top with a lid, or seal it with some plastic wrap. This is to keep out dust, and to prevent crystals from growing prematurely.<\/p>\n

Pour the small portion into a flat dish.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After that, place the dish in a cool, undisturbed area.<\/p>\n

Depending on the conditions, small seed crystals will start to form within a few days. At first, they look like bits of white fluff:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Over time, more of them will appear, and they\u2019ll start getting bigger, forming clumps.<\/p>\n

\"small<\/p>\n

Now, if your place is hot, dry, or exposed to air movement (thus causing the rate of evaporation to be too fast), a bunch of white crust might form instead.<\/p>\n

At my place, the temperature is 27 \u00b0C and the humidity averages 80%. If your place is much drier, it might be necessary to get creative. For example, place the dish in the bathroom, near some plants, or inside a bowl containing water.<\/p>\n

\"msgI placed this dish in the shoe cupboard outside my house \u2013 apparently it was too hot there.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the dish inside the storeroom did pretty well.<\/p>\n

When there are quite a lot of crystals in the dish, you want to move on to the next step.<\/p>\n

Getting the MSG crystals to grow onto a string<\/h3>\n

Tape one end of a string to a stick, or a pencil. Again, nylon fishing line works best. Then, poke the other end of the string into the dish containing the crystals.<\/p>\n

\"msg\"small<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a close-up of the dish \u2013 you can see the string sticking in from the top right.<\/p>\n

Try to get the string to touch one of the crystals. After that, wait one more day to ensure that the crystals stick the string.<\/p>\n

Take the string out, together with the crystals stuck to it. Then, suspend them inside the big jar of solution that you prepared earlier.<\/p>\n

\"monosodium<\/p>\n

Great. This will be our main growing setup, and allows us to grow much larger crystals.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s better to suspend the crystals rather than to grow them straight in the dish because of 2 main reasons:<\/p>\n