Grow your own ... 'shrooms

[Sideways]

A couple of weekends ago and inspired by our youngest daughter, my lass treated me to a grow your own mushroom "kit".
Cut an opening in the bag, and mist it 3x a day to keep it damp, otherwise nothing involved. That's about my level.
Anyway, we follow the instructions and nothing happens for 10 days then signs of life and 3 days later we're eating them. Excellent fun !

Yellow oysters as it happens, and if we're fortunate we may get to repeat the process when the "log" of wood substrate has had a couple of weeks rest in a dark room to reenergise itself.

Do we have any mushroom connoisseurs who can offer tips to a newbie ?

 

[duke]

No help from me but the pan fry looks good. Strong or mild tasting?

 

[Stigmorgan]

Definitely something I've been considering for myself.

 

[Sideways]

I would say mild, but good.
Just a few minutes in olive oil with some fresh thyme to colour them. Fairly hot and this creates a chewy / crispy texture rather than soggy. Then a good dollop of butter and couple of cloves of garlic for the last 2-3 minutes.

 

[duke]

I would say mild, but good.
Just a few minutes in olive oil with some fresh thyme to colour them. Fairly hot and this creates a chewy / crispy texture rather than soggy. Then a good dollop of butter and couple of cloves of garlic for the last 2-3 minutes.

Stop

 

[Tris]

If you've got access to some freshly felled broadleaf tree trunks, not less than 4" thick, you can have a regular supply for years.

Drill rings of half inch holes, 1½ inches deep, around the log, 4 inches or so apart in a staggered pattern.

Fill these holes with spawn to within ½" of the top, plug with dowels and seal with candle wax.
Place in a cool, shaded spot outdoors and wait for the harvest.

It'll probably take a couple of months for the mycelium to colonise the logs but then they can go on for a few years.

If you want to shock them In to fruiting out of season pop them in a water butt for 24 hours and they should produce a crop within a week or so.

It's a bit of a fiddle getting them set up but if you have the time and a few logs it's pretty much food for free.

Can't remember off the top of my head what substrate these kits use, but the wood saprophyte species can probably be grown in a large bag of hardwood wood shavings too if you want to extend the life of your kit

 

[stuart little]

YUK!!!

Only 'champignons de Paris' - closed cup - pour moi, I'm afraid.

 

[paulm]

Try dry frying them over a medium heat in a non-stick pan until they exude most of their moisture and it evaporates off, then add olive oil or butter to finish at the end, it firms up the texture and intensifies the flavour, and stops them going soggy by absorbing oil or butter too early

Turn the heat up at the end before adding oil/butter if you want to brown/crisp them a bit more.