Pink Oyster Mushrooms

A Mushroom Factory also makes a great gift idea.

Grow your own Oyster Mushrooms! Growing your own mushrooms is a truly extraordinary and satisfying experience and the fruits of your fun are delicious and nutritious. To maintain your mushroom factory all you have to do is add water, a bit of light, and love.

These beautiful Pink Oyster Mushrooms look more like fast growing coral than easy to grow delicately flavoured treats. Their yields are slightly smaller than our White Oyster Kits but the experience of watching these unique mushrooms grow more than makes up for it!

Growing your own mushrooms is a truly extraordinary and satisfying experience and the fruits of your fun are delicious and nutritious.

At The Mushroom Factory we believe growing mushrooms should be fun, and that’s why we’ve created our Mushroom Factory Grow Kits. We have done all the hard work, so you can have all of the fun.

To grow your own oyster mushrooms all you have to do is add water (a bit of light and love never hurt either).

Growing your mushrooms

Remove the sleeve and open the box.
Remove the spray bottle, humidity tent and alcohol swab. Open the perforated window in the front of the box and expose the mushroom bag.

Close the top of the box. Sterilise the exposed area of the inner plastic bag using the swab. Using the swab sterilize a sharp knife and cut 3 “X” shaped slits 1cm * 1cm in the front of the inner bag. They may seem small but trust us – we’ve done this before.

Place the box in the humidity tent indoors, in a light area and out of direct sunlight! Keep the top of the humidity tent open to allow airflow around your mushrooms.

Humidity is really important for your mushrooms to thrive. Spray the inside of the humidity tent 2 to 3 times a day. Your mushrooms should start growing within 15 days.

Harvesting your mushrooms

From the time your mushrooms start growing, they should double in size every day. They will be ready to pick after about a week. Pick the mushrooms while the edges of the caps are still curled down. If you leave the mushrooms to grow bigger, you will end up with poorer quality mushrooms.

Pick all the mushrooms at the same time by carefully twisting them off at the base. Don’t cut the mushrooms off at the base, this may cause stump rot, and a rotten stump means fewer mushrooms on your next flush.

Storing your mushrooms

Refrigerate

Your mushrooms will keep up to a week in the fridge. Once you've picked your mushrooms, wrap them in a damp (not wet) paper towel and put them in a brown paper bag. (This stops them from drying out).Keep your mushrooms at the bottom of the fridge with the other veggies (It isn't as cold as the rest of the fridge).

Don't store your fresh mushrooms in airtight containers - they cause condensation, which will make your mushrooms soggy.

Freeze

Freezing your mushrooms will allow them to keep their great flavor, but freezing leaves you with a soggier looking mushroom. Frozen mushrooms are ideal for soups, stews and casseroles.

1. Bring 1 l of water to the boil with ½ a teaspoon of salt.
2. Add mushrooms and boil for 3 minutes
3. Remove from heat, rinse with cold water and drain
4. Freeze in a freezer friendly bag or container.

Dry

Stored properly, dried mushrooms have a more potent flavour than fresh ones.

1. Preheat oven to 150 C
2. Slice your mushrooms into ½ cm slices and arrange in a single layer on a baking tray.
3. Bake for about one hour each side regularly dabbing away any moisture sweated out from your mushrooms until they are dry.
4. Allow them to cool, and then store them in an air-tight container in a cool, dark place.

Your mushrooms are ready to store when they feel dry when you touch them. They should still be flexible A good idea is to add a wad of paper towel at the bottom of the jar - just to absorb any moisture that might still be lurking around.

To Rehydrate

Put your mushrooms in a bowl of warm water for 30 minutes or if you are in a hurry, bring a pot of water to the boil and simmer your mushrooms for 10 minutes Keep this liquid for stocks, soups and sauces by pouring the liquid into an ice tray and freezing. When you need it, just pop the frozen stock into the pot.