The Pantry Note
Lentinula edodes · Mushroom Grow Kit
Pantry Note - Shiitake Grow Block
A pantry mushroom for weekly cooking.
$33.00
Shipping at checkout · Free on orders $150+
Grown for daily cooking
Shiitake is the mushroom people cook for deep flavor and a long food history. It is studied for beta-glucans and for vitamin D when the caps see light. You grow it, pick it, and roast or simmer it yourself — a mushroom that belongs in regular meals.
A ready-to-grow block on organic hardwood, made and checked in Carthage. Take the bag off, one night in the fridge, then fruit the whole block. Roast, simmer, or dry extras for stock.
Sold out
This strain is between harvests. Leave your email and we’ll write when it is back in the crate.
Covered if it contaminates or never pins within 30 days. Cold-shock is required.
Grown for
Daily cooking + functional food
How you use it
Roast, simmer, dry for stock
First harvest
10–21 days after initiating
Temperature
55–70°F after a cold shock
How it fruits
Bag off, fridge overnight, fruit the whole block
Expected yield
About ¾–1½ lb per flush
Flavor
Deep umami, smoky, classic mushroom
Difficulty
Moderate — loves a cold snap
In your life
Why people cook shiitake every week
What it can add
Shiitake is one of the best-known cooking mushrooms. People eat it for rich flavor, and it has a long food history. Caps that see a little light can also add vitamin D to a meal. Dry extras for soup in winter.
Grow it and make it yourself
We grow this block on organic hardwood in Carthage and check it before it ships. You take the bag off, give it one cold night, spray, and pick the caps. Then you cook them. You see the mushroom from bag to pan.
How to use it
Roast, simmer, or add to soup. Cook all the way through. Dry extra caps for stock. This is food you cook, not a tea mushroom.
What people look for
Shiitake is one of the best-studied culinary fungi. Lentinan is a beta-glucan in the cap. Ergosterol in the mushroom can convert toward vitamin D when the caps see light. The habit is a mushroom you actually eat every week. Roast, simmer, or dry extras for stock. Cook it through.
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
In the woods, shiitake waits for a temperature drop. You fake autumn with a night in the refrigerator. That one extra step is why first-timers think it is hard. It is not hard. It is specific.
Read the cold-shock step twice. Everything else is misting.
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.
How to fruit this block
Brown ‘popcorning’ is normal
White mycelium with brown blistering means the block is ripening, not rotting.
Take the bag all the way off
Shiitake fruits from the whole surface.
Cold-shock 12–24 hours
Refrigerator, not freezer.
Mist the naked block
55–70°F. Pins as dark buttons over 1–3 weeks.
Harvest
Caps still slightly convex, veil just breaking. Fully flattened is still edible, a little less tender.
After the last flush
Dry 7–10 days, soak 4–12 hours, fruit again. Shiitake is a long-haul block.
In the kitchen
Roast with oil and salt. Miso. Dry extras for stock. Stems go in broth.
A first recipe
Roasted shiitake with soy and sesame
Caps in oil, 425°F until the edges lacquer. Soy, sesame oil, scallions.
If something looks wrong
No pins after two weeks
Cold-shock again. Confirm it is not in a hot room.
Slimy spots
Standing water. Drain, more air, lighter mist.
Green mold
Grow Promise if it is within 30 days.
