Fruiting Mushrooms In Your Kitchen the Easy Way

Growing your own food is fulfilling, fun and educational. If you have planted up your logs and inoculated your garden with edible mushrooms this spring, your situation right now is that you have to wait for the mushrooms to fruit. Fruiting kits on the other hand fruit within a month of you receiving them in the mail. 

Another situation you might be in is that you really want to grow mushrooms, but you don’t have the space to grow them or you don’t have a setup or time to make the grow bags yourself. But if you have a kitchen counter, you too can grow mushrooms with ease.

What is a mushroom fruiting kit?

A mushroom fruiting kit is a pre made grow kit, where you need to follow minimal steps to get it to produce a basket full of beautiful delicious mushrooms! With these kits, you will begin seeing mushrooms likely within the first two weeks up to a month and a couple of weeks. Check out our availability of fruiting kits here. 

Different types of fruiting kits

Oyster Mushroom Fruiting Kit

Oyster mushrooms are absolutely loaded with nutritional value making them not only incredible to eat, but amazing for your health. They are also high in antioxidants, boost your immune system and are great with helping reduce your blood cholesterol levels. Oyster mushroom fruiting kits come in many different colors and fruiting ranges. Some examples are:

• Warm Blue (65-80F) – Pleurotus ostreatus – thick meaty caps, fresh aroma resembles licorice or anise
• Cold Blue (35050F) – Pleurotus ostreatus – thick meaty caps, fresh aroma resembles licorice or anise
• Pink (75-95F) – Pleurotus djamor – seafoody pungent aroma, pink color will fade in cooking, can be tough, they require longer cooking
• Golden (65-80F) – Pleurotus citrinopileatus – wispy and brittle, fruity watermelon aroma, nutty taste
• Brown (50-75F) – Pleurotus ostreatus – thick meaty caps, fresh aroma resembles licorice or anise
• Phoenix (75-90F) Pleurotus pulmonarius – whispier than the blue oysters, fresh aroma resembles licorice or anise
• Grey Dove (65-85F) – Pleurotus ostreatus – thick meaty caps, fresh aroma resembles licorice or anise
• White Elf/Ferula/Bailin (55-60F) – Pleurotus nebrodensis – dense and meaty, taste and texture close to abalone, mild and farinous
• Pearl (65-85F) – Pleurotus ostreatus – thick meaty caps, fresh aroma resembles licorice or anise
• Tarragon (70-90F) – Pleurotus euosmus – delicate and brittle, aroma of tarragon
• Aspen (60-75F) – Pleurotus  populinus – thick meaty caps, licorice like aroma

If you are a beginner, the oyster mushrooms are some of the easiest and quickest growing kits that we offer.

When you receive your oyster mushroom fruiting kit in the mail, all you need to do is poke a hole in the fruiting kit, and water it. Detailed directions come with every fruiting kit. Please click here to see what we have available at the moment. 

Oyster Mushroom Avocado Toast

Ingredients

• 2 slices of bread-buttered- I love sourdough so that is what I used.
• ¼ lb oyster mushrooms-torn into pieces
• 2 cloves garlic cut into thirds long ways
• Fresh thyme
• Butter
• 1 avocado – pit removed and cut into small dice
• 1 garden fresh tomato – Seeds and core removed and cut into small dice
• 1 quarter of a red onion – minced
• Fresh cilantro

 Method

• Get your skillet hot then add your oil, butter, mushrooms, garlic & thyme. Make sure to not overcrowd your pan because you want them to brown. Cook thoroughly and season with salt and pepper
• Mix remaining ingredients together and season with salt and pepper
• Toast your bread in your skillet and then assemble starting with a slice of toast, avocado mix and top with mushrooms
• This recipe is super easy and versatile, sometimes I will add a little feta cheese on it. ENJOY!!

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 Shiitake Mushroom Fruiting Kit

The Shiitake mushroom is one of the most well-known mushrooms around the world, and for good reason! This delicious mushroom is easy to grow and compliments just about any meal that you eat perfectly. This mushroom is mild and meaty with a great flavor that would be perfect for beginner mushroom eaters. Believe it or not there are also some pretty impressive medicinal qualities to eating shiitake mushrooms. A few of the ways they help is by boosting your immune system, reducing inflammation, helping to lower cholesterol and supporting the heart health! 

When you receive your shiitake fruiting kit in the mail, all you need to do is soak it in water for a few hours, watch and water when needed. Detailed directions come with every fruiting kit. Please click here to see what we have available at the moment. 

Your Favorite Shiitake Ramen

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup of shiitake mushrooms- stems removed and sliced (if using dried save your soaking liquid to use in your ramen to add a depth of flavor
• 3 garlic cloves cut into thirds
• Fresh thyme and butter
• Oil
• ½ each of different colored peppers- julienned
• 1 scallion sliced into 1 1/2 inch strips and sliced thin
• 1 soft boiled egg
• Any great veggies that you want to throw in

Method

• Get your skillet hot then add your oil, butter, mushrooms, garlic & thyme. Make sure to not overcrowd your pan because you want them to brown. Cook thoroughly and season with salt and pepper
• Prepare your ramen according to instructions (if I am using dried mushrooms I always save my soaking liquid to cook my ramen in).
• Place your ramen in a bowl and add in all other ingredients and enjoy!!

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 Lion’s Mane Mushroom Fruiting Kit

This mushroom is a great culinary and medicinal mushroom at the same time. You can grow lion’s mane on your counter at home and observe the tiny cotton ball like beginnings develop into a full and beautiful white mane of the mushroom’s name sake. If you don’t eat meat, this mushroom is great for making delicious vegetarian crab cakes.

There are so many medicinal benefits to this mushroom. It is great for anything gastrointestinal, but its most surprising benefit is that it can assist in repairing nerve damage. 

• Tufted Lion’s Mane – this is the sweetest of the lion’s manes
• Pom Pom – the most studied for medicinal qualities, can be a little sour if you let it grow too long
• Bear’s Head – exceptionally delicious, crumbliest of the lion’s manes

When you receive your lion’s mane fruiting kit in the mail, all you need to do is make a slit in the fruiting kit, water when needed and watch. Detailed directions come with every fruiting kit. Please click here to see what we have available at the moment. 

Lion Cakes aka Crab Cakes

Ingredients

• 1 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
• ¼ cup finely minced chives
• 1 tbsp Duke’s mayo
• 1/8 cup finely diced celery
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp of finely chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• ½  tsp Old Bay seasoning
• ½ lb Lions mane mushroom
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup panko or homemade bread crumbs
• ½ tsp grated lemon peel
• Avocado oil + butter for cooking

 Method

• Break up the mushrooms into pieces, place preferably all together in a large, high sided pan with a lid and sweat them with 2 tbsp butter and a good pinch of salt. Cover the pan to help them wilt and try not to brown the mushrooms(this is why it is okay to overcrowd your pan this time). Cook down for about 10-12 min until they have wilted and are cooked through. You will want to make sure they are cooked thoroughly as you will be just pan frying later.
• Transfer to a colander over a bowl and along to drain any excess liquid, you can also squeeze them to get the extra moisture out (you can add back in later if need be).
• I always start by placing my panko crumbs into a food processor with the spices to make them fine.
• Rough chop your cooked lions mane into small-medium pieces or if you like it a little finer you can pop them into your food processor.
• Transfer your Lions mane and breadcrumbs into a bowl and mix up, start adding in all other ingredients and mix thoroughly.  You want it to hold together and not fall apart.
• At this point I always take a little bit of the mix and pan fry to check seasoning, moisture content and adjust to your taste, also if you need to add a little more liquid you can use the mushroom liquid that you drained off earlier.
• Form into patties, I use a ring mold
• Heat your pan and add the oil and butter, fry until golden brown on both sides. Enjoy with a sriracha aioli or tartar sauce.

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Reishi Mushroom Fruiting Kit

Known as the mushroom of immortality, reishi has been used in eastern medicine for over 2000 years. It is bitter and corky, so not a worthy culinary mushroom, but it is great as medicine. Its constituents have been studied extensively, and has been used for allergies, sleep, inflammation, and much more. Note that this mushroom does have chemicals that help thin the blood, so talk to your physician before you add it to your diet. It is a beautiful mushroom that is slower growing than most other mushrooms, but it will not disappoint with its rich color and glossy shell. 

When you receive your reishi fruiting kit in the mail, all you need to do is cut the top of the bag the fruiting kit is in, water when needed and watch. Detailed directions come with every fruiting kit. Please click here to see what we have available at the moment. 

Reishi and Elderberry Extract

What You Will Need:

• Ball Jar with top
• Dried Elderberries
• Dried Sliced Reishi
• Honey
• 40% or higher alcohol content brandy

Method

• Fill the jar 1/3 with dried elderberries
• Cover with honey
• Fill the second third of the jar with reishi
• Cover everything with brandy
• Shake every day for 10 days, and then every 2-3 days for 6 weeks
• Take 1 tsp per day before sleep

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White Button Fruiting Kit

These fruiting kits are available October through April every year. White button mushrooms are the most commonly consumed mushrooms in the US, and probably the rest of the world. They are pretty inexpensive and come in many different forms: Fresh whole, fresh sliced, canned, pickled, in sauces, etc. Most of them are not grown organically, they are grown in very large warehouses, and are sprayed heavily with pesticides and fungicides. If you are buying these mushrooms, please buy them organically grown, and always cook them. Mushrooms are made of chitin, which your body cannot break down, but heat does, and when you cook mushrooms, all the nutrients suddenly will become bioavailable.

When you receive your white button fruiting kit in the mail, all you need to do is case your fruiting kit, water when needed and watch. Detailed directions come with every fruiting kit. Please click here to see what we have available at the moment. 

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Portabella Mushroom Fruiting Kit

These fruiting kits are available October through April every year. Believe it or not, portabella mushrooms are the same species as the white button mushrooms, they are merely different color strains. They also taste the same. In the store they are sold as different sizes. White button mushrooms are small, and portabellas are larger. We have grown white button mushrooms in outdoor beds, and we were able to grow them as large if not even larger that the portabellas. Please always cook your mushrooms. As mentioned above, mushrooms are made of chitin, and they need to go through a heat process to break down those hard chitin walls, and make the nutrition available for your body. Check out a recipe below for a super easy and tasty recipe involving portabella mushrooms.

When you receive your white button fruiting kit in the mail, all you need to do is case your fruiting kit, water when needed and watch. Detailed directions come with every fruiting kit. Please click here to see what we have available at the moment. 

Grilled Portabella Burger

Ingredients

• Portabella mushrooms
• Italian salad dressing
• Shredded mozarella cheese
• Tomato Sauce
• Parmesan cheese
• Burger bread rolls

Method

• Slice the stem off the mushrooms, place them in a container that you can close, and marinate them in Italian salad dressing overnight in the fridge.
• Mix in parmesan cheese into the tomato sauce, set aside.
• Grill the mushrooms the next day, make sure they are cooked through well.
• Place the mushroom on a bread roll, pour some of the tomato sauce on the mushroom, and then some shredded cheese. Top with the bread, and enjoy.

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Coffee Cultivator

Our very popular coffee cultivator is a great project for beginners and kids wanting to do science experiments. Oyster mushrooms are very versatile, and can break down a myriad of agricultural byproducts: straw, banana fronds, lemon grass, oil, cardboard, shredded paper, your wife’s old jeans, and yes, also coffee. Mixing used coffee grounds with oyster mushroom spawn will result in fresh mushrooms right on your kitchen counter.

For more ways to grow oyster mushrooms on agricultural byproducts, check out this How to Cultivate Oyster Mushrooms with Recipe blog.

When you receive your Coffee Cultivator in the mail, all you need to do is add spent coffee grounds, water when needed and watch. Detailed directions come with every fruiting kit. Please click here to see what we have available at the moment. 

Oyster Mushroom Fries

Ingredients

• Oyster mushrooms
• Flour
• Eggs
• Salt and pepper
• Milk
• Sriracha
• Mayonnaise

Method

• Shred the mushrooms down the gills in 1 inch strips
• Mix milk, eggs, salt and pepper, and soak the mushrooms for 10 minutes
• Toss in flour, and fry in oil until golden
• Serve with Sriracha mayo sauce

Our fruiting kits require a well-lit area, indirect sunlight. They fruit twice but can certainly fruit more if you take care of it well! We are always here if you have any questions!