The Plate Note
Pleurotus ostreatus × P. eryngii · Kitchen
Plate Note - Black Pearl Grow Block
Thick stems you can sear and serve as a meal.
$33.00
Shipping at checkout · Free on orders $150+
Grown for hearty meals
Black Pearl is for people who want mushrooms at the center of the plate. Thick stems, seared like a small steak. You get a filling food with protein, B vitamins, and the same good compounds gourmet mushrooms are known for. You grow it, pick it, and cook it.
A ready-to-grow block on organic hardwood, made and checked in Carthage. Cooler rooms make thicker stems. A harvest you can serve as dinner.
Sold out
This strain is between harvests. Leave your email and we’ll write when it is back in the crate.
Covered for failure to fruit or contamination within 30 days. Cool conditions are part of the method.
Grown for
Hearty, nourishing mains
How you use it
Sear the stems, roast, slice into coins
First harvest
10–20 days
Temperature
50–65°F
How it fruits
Top-fruit after opening the bag
Expected yield
Often 1–2½ lb on a strong first flush
Flavor
Meaty, mild, steak-like stems
Difficulty
Easy, prefers cool
In your life
Why people cook Black Pearl as dinner
What it can add
These stems are dense food: more chew, more plate. People cook them when they want mushrooms to feel like a meal — protein, B vitamins, dietary antioxidants such as ergothioneine, and a simple sear.
Grow it and make it yourself
We grow this block on organic hardwood in Carthage and check it before it ships. Keep it cooler than the others. You spray, pick the stems, and sear them. You see the mushroom from bag to plate.
How to use it
Slice the thick stems. Hot pan. Sear until brown. Salt at the end. Serve as a side or as the main. Cook fully. This is food, not tea.
As food
Thick-stem gourmet fungi are protein, chew, and a plate that is not a garnish. They also carry dietary antioxidants such as ergothioneine. Cool room, open the top, sear the stems through. Food first — not a tea.
Food and traditional tea — not a medicine. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you are pregnant, nursing, or on medication, ask a clinician before making functional mushrooms a daily habit.
Not sure which mushroom matches the job you want? Read the guide.
What you are actually growing
Black Pearl was bred for the dense stem of a king trumpet with the friendliness of an oyster. It wants 50–65°F. Warm houses make skinny stems. Cool rooms make a harvest.
Not harder than oysters — just cooler. Basement, mudroom, or spring garage.
How to fruit this block
Find the coolest honest room
50–65°F. Warm houses make skinny stems.
Open the top and scratch
Fold the bag down. Lightly scratch the surface with a clean fork.
Keep the surface wet
Mist several times a day. A tent with air holes helps.
Harvest thick stems
Twist the cluster when caps are still slightly convex.
Harvest
Stems are the prize. Keep them long. Trim substrate at the base.
After the last flush
A second flush is possible after rest and a cold soak. Then the block goes to the garden.
In the kitchen
Slice stems into coins, score, sear until deep brown. Butter, soy, lemon.
A first recipe
Black Pearl ‘scallops’
1-inch coins, scored both faces, 3–4 minutes a side. Garlic, lemon, parsley.
If something looks wrong
Skinny stems
Too warm or too little air.
Pins abort
Surface dried out. Increase misting.
No pinning after two weeks
Confirm it is under 67°F. Scratch again.
