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Light&Love

drying mushrooms

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Hey guys

Went for a hunt yesterday, scored a shitload of shrooms. Will post pics soon. Ive got them out in the sun drying, but i dont know if thats the best way to dry? Will direct sunlight for 8-12 hours reduce the "strength" of the mushie?

What is the most effective technique for drying?

Thanks in advance.

Peace

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it is debatable if uv light breaks down the actives, in my experience i would say yes it does. what you really need is a electric dehydrator no ethno head should be without one.

Failing that lay em out in a nice dry cupboard on some newspaper for a couple of days, then finish em off in zip lock baggies with silica gel sachets. Keep an eye on em with this technique though as it can be hard to get it right.

Make sure you take some prints for the community too :)

Hillbilly

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it is debatable if uv light breaks down the actives, in my experience i would say yes it does. what you really need is a electric dehydrator no ethno head should be without one.

Failing that lay em out in a nice dry cupboard on some newspaper for a couple of days, then finish em off in zip lock baggies with silica gel sachets. Keep an eye on em with this technique though as it can be hard to get it right.

Make sure you take some prints for the community too :)

Hillbilly

 

Thanks hillbilly. The reason i ask is, i had some subs that went off because i left them in my cupboard, where temperatures get to 40c on hot days. When i had them, it felt like they told me that the 'magic' was gone from them.

Spore print.

Peace

Edited by Light&Love

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Depending on the size of them I hear that using a needle and thread and sowing them onto a string through the stems then hanging this up can be a good option.

If they aren't that big or you can't do that, yeah sit them on newspaper somewhere nice and warm, like on top of your water heater. Also if they are big specimens I don't think it can hurt to cut them into smaller pieces - I'm not talking about dicing them up here, just maybe cut them in half, less surface area, quicker drying.

Once crispy dry, or as close to it, store in a container with a desiccant... Apparently you can use rice for this purpose, (or get some of those little satchel things that come with vitamins, electronic goods, etc) but you do have to make sure they are dry or they will get mold on them and no one likes eating mold.

Other options are buying some damprid and setting up a container where it is at the bottom and you place the shrooms in some kind of colinder above it, the container should be able to be closed and the shrooms mustn't touch the damprid. This method means you are drying them without heat - which possibly leaves you with more of the desired contents of the shrooms intact.

or you could aim a fan at them sitting them on newspaper on a table.

I'm not one for putting them in the sun to dry though, I think it breaks down them down too much. One thing to watch for is the speed you dry them at though as, (and you may be aware) little grubs can munch through your shrooms leaving them happy and you annoyed - if they are in a wet state for too long the grubs just keep munching away, they won't eat dry ones.

peace

Edited by meanies

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Brew tea, freeze?

Also, self incrimination is against forum rules so we know you're talking about field mushrooms.

Peace

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Chuck them in a lingerie bag, it's like a mesh bag with a zip on it.

Peg this to the front of a pedestal fan and leave it on for a few hours till they go crisp.

After this into an airtight container with damp rid like meanies suggested until cracker dry. :P

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post-1140-126330481143_thumb.jpg

This is the best way of drying mushrooms. Some of my friends dry them on newspapers but i dont like the thought of newspaper-paint on my shrooms. And when you dry them on a plate, you have too much loss because the shrooms sometimes stick on it like glue. Bying this seet device solved my Problem.

post-1140-126330481143_thumb.jpg

post-1140-126330481143_thumb.jpg

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Definitely get a deydrator if you can. Basically you want as much warm air circulation as possible, without exceeding ~40 degrees C. Butch's method would work, and and you could even use a hairdryer on low-medium for that extra punch. Finishing off with dessicant keeps 'em cracker dry. Once dried, you can stick them in the freezer in an airtight container to preserve the interesting geometric aspect, supposedly indefinitely.

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A friend of mine made a dryer that was a shallow box with a fly screen bottom and no lid. The depth was about 5cm and the box was 30 x 30cm there were 4 of these that stacked on top of each other. The base was similar but with an extra 5cm block on opposite sides which lifted it off the ground and left the other 2 sides to evacuate the air flow. There were 2 12v computer fans taped to the bottom, (mounted on some ply wood would have been better) and the rest of the square was taped off so the fans were providing suction through the stack. This was left in a hot dry area (the garage) with the fans running. The drying provided was impressive and after 36 hours the chips were ready to go into the dehydrator - a sealable plastic container full of damp rid. Within a couple of days the whole lot was cracker dry. Really easy to make and inexpensive.

Fastest dry I ever saw although it didn't seem to work for anything but mushrooms.

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sure - uv light might break down some of the actives - but only on the exterior cells - it should be negligible.

if you don't want to spend the money on a dehydrator or don't want to build a simple one with damp-rid, just chuck them in the oven on a very low heat (< 100C) until crispy.

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sure - uv light might break down some of the actives - but only on the exterior cells - it should be negligible.

if you don't want to spend the money on a dehydrator or don't want to build a simple one with damp-rid, just chuck them in the oven on a very low heat (< 100C) until crispy.

 

In my limited experience you need to dry any mushrooms that's been growing on shit very fast as they are likely to contain fly eggs that hatch into maggots which turn your mushrooms into liquidy disgustingness and can't be used.

Because of this you can't let them dry naturally or with a dessicant as you'll have a horror show in your cupboard/container when you check on them a couple of days later.

Need to dry them as soon as possible and in the process kill the eggs and the emerging larvae. this involves heat. You could even use a fan heater on low if you don't have a dehydrator. It's the opinion of some that using excessive heat to dry as quickly as possible doesn't make much difference to product if used quickly but for mid to long storage the 40c deydrator sounds like the way to go.

If you've never had a problem with maggots in your part of the world then no need to dry as soon as possible and you can avoid excessive or any heat.

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simple method that works fine...

lay them out on newspaper or any surface really and put a fan on them...should be dry in a day or two. watch you have something heaving sitting on the newspaper or as they dry and lose weight the fan will blow the paper away....

no need to worry about the maggots and things as they will just crawl off and die. the constant air circulation is what matters and prevents them from turning to mush.

once dry put in snaplock bag with some dessicant (found in beef jerky, burritos etc)...keep in a cupboard or somewhere out the light.

also some people suggest grinding them to a powder once they are dry and storing them but this will oxidise them like hell. way more surface area exposed. not recommended in my experience.

Edited by holymountain

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Cheap method is cardboard that is unprinted

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