🧊Cold Storage For Your Farm!🍄Let's Grow Mushrooms! #MushroomFarmer #Mushrooms #Fungi #Mycology

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:04]Yo, what's up guys? Mike here coming at you from the mushroom farm and I got a great video for you guys today. So today we're going to head my walk-in cooler.

[00:00:10]We're going to talk about cold storage for your mushrooms, your spawn, your cultures and a whole lot more. I'm also going to cover refrigeration on a small scale in case a walk-in cooler is just a little bit too big for you. But first I want to say if you're new and you're just now tuning into this channel, my name is Mike. I'm a mushroom farmer.

[00:00:24]I've been farming gourmet mushrooms 10 years full-time. Here is a few shots of some of my grows, but I mostly grow these mushrooms here on my farm and I sell them at farmers markets and the high-end restaurants. We have over 300 videos on mushroom farming and mushroom cultivation on this channel. I'm doing daily uploads and monthly subscriber giveaways. So if you're into mushrooms and farming, make sure you click that subscribe button right now so you get more mushroom and farming videos like this in the future.

[00:00:49]But anyway, before we get into this I want to say I have a subscriber giveaway going on right now and you have the opportunity to win one of my 10 species master packs and my new strain of blue oyster blue thunder. All you have to do to enter is click down in the description box below and you guys can find the link to the video to the subscriber giveaway. It is the first video link you can click on down there in that description box. So head over there, drop a comment. This is your last chance to enter. I'm going to be announcing the winner tomorrow, okay? So tune into that video and see who has won the subscriber giveaway. to say if anybody wants to pick up any of my liquid cultures, you can head over to my website. It is linked down in the description box below. But anyway, let's get on to this video. Let's head into the walk-in cooler and check it out.

[00:01:29]All right guys, so here we are. We are in front of the walk-in cooler. I'm about to head in this thing, man. This is one of my favorite parts of the entire farm, okay? And I actually built it myself. This is where I store like spawn, cultures, mushroom blocks, mushrooms before I'm actually getting ready to take them to markets or restaurants, stuff like that. And I'm going to talk about the controller I used to get this thing running cuz I'm actually running this thing on an AC unit, okay? It'll get down super cold.

[00:01:53]Like I've had it down to 32° in here, okay? So this thing rocks. But anyway, let's head in here. Let's check her out.

[00:02:01]Oh, yeah. I can smell the mushrooms, you guys. This smells like mushrooms in here.

[00:02:05]Let's Let's look and see how cold this thing is. Let me flip this camera around.

[00:02:11]We are chilling at 37° F right now. So, that is just about perfect. Let's take a look at like what I have in here real quick. I'll just show you guys. So, here's some spawn. I've got all this spawn kind of stocked up. We are ready to rock, man. We're going to grow all sorts of mushrooms this year. So, we got spawn on deck.

[00:02:29]What do we got up here?

[00:02:30]Oh, yeah.

[00:02:31]Look at those liquid cultures, baby.

[00:02:33]That's right. So, we got some liquid cultures up here in the storage.

[00:02:37]And right here, we got some centrifuge tubes, some petri dishes, castaneda preservation method for long-term storage. So, we got all kinds of stuff in this walk-in cooler. Mushroom blocks are full-size mushroom blocks, guys.

[00:02:50]Some lion's mane. That's what's up. We got some lion's mane right there. What do we got down here? We got some oyster mushroom blocks chilling out right here.

[00:02:57]I'm going to tell you guys why I got those in here in just a little bit.

[00:03:01]All right, guys. Here we go. It is chilly in here. So, we are going to knock this video out. But, I'm going to tell you guys exactly how I have this walk-in cooler basically set up. I'm going to talk about exactly how I built it and how I've got this AC unit running right here, okay? I'm actually running this on a CoolBot and I'll tell you what, I have an Amazon affiliate link for the CoolBot down in the description box below so you guys can pick up the controller over there and just help support my channel if you guys use that link, okay? And I also have this thing right here, okay? We're going to go over this. This is what you can use to actually convert a deep freeze into a refrigeration unit, okay? So, I'm going to talk about this thing and how you guys can use these, but I'm going to link this down in the description box, too, in case you guys want to pick one of these up because I used one of these for years. Actually, I used multiple of these. I had two deep freezes that I used as a cooler before I actually built this freaking awesome walk-in cooler, okay? So, I've been running this walk-in and now uh this is my second year running it. Absolutely love it. Okay, so let's just get down to business. Let's talk about exactly how this AC unit is running cuz it's running on a Cool Bot, okay?

[00:04:01]Okay, so I'm going to tell you guys exactly how I got this thing running, how it's set up. There is the AC unit.

[00:04:06]Like I said, there is the Cool Bot.

[00:04:07]There's four wires on the Cool Bot, okay? I'm going to tell you guys exactly what each of those wires do, but first let's just talk about how this AC unit is actually set up, okay? So, this is an LG unit. It is a 2-ton unit or 24,000 BTU unit, okay? When you when you run one of these things, you have to turn it on the cool mode, okay? So, it's on cool, not on energy saver. That is super important, okay? And you just turn it as low as it'll go. So, 60° is the lowest setting on here, but as you can see, the Cool Bot right now, this is actually 39° in this room, okay? So, the Cool Bot basically tricks the AC unit to run colder, all right? And now there's only four wires that work that run on this Cool Bot. You got one for the power, one for the heater, one for the fins of the AC unit, and one to actually monitor the temperature of the room, okay? This thing is fully programmable, and you can set it to pretty much whatever temperature you want. So, this power wire right here, this power wire just plugs into the Cool Bot unit, and then you plug it into like a regular outlet, okay? Now, uh the heater wire, let's talk about this heater wire. So, it's a black wire. We're going to follow it.

[00:05:16]It's going to go over here.

[00:05:18]And you guys can see, I've got this heater wire there's aluminum foil right here. Basically, what's going on is there's originally a sensor in what in these AC units that is stuck under the into the fins. You remove that sensor, okay, from the AC unit, and you actually just butt it together with this heater wire right here, okay? Then you wrap aluminum foil around it, and I got some tape around the ends. And what that basically does, it is tricking the AC unit, so it'll continue to run at a cooler temperature, all right? Because you basically take the sensor that is in here, you take it out, and you just stick it on with this little heater probe thing, okay? Like I said, wrap aluminum foil around it, put the little tape around the ends, and you're ready to rock right there. Now, let's talk about these other wires. So, the fin wire, where does that go? It's a blue wire. It's going over here.

[00:06:05]And look at that, there's the fin wire, and I've actually got it up in here. It sticks into the AC unit fins, and what that basically does is it gets the temperature reading in from in here uh to prevent the fins and the AC unit from icing up. So, that way if it were to ice up, it would just like cut it off, okay?

[00:06:22]And it would let it de-ice. But I've actually never had a problem with that.

[00:06:25]There's no There's no issues with these things at all, guys. These things straight up kick ass. Absolutely love this thing. Now, anyway, what is this?

[00:06:32]This is the temperature probe for the room right here, okay? So, this is the sensor. You guys look over here, we have the wire that says room. That is where that bad boy goes, okay? So, that is basically just reading the temperature of the room, okay? 36°, boy, that is absolutely perfect. Absolutely rocking it right now. But that is the Cool Bot, like I said.

[00:06:52]It's basically tricking the AC unit.

[00:06:54]These things are super easy to hook up.

[00:06:56]Link down in the description box below, and you guys can pick up your own Cool Bot.

[00:07:00]All right, now I'm going to talk to you guys about this really cool controller right here, okay? So, this has nothing to do with the walk-in cooler. This is essentially, if you have a deep freeze, and you want to convert it into a refrigerator, okay? Let's just say you're not as crazy as Mushroom Mesa, and you don't need this much cold storage, okay? You're like, "Man, I just could use a little cold storage. I just don't want to put all my mushrooms in my refrigerator, okay?" So, I'm going to tell you how you can use one of these just to convert a regular deep freeze to a cooler, okay? Cuz this is an awesome unit. And I want to say I have the link for this down in the description box below, too. So, if you guys want to pick one of these up, look down in that description box, head over to Amazon, and get yourself one of these. So, this is an Inkbird temperature controller, basically, okay? And it has basically three type of wires coming off of it. I kind of have a tangled rat's nest of a mess right here, but one of these wires right here is the temperature probe, okay? So, we're going to talk about that. The other wire plugs into the wall. So, say it just plugs into a regular outlet. So, that's super simple.

[00:07:55]And then this thing right here, what's this for?

[00:08:00]You guys see that? One is for cooling, one is for heating. Basically, what you do is you would plug your uh deep freeze straight into the cooling one. That is all you need to know, guys. It is that simple. So, you would plug your deep freeze straight into that cooling one, okay? Like I said, plug the controller into the wall.

[00:08:16]And then this probe, what do you do with the probe, okay? Well, you actually would put this inside your deep freeze, okay? And this actually will read the temperature and sense the temperature in the deep freeze, and it will allow it to keep it basically above freezing, but to whatever temperature you set it at.

[00:08:30]These things like really rock, too. You can set it to whatever temperature you want, but um absolutely awesome unit.

[00:08:36]Like I said, I used these for probably 8 years before I actually built my walk-in cooler. I've been running the walk-in cooler 2 years, and uh this thing rocks.

[00:08:43]But anyways, since it is chilly in here, we're going to head back out to the lab.

[00:08:46]I'm going to talk you guys exactly how I actually constructed this thing and like type of insulation I have in the walls and the floor, just just everything I did to build the walk-in cooler.

[00:08:56]Okay, now I'm going to talk you guys about exactly how I actually framed up the walk-in cooler and how I kind of like built the floor on it, the walls, and um everything like that, okay? I'm going to then I'm going to talk about storage in there, like the spawn, the bags I have in there, the cold dishes I have in there, why I have everything in there the way I do, okay? But anyway, I built this thing myself. The entire building itself, this is all on a concrete slab. It's on a big concrete slab, and the walls are 2 by 6's, okay?

[00:09:23]And the flooring in there, okay? It's actually 2 by 6's as well, okay? And I'll show you guys just some pictures of the actual construction process of this thing. But basically, I framed everything up, okay? And then I had some contractors come in and actually spray in all the spray foam. So, since every since it is 2 by 6's, okay, that means there's about 5 and 1/2 in of spray foam on every wall, the floor, and even the ceiling. I did the ceiling, too. You do every little part of it, and I did the door, okay? So, don't forget the door, either. But, I basically had everything sprayed in with spray foam. About 5 in 5 and 1/2 in of spray foam or so is it's a little over R30, okay? So, it is insulated to over R30, close to R35, honestly. So, um really well insulated, extremely well insulated. I believe the minimum you ever want to do for a walk-in cooler is R25. That is the rating for the insulation. So, mine is well above that, and that So, like I said, mine is extremely well insulated, and if you're wondering how does it do, I absolutely love it. I would not change a freaking thing, okay? So, if anyone has questions about the construction, or if you're questioning anything about it, don't question anything about it, cuz it freaking rocks, okay? And I want to tell you guys basically how I actually set up the walls and stuff like that. So, after I got that insulation sprayed in there, okay, I actually shaved all that insulation down really good, okay?

[00:10:39]Because I put on that nice pretty tin, right? It's all shiny in there. So, it looks pretty sweet. And um before I put that tin on, I want to say I did put a vapor barrier on on there, just in case, okay? So, I went ahead and put a vapor barrier over the walls, like a plastic barrier. And then I put the tin over that plastic barrier, okay?

[00:10:55]>> [music] >> The floor, what I basically did And now the floor, if you're wondering like what I actually did for the floor, so it's got, like I said, insulation between all those joists and stuff on the floor. And then I went ahead and put plywood on top of that, okay? 3/4 in plywood. And then I used that um FRP board, okay? So, I glued down some FRP, and that way I can like mop the floor really easily.

[00:11:14]Everything works really good in there as far as that's concerned. I haven't had any problems with the floor. And like I said, I've been using this thing 2 years, so absolutely freaking rocks. Um wouldn't change a thing about it. One of my favorite parts about the farm. I can even keep my groceries in there, all sorts of stuff. I can hold all sorts of mushrooms in there. And now, as far as like everything that I got in there right now, I have my spawn in there. The spawn is in there because I got spawn on deck, baby. And that is for myself here.

[00:11:39]Like I have spawn ready pretty much for the next couple months here for my for my own farm, okay? But we're going to have some on the website soon here, so you guys can uh purchase spawn and stuff like that on the website. I'll be supplying spawn here very shortly. And I also keep my cultures in there just so the cultures stay really good for long-term storage. Same thing with my castillani preservation uh method. I have those centrifuge tubes in there.

[00:11:59]So, I keep those in there for long-term storage. And I actually put my mushroom blocks in there because my markets don't start up until May 31st, and I figure we'll put some blocks in there right now, like my blue oysters, my lion's mane. I have some coral tooth blocks in there, too, the hericium coralloides.

[00:12:13]But just so we can stall the blocks a little bit cuz we don't need them just quite yet. But I am going to be putting them in the grow room within just a few days here, okay? So, I got some blocks stored in there. So, it's another way you guys can store blocks um just if you don't need them right away. Like if you want to And it's also like a good insurance policy, too. Like if you guys have contamination or something on some of the blocks you just made, then you got some backup blocks in your walk-in cooler, and you can snag them whenever you need to. So, so that's just a little bit on the walk-in cooler. Like I said, I love it. But anyway, now I want to talk to you guys about this controller just a little bit more, okay? Because there was one time I did have a problem with one of these things, and I want to tell you guys exactly what did happen with the deep freeze, okay? This happened my first uh year of mushroom farming doing doing one of the big farmers markets, okay? And I only made this mistake once, okay? And I never made it again after that. So, let me tell you guys what I did cuz it's just something to be aware of with these things. These things rock, okay? But just be aware of this issue that can happen, okay? So, like I said, super simple unit. Basically, you have this thing you plug the deep freeze into. You plug the controller into the wall to give it some power, and then you got the temperature probe, okay? So, anyway, the temperature probe goes inside the deep freezer, all right? Well, anyway, there was one night I will I will never forget this, you guys. So, there was one night I was harvesting mushrooms Friday night.

[00:13:27]I had a Saturday morning farmers market, so I was up late picking mushrooms and put them all in the walk-in cooler. And guys, I had or not the walk-in cooler, put them all in the deep freeze, okay? I had a big harvest. I was like pumped, dude, because the the freezer was totally full. I was like, "Oh, this is going to be a good one." Okay, so I thought the market was going to be great, but anyway, like I said, I was up late and guess what I did? I accidentally knocked the temperature probe out of the freezer, okay? So, you know what what happened? So, it was reading ambient temp then, okay? And then it made the freezer actually turn into a freezer because it was trying to cool it colder than what what it was supposed to be because like if like I said, the temperature probe was reading room temperature essentially, and it was trying to get it down to freezing. So, when I woke up in the morning, all of my mushrooms were frozen, okay? And luckily, I did have some mushrooms still growing up in the grow room that day, so I went in there, I picked some mushrooms, and then I just went to the farmers market and I sold all of the fresh mushrooms that I had.

[00:14:21]And unfortunately, the frozen ones had to get thrown out cuz they turned into mush as soon as they um thaw out, okay?

[00:14:27]So, that was the only time I ever had a problem with this, so I recommend if you use one of these things, tape this thing into your freezer so you don't make that mistake, okay? Cuz it it just accidentally got knocked out, okay? But I never did it again after that, okay?

[00:14:40]That was one of those things like you learn once and you just don't do it again, all right? So, that's one thing to be aware of of these controllers, but these controllers are freaking awesome because like I said, you can convert any size deep freeze into a like a big refrigerator essentially with just this controller. And like I said, this is linked down in the description box below.

[00:14:56]But that is just a little bit on cold storage and like I said, the walk-in cooler is amazing, you guys. So, if you guys have ever been considering building your own walk-in cooler with a CoolBot, I definitely recommend it, highly recommend it. And if you don't quite need something as large as a walk-in cooler and you want to convert a deep freeze, use one of those Inkbird temperature controllers.

[00:15:16]But anyway, if you guys have any questions on this, be sure to drop it down below in that comment section. If you have any suggestive videos, be sure to drop those down below in the comment section. Remember, get over there and enter the subscriber giveaway. Okay, this is your last chance to enter. I'm announcing the winner tomorrow, okay?

[00:15:31]So, I'm all pumped about that. And if you guys want to pick up any of my liquid cultures, you can head over to my website, link down in the description box below. But, hopefully you found this video helpful and informative. And if you did, please drop this video a like.

[00:15:42]Subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. But, that's all I got for you on this one and I will catch you guys on the next one.

[00:15:53]>> [music] [music]