Detailed Explanation of Key Points on Straw Mushroom Harvesting and Processing Techniques
After piling the straw and sowing, mushrooms begin to appear in 10-15 days (as quickly as about one week). The appropriate harvest time for commercial straw mushrooms is when the mushroom buds are about to rupture and the caps inside the volva have not yet opened. The specifications for canning are a diameter of 2 cm or more, a neat mushroom shape, an unruptured outer veil, and an unelongated enclosed stipe. The requirements for making dried mushrooms are a diameter of 4 cm or more and an unruptured outer veil. Those with a ruptured outer veil are slightly lower in quality, and those with opened caps are even worse; the latter can only be sold as substandard fresh mushrooms. For dried mushrooms, the mushroom buds should be cut longitudinally into two connected halves, arranged on a bamboo sieve or wire mesh sieve, placed on the racks of a specially made drying room, and dried over a slow fire. The initial drying temperature is 35-40°C, and as the moisture decreases, the temperature is gradually raised to 60-65°C, until the moisture content of the straw mushrooms reaches 12-13%.