Why use hot water extraction on mushrooms?
Mushrooms can already have nutritional and nootropic benefits when eaten fresh or dried, but further beneficial chemicals can be bioavailable with hot water or alcohol extractions. For Lion’s Mane, hot water extraction is used to extract the beta-d-glucans from fungal cell walls known as chitin. Hot water extractions are most useful for Lion’s Mane and Chaga mushrooms, whereas alcohol extractions can get very useful polysaccharides from Oysters and Reishi.
Required Materials/Equipment
- 1x Freshly Harvested Lion’s Mane
- 1x Dehydrator (With 1 smooth and 1 gridded sheet)
- 1x Blender / Coffee Grinder
- 1x Medium Pot
- 1x Stirring Spoon
The Process
Step 1: Cut the Lion’s Mane into thin slices and place them on a gridded mesh dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate the fresh mushrooms at 115 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10-12 hours. They are ready when they crack and snap easily.
Step 2: Blend dehydrated mushrooms with a grinder until it is a fine powder.
Step 3: Add the powdered mushroom material to a Medium Pot. Add water to cover the material and just a bit extra on top to make up for evaporation. Stir and make sure all the material is submerged.
Step 5: Turn on low-medium heat to simmer the mixture.
Step 6: Stir it every 15-30 minutes, and make sure it’s not fully evaporated. This can take several hours if there is a lot of excess water.
Step 7: Once the mixture is goopy and not completely wet, transfer the mixture onto a smooth dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate until the water is fully evaporated. This is typically about 10-12 hours as well.
Step 8: Once dry, blend with grinder until smooth—it is now ready in powdered form.
Let me know if you have a better way to do this. Extracted Lion's Mane is super useful as a nootropic and it's why I continue to grow mushrooms at a larger hobbyist scale! It helps me focus more and work on tasks that I would have put off into the future.