Some Thoughts on Drying Mushrooms

At this time of the year dried mushrooms are starting to be the main source of mushrooms for my kitchen.  In my opinion drying  is by far the best way of preservation of the wild mushrooms. I use Excalibur 9-Tray Food Dehydrator, but I am sure that any dehydrator should work. Even oven can sometimes be utilized if no other appliance is available. The air drying is certainly another option.

The main thing for mushroom drying is to keep heat at minimum, while air flow is maintained.  Any higher heat settings will easily damage and burn mushrooms. That is providing that your dehydrator does have some temperature control.  This technique certainly requires longer time, but it is worth it.

When preparing mushrooms for drying, make sure that pieces are roughly same size. At least stick to that rule for individual trays in dehydrator, so that everything on one tray is ready at the same time. I do prefer some of the species dried whole (e.g. Lactarius, Suillus and Blewits), regardless of the long time it takes.

[caption id="attachment_3325" align="alignnone" width="663"] Tray of Slippery Jacks ready to dry[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3326" align="alignnone" width="663"] Gloden Stalk (Retiboletus ornatipes)[/caption]

The end result should be dried pieces of mushroom, but still somewhat pliable.

The best way of storage is probably glas jars with airtight lids, but I do use ziplock bags with great success, too.

[caption id="attachment_3327" align="alignnone" width="663"] Dried Giant Puffball[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3328" align="alignnone" width="663"] Dried Lactarius deliciousus[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3329" align="alignnone" width="663"] Dried Panellus serotinus[/caption]

The big advantages of dried mushrooms can be summed in several main points:

  • the shelf life is almost indefinite

  • the flavors are concentrated and enhanced (for majority of species that I ever tried)

  • the issues with some of the species (e.g. gastric upsets from Suillus and Leccinums) are totally eliminated

  • works even for mildly bug infested specimens


As far as usage goes, it is quite simple. Re-hydrate mushrooms in water or vine for 20-30 minutes; occasionally agitate mixture to get grit and debris to fall to the bottom. Use re-hydrated mushrooms as you would fresh ones. The liquid should be strained through cheesecloth or chinos strainer and use in cooking.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morels 2 (2016)

Image
Encouraged by the finds couple of days ago I visited one of my best spots for Morels .  There was no trace of any mushrooms yet. The only thing indicating something is going on are several Dryad's Saddles in very early stage of growth. The Trillium is everywhere, showing great variations in color. I did find many small patches of Ramps. All of them were too small to harvest.   I will try again on Weekend.
Read more

October 17, 2016

Image
Seems like I dismissed warm weather a little too early. Today expected daily high is 27°C! The forecast is still factoring in humidex! In the woods the fall change is well under way. I guess trees are reacting to calendar as much as couple of cold nights. The colors are amazing. All the shades of green, yellow, brown and red are present. On the floor of the woods big flourish of Honey Mushrooms has passed. There are still some around but big clumps are gone. At this time they are frequently infested by bugs. I found numerous traces of heavy harvesting. Blewits are showing in numbers. As usual they are forming partial or full fairy rings. Due to worm weather some of them are still buggy. This is excellent edible, definitely one of my favorites. Blewit color can vary greatly and it is not recommended for the beginners. For me the odor is one of the main characteristics for recognition. [caption id="attachment_3115" align="alignnone" width="663"] Clitocybe n
Read more

Morels 3 (Fiddleheads) (2016)

Image
Temperatures dipped back to near zero over several nights.I tried  foraging in North York Regional forest with zero result. The consolation price for the weekend of May 14th were fiddleheads. There is some controversial info on the web about fiddleheads. Some sources have a warning about carcinogenic compounds found in several species of fern.The fact is they are still  sold in grocery shops in Ontario. I limit my foraging to Ostrich Fern . It is easily recognized by 3 characteristics: Dark green, almost bluish in color Paper like membrane (visible on picture bellow) Presence of characteristic spore bearing fronds Anyway, I follow recommendation of Government of Canada and cook my fiddleheads thoroughly, just in case. The fiddlheads season is very short. The best way to preserve is to blanch(cook in boiling water 2 minutes, shock with cold water to stop cooking), dry and put in freezer bags). Fiddleheads have a great, buttery taste and can be eaten as side dish or cooked veg
Read more