How to Grow,Dry & Store Oyster Mushroom

We have been introducing mushroom cultivation as a nutritional supplement and cash crop for the landless poor. Oyster mushrooms are a high yield, fast growing crop. They are known to help lower cholesterol levels and are a great source of potassium, iron and protein.

Oyster mushrooms are highly tolerant of variations in temperature, humidity, light levels and carbon dioxide levels, making it a great choice for first time growers.

See related instructable - How to Grow Oyster Mushroom Spawn (Low Tech)

You will need...

Straw (the medium for growing the mushrooms in)

Containers (for soaking straw)

Plastic bags (or reusable containers for holding straw)

Elastic bands or string (to constrict bag opening)

Cotton wool (to filter out contaminants)

Barrel or drum (for pasteurising the straw)

Material liner (for holding bags within barrel)

Gas burner (for heating barrel)

Bleach spray (to clean growing room)

Spoon, gloves, clean clothes, face mask (to look the part when inoculating straw)

A growing area that can retain moisture in the air, shaded with some light

Possibly plastic sheeting (to help retain humidity & to reduce other unwanted moulds)

Storing

Oyster mushrooms do not like sealed containers nd they do not like plastic bags. The plastic makes them go slimey, as does washing them. Brown paper bags make them dry out. If you need to wash them either use them immediately or pat them dry with kitchen paper. Best, clean them with a dry soft brush, the kind you get at the end of a mushroom knife. Store them in the vegetable compartment of the fridge or a cold store in a lidded yet slightly open plastic box so that they can breathe. They will last for two weeks in good condition.

Drying

"When you find a good oyster mushroom source, you often find more than you can eat right away. Oysters don't store or keep very long after picking, so you are better off to store some for those cold winter months. My favorite way to keep mushrooms around is to dry them. After eating my fill of the harvest, and sharing some, I proceded to dry the excess. The process is simple and easy to do! First you clean the mushrooms. This batch was pretty clean since they came off of coffee grounds. I had to rinse them a little and dried them off on paper towels. The mushrooms were then torn along the gills to a mangeable size. This batch was dryed on racks on the counter for several days."

"After a few day of drying the mushrooms looked like this. Notice how they have shrunken up since mushrooms are mostly water!"

"When drying large amounts of mushrooms or meaty mushrooms, we use a dehydrator. The main thing is to make sure they are completely dry before you jar them up. At this point they go into labeled mason jars for storage. When rehydrating mushrooms you can boil them a bit in water. Make sure you use or save the broth. This is where the flavor is! Rehydrating in milk works well, especially if you are going to flour and fry them or make gravy. I like to throw them in soups or sauces and let them rehydrate in the liquid of the dish. Mushroom soups made from dried mushrooms are excellent and in most cases, better than fresh mushroom soup. So pick when you can, eat all you can, and store the rest. You will be very happy you did on those months when the mushrooms are not flushing!"