A detailed explanation of a new method for sterilizing edible fungi, worth learning about for growers

Take an old gasoline drum and clean the residue inside it thoroughly. First build a furnace platform with bricks that is 10 cm taller than the drum and 10 cm wider than the drum's diameter, use 10 steel bars 16 mm thick and 30 cm long as grate bars, and leave an air duct for a blower on one side. On the drum wall near the drum lid, weld 1 steel pipe and install a valve on it, so that water can be added and waste discharged; on the other side of the drum wall near the drum bottom, weld 2 branch pipes (connected above to black rubber hoses) to release steam; on one side of the drum lid, weld one 4 cm long thin steel pipe in an L shape at the top and bottom respectively, and connect a transparent plastic pipe between them as a water level gauge, then lay the drum horizontally on the furnace platform. When placing it, note that the drum lid should face forward and the drum bottom should face backward, with the front lower and the back higher. Build a chimney against the drum bottom to make full use of residual heat; build furnace walls on both sides to enclose the lower half of the drum. In this way, a simple steam generator is successfully made.

On one side of the furnace platform, lay a piece of cement ground or lay 2 layers of plastic film; the area depends on the material. On top, lay bricks or wooden sticks and then pile the material, place the steam exhaust pipe under the material pile, cover with 3 to 4 layers of plastic film, press down the edges all around with bricks, and then start the fire to pass steam through. The steaming time is 6 to 8 hours; after that, let the material pile sit covered for another night, and then inoculate. It would be best to also build one such furnace platform inside the mushroom shed. In winter, you only need to move the drum into the shed to use steam for heating. One furnace serves many purposes. When production tasks are urgent, you can also load another pile of material on the other side of the furnace platform, and the two piles can be sterilized alternately, which saves coal as well as labor and time, and is more convenient, economical and practical than an earthen steam cooker.