GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

184
CULTIVATING GOURMET MUSHROOMS
Figure 144. Monitoring water temperature. 160° F.
(71° C.) is required for submerged fermentation.
tion. Straw is first chopped into 1" to 4" lengths
and can be prepared via several methods.
The Hot Water Bath Method:
Submerged Pasteurization
The first method is the hot water bath. Straw
is stuffed into a wire basket and submerged in a
cauldron of F. (7 1-82° C.) water for 1
hour*. The cauldron is usually heated from underneath
by a portable propane gas burner. The
straw basket is forcibly pushed down into the
steaming water and held in place by whatever
means necessary. A probe thermometer, at least
12 inches in length, is inserted deep into the
brothing mass, with string attached for convenient
retrieval. The straw is submerged for at
least one hour and no longer than two.
* Stainless steel 55 gallon drums from the food!
fermentation industry are preferred. If stainless steel
drums are unavailable, only those designed for food
storage!processing should be used.
Upon removing, the straw is well drained and
laid out in a shallow layer onto cleaned surfaces
(such as a counter-top) to rapidly cool. Most cultivators
broadcast grain spawn over the straw by
hand. Gloves should be worn but often are not,
and yet success is the norm. In either case, the
hands are thoroughly and periodically washed,
every 15 minutes, to limit cross-contamination.
The spawn and straw are then mixed thoroughly
together and placed directly into bags, trays, columns,
wire racks, or similarly suitable containers.
Another basket of chopped straw can be immersed
into the still-hot water from the
previous batch. However, after two soakings,
the hot water must be discarded. The discolored
water, often referred to as "straw tea",
becomes toxic to the mushroom mycelium after
the third soaking, retarding or preventing
further mycelial growth. Interestingly, this tea
is toxic to most vegetation, and could be used
Figure 145. Straw is stuffed into a wire basket and
then placed into the hot water.
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