How to Raise Different Kinds of Mushrooms for Cooking

Order

• 1

  Purchase the sterilized mushroom grow and spawn bag with the rye pocket and a syringe of prepared mushroom spores from the resource located at the bottom of this article.

• 2

  Purchase an 18-gallon, opaque plastic container with a lid prior to the time the mushroom kit is to arrive, as this will be the home for the mushrooms, providing darkness and an environment high in humidity.

• 3

  Clean the interior of the 18-gallon plastic container on the day the spawn bag and mushroom spores arrive. Slip your hands into a pair of rubber gloves and wet a paper towel with the isopropyl alcohol. Wipe your gloved hands with the alcohol towel, and then wipe down the interior and lid of the 18-gallon plastic container. Place the lid onto the container, and keep it closed so airborne spores do not land inside it.

• 4

  Wet another paper towel with alcohol and wipe down the kitchen counter or table area while wearing the rubber gloves. Unpack the spawn bag and syringe of mushroom spores and place them on your cleaned work surface. Wipe the outside of the spawn bag and the syringe with the alcohol-moistened paper towel.

• 5

  Assemble the syringe by screwing the needle into the end. Remove the plastic cap and inject the contents into the prepared spawn bag via the marked location at the site of the rye pocket.

Mushroom Growth

• 6

  Place the inoculated bag inside of the 18-gallon container. Fill a quart-size sprayer bottle with distilled water and mist the interior of the box and the spawn bag. Secure the lid, and place in an out-of-the-way area that maintains a temperature range of 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit, then wait for mycelium to populate the bag with white hairlike roots.

• 7

  Cut off the top of the bag when the bag of growing medium has become white with mycelium to expose the surface to air. Moisten the surface of the growing medium with the distilled water in the sprayer bottle. Snap the lid back into the closed position.

• 8

  Check on your mushrooms daily by opening the lid and peering inside of the container. Mist the surface of the grow medium with water as mushrooms prefer high humidity. Consult the place of purchase for the length of time to maturity for the gourmet mushrooms selected. Pick mushroom caps when they are fully developed.