Why the format matters more than the species People choose a functional mushroom by name …
- Scott Brenton
- September 15, 2026
- 4 min read
From the lab & the field
Cultivation know-how, mushroom science, recipes, and dispatches
from our Longmont lab — written by the people who grow them.
Why the format matters more than the species People choose a functional mushroom by name …
What they are Beta-glucans are polysaccharides — long chains of glucose molecules — that form part of the structural cell wall of fungi. They also
What mushroom fibre actually is Plant fibre is largely cellulose. Fungal cell walls are built from chitin — the same polymer as an insect exoskeleton
The one rule Never store fresh mushrooms in sealed plastic. They respire, they give off moisture, and a closed bag turns that moisture into a
What is different here Colorado’s air is dry, and in winter with the heating on, indoor relative humidity on the Front Range routinely sits between
The method The liquid is the reason to do this The soaking water is a mushroom stock more concentrated than anything you could make from
Why drying beats freezing Drying does not just preserve mushrooms, it concentrates them. Water leaves, flavour compounds stay, and a dried shiitake or pioppino tastes
Why raw freezing fails A fresh mushroom is 85–90% water held inside cell walls. Freeze it raw and that water expands into ice crystals that
First, work out which problem you have Limp and wrinkled with a clean smell is dehydration — fixable, and often not even worth fixing because
Quick answer Usually not. A wet, slippery film with a sour or ammonia-like smell means the mushroom has spoiled, and cooking does not make it
Why plastic fails A harvested mushroom is still alive. It respires — takes in oxygen, gives off carbon dioxide and water vapour — for days
The table Every figure below assumes the mushroom reached you within a day of harvest, is stored at 34–38°F in paper or an open container,