Mushroom Grain Spawn (Rye)

Mushroom Grain Spawn (Rye) FAQ

Answers to frequently asked questions.

The preparation of our grain spawn

We first start by selecting only the best, UK sourced, 100% organic rye grain from our trusted suppliers.

The dry rye grain is next rinsed multiple times to remove chaff, dust, and other foreign matter.

After the rinsing stage is complete, our rye grain is soaked in rainwater and a weak coffee solution with added gypsum.

Soaking in rainwater opposed to tap water ensures that no nasty water treatment chemicals (chlorine for example) are soaked up by the grain which would later impede or slow down the growth of mycelium.

We next add a weak coffee solution to the soak water because it adds extra nutrition to the grains and noticeably speeds up mycelium colonization times of the grains. We’re still yet to understand what one of the 100s of different compounds present in coffee is responsible for the increased growth rate, we’ve done some tests, and will continue our investigations but so far it remains unknown!

Allowing for a more diverse spectrum of bioavailable nutritional compounds within the mushroom spawn allows for larger, more nutritious and healthier mushrooms all round.

The faster colonisation times of the grains also ensures that spawn is more resilient against contamination.

After the grain is soaked for 12-16 hours, we next bring the spawn up to a vigorous boil for 10 minutes, this is the last step of fully hydrating the grains.

After 10 minutes, the water is drained off and the now steaming grains are laid out on a stainless steel mesh to air dry.

This natural steam-drying process ensures that all excess moisture is removed from the outside of the grain and a perfect moisture content is contained within the grain itself.

After the grains are dry on the outside, they are loaded into bags, impulse sealed, and pressure cooked at 15psi for 90 minutes. Once the pressure cooking cycle has finished, the steralized bags of grain are allowed to cool, then they are packed up and shipped out to our customers.