Endemic to East Asia and Japan's most popular mushroom, Shiitake brings the precious umami flavour to the table. Not to be eaten raw, lentinula edodes is the perfect addition for your pantry given it grows in abundance and is easily dried. The guanylate, a naturally occurring sodium salt, concentration of the mushroom increases upon drying, considerably enhancing the flavour. Dried shiitake can be shelf stable for up to a year, longer when frozen.
Shiitake comes in several strains with different fruiting temperatures. Grow multiple strains for a longer fruiting period, especially for commercial growers. Use the curated information chart to select fitting strains for your growing conditions.
Plug spawns, extremely durable, made of shiitake spawn grown on hardwood dowels are ready to be tapped into holes drilled into a healthy log cut during the dormant season (holes need to be sealed with wax to prevent dehydration). An inoculation period is required. Shiitake grows well on hardwoods such as oak, maple, chestnut, beech, mulberry, poplar, sweetgum, hornbeam and ironwood. Successfully inoculated logs will fruit for years.
Sawdust spawn can be used to inoculate both logs and substrate. Grain spawn inoculates subtrates.
Liquid culture is used in the ratio of at least 15 mL for every 4 lb. of sterilized grain medium.
