89 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
89 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
The Rice-Cake Technique
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by Dr. Steven H. Pollock, M.D.
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This technique is extremely easy and highly recommended for its convenience in
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growing Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms. All that is needed is a pressure cooker,
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some canning jars, uncontaminated live mushroom starter (mycelia), and brown
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rice. Either long grain or short grain brown rice may be used. The former is
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usually more economical. Do not use white rice. It is inferior in quality to
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brown rice because most of the vitamins have been lost in converting brown to
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white rice.
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Into each quart jar place 1/4 cup brown rice and between 1/3 to 1/2 cup tap
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water. One-half cup or more of water is too much because the rice will turn to
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mush rather than a cake. One-third cup water leads to a dry cake that is
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adequate, but mycelia grow much faster on the wetter cakes resulting from the
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use of more than 1/3 cup of water. Up to 1/8 teaspoon of agricultural gypsum
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(calcium sulfate) may be added to each jar prior to sterilization to serve as
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a buffer, but gypsum is not really necessary. Some cubensis strains seem to
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prefer it, but so do many contaminants. It seems more practical not to bother
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using gypsum except except for purposes of experimentation to find out if a
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particular mushroom strain will fruit more aggressively with it. In most cases
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it probably will not make any difference.
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Invert the dome of each two-piece lid and place it on the mouth of the canning
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jar with the rubber seal facing upward. Then loosely screw on the lid bands.
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Presssure cook the jars at 15 lbs. pressure for an hour. Actually 45 minutes
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at 15 lbs. pressure is adequate, but an hour gives an even greater likelihood
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of complete sterilzation. Allow the pressure cooker to cool and remove the
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jars, screwing the bands tighter until ready to inoculate the rice-cakes with
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mushroom mycelia. Using a flame-sterilized probe, carefully transfer a piece
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of agar medium containing live uncontaminated mycelia into each jar. It is
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best to loosen the jar lid before-hand so that it will lift off easily. To
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make the transfer, cut out a section of agar medium containing mycelia using a
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flame-sterilized scalpel or probe. Then spear the agar block of mushroom
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starter with the probe, lift up the lid of the jar, and drop in the piece of
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mushroom starter. Close the lid but do not screw it too tight since it is
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necessary for growing mycelia to breathe. To enhance the rate of mycelia
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growth, very soon after the jar is inoculated the lid can be screwed tight and
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the jar shaken to bring the piece of mushroom starter into contact with more
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of the rice-cake surface. Then loosen the lid before setting the jar in place
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to incubate. In about four weeks mushrooms will start to grow. Sometimes they
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commence after only three weeks, but they may frequently take up to six weeks
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to appear. This depends a lot on the strain and room temperature.
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The mycelia can be grown in the dark but light is needed when it is time for
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the fungus to make mushrooms. As little as five minutes twice a day from an
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overhead incandescent light in a closet can be sufficient to initiate mushroom
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formation. But much better crops seem to come when fluorescent "grow lights"
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are used for longer periods during the day. When mushrooms are growing, the
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lid of eacj jar should be very loose since much condensation occurs as the
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mushrooms breathe.
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Some growers remove the lids completely at this time or replace the domes with
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a double layer of paper towels. The towels can be secured in place with the
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lid bands and the jars may be set near a window for natural light. Paper towel
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tops should be sprayed with water at least once a day to help maintain a humid
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enviroment. As the rice-cake dries, fruition is promoted. But if the dome is
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left very loosely in place, fruiting continues much longer. Sometimes fruiting
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occurs for three months or more! Mushrooms will keep appearing after harvest-
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ing of previous crops.
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To harvest the magic mushrooms, a fancier can reach in throught the mouth of
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the jar and pull them out. It is best to grasp each mushroom near the bottom
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of the stem and to give it a twist. If the mushroom cap is tugged, it might
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just break off from the stem. Alternatively, a long knife may be used to cut
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the mushrooms at the bottom of the stem. Still another method is to the jar
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facing down so that the cake will fall near the orifice. This makes it easier
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to grasp the mushrooms. Sometimes it is advantageous after a second of third
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harvest to flip the cake over in the jar before putting the lid back on. This
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maneuver often promotes a luxuriant fruiting from the newly exposed rice-cake
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surface.
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When the cakes have dried out too much for mushrooms to appear, they can be
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squited with water froma spray bottle to induce another fruiting or better yet
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used as spawn for a mushroom garden on compost. If there is absolutely no sign
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of contamination, the cakes themselves may be fried or broken up and cooked in
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mushroom soup or other cuisine for a psychedelic experience. One cake is
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usually sufficient for two to four enthusiasts.
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The rice-cake technique is very efficient. A 14 ounce package of brown rice
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can be obtained often for less than fifty cents and is enough for seven quart
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jars. When the cakes have completely become covered by mycelia, small pieces
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can be cut out with a sterilized scalpel or probe and transferred to newley
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prepared rice-cakes in other jars. This will not interfere significantly with
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mushrrom production and will insure a continuing supply of magic San Isidro
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mushrooms.
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