Drying?

[immanuel]

I have some legal edible mushrooms I picked this afternoon, and would like to mix them in with a dinner late next week, don't want them rotting in the mean time. If I fan dry them for 2-3 days, will I need to do anything further, or can they be stored as is?

I've heard of using diseccant, to dry the last little bit out of them, but where the hell am I mean't to get that stuff from. I asked at a few supermarkets etc and they had no idea. I searched eBay and the only thing which came up was some in Malaysia. I don't feel like ordering from overseas.

Edited June 21, 2007 by mardybum

[Aya]

I have some legal edible mushrooms I picked this afternoon, and would like to mix them in with a dinner late next week, don't want them rotting in the mean time. If I fan dry them for 2-3 days, will I need to do anything further, or can they be stored as is?

I've heard of using diseccant, to dry the last little bit out of them, but where the hell am I mean't to get that stuff from. I asked at a few supermarkets etc and they had no idea. I searched eBay and the only thing which came up was some in Malaysia. I don't feel like ordering from overseas.

You can get dessicant from hardware places like bunnings warehouse etc. Around 5 to 10 dollars for a kilo container. Great for drying wild mushrooms fresh from the hunt.

[Korky]

after dryed put in zip lock bags and put in the fridge, if you were storing for longer than a week i would rec putting them in the freezer in an opaque container.

just a reminder that light and heat are to be avoided, thats what makes desicant attractive, (otherwise known as silicon gel i believe, like the shite you get in the box of a new pair of shoes etc).

[plastid]

pool water hardener sold in bunnings may be calcium chloride which, after oven drying, absorbs a relatively large amount of water and is non toxic, cheap and resusable

[immanuel]

Alright. I'll take a trip to bunnings this weekend. I'll ask if they have desiccant/calcium chloride. Thanks guys.

Edited June 21, 2007 by mardybum

[NorthernComfort]

Alright. I'll take a trip to bunnings this weekend. I'll ask if they have desiccant/calcium chloride. Thanks guys.

just a reminder, when drying with desiccant (even non toxic variety) do not let the fruit bodies actually come into direct contact with the drying agent.

this became a serious issue with an associate of mine, while maybe common knowledge, so I figured it was still worth mentioning

[immanuel]

Yeah, i'll be making a setup like that on the shroomery. Two layers of wire mesh in a mixing bowl, mushrooms on top layer, desiccant on bottom. Does the drying container or whatever it's called need to be covered/air-tight. Or can one just leave it in open-air. In a dark cool place of course.

[ENtiTY]

Some of the cat litters are silica based as well and possibly useful as a desicant. Never tried it but I think it was Hypha who brought this handy tip up. One of the cheapest sources of desicant about I'd reckon .

Anyone vouch for its usefulness as a desicant?

Air tight if you can achieve it Mardy, your desicant will go a whole lot further if you can. A good approach is to use a container with a clip on lid such as a lunch box or something similar but larger. The lid by itself won't seal air tight but if you place a layer of cling wrap over the top before you put the lid on you end up with something damn close to air tight . I use this approach with an 8L storage container for drying and it works a charm!

Edited June 21, 2007 by Harry

[Aya]

Yeah, i'll be making a setup like that on the shroomery. Two layers of wire mesh in a mixing bowl, mushrooms on top layer, desiccant on bottom. Does the drying container or whatever it's called need to be covered/air-tight. Or can one just leave it in open-air. In a dark cool place of course.

Air tight would be good, as it would keep out pests and contaminants and it will also make the process quicker. And just so you dont get confused when looking, Dessicant is calcium chloride.

Hope you find it well.

[Auntyjack]

agree...cat litter,top cupboard and heap of newspaper, dries quick and stays dark.

AJ

EDIT: don't put newspaper on top and keep the cat littler in a bowl.

Edited June 21, 2007 by Auntyjack

[NorthernComfort]

While I don't think cat litter style clay(right?) desiccants would be quite as aggressive as the other types, I don't see why it wouldn't work.....just may take a little longer

[Conan Troutman]

desiccator!

electronic desiccators are the best investment ever for the ethno gardener

[ENtiTY]

Pretty sure there are silica based litters as well NC, but I have seen the clay one you speak of as well. Wouldn't bother with the clay one, will absorb moisture on contact but won't suck it out of the air like a good desicant can I don't think.

One thing I was worried about was the cat litters being perfumed. Is the one you use perfumed AJ?

[Auntyjack]

Narhh Harry no fragrance just cheap and nasty, I actually don't think you really need it most of the time. Timber cupboard and a bed of newspaper seems to work great. the littler was used when there was a bit of humidity in the air just to keep the space inside as dry as possible.

AJ

[ENtiTY]

Good point, forgot to mention that it best to open air dry the shrooms for a day or so then desicate to remove the last of the water. Properly dried shrooms should be rock hard.

[Conan Troutman]

Good point, forgot to mention that it best to open air dry the shrooms for a day or so then desicate to remove the last of the water. Properly dried shrooms should be rock hard.

crispy might be a better term Harry

leave your shrooms overnight in fridge or somwhere to dry whatever...look at the amount of blueing, and compare that to th amount of blue from freshly picked a properly desiccated shrooms

[Auntyjack]

bit of a difference yeh??...thanks will take note.

EDIT: how long might the electric desc take?

Edited June 21, 2007 by Auntyjack

[Hyphal]

If using dessicant, the camber MUST be airtight - or it will simply suck moisture from the air, and not the fruitbodies, and as mentioned, definitely air dry first to speed things up.

The even better option which also has a variety of other uses and is the best investment you can make if you are serious about collecting or growing any mushrooms, AND making tasty, healthy snack treats on its 'off' days is one of these from from this site.. Dries them cracker dry without the use of messy dessicant in 24-36 hours.

[Korky]

i do use a dehydrator like the ones hypha has listed and my edibles are fresh to dry in 5-6 hrs. if you could find one with an ability to turn of the heating element and work with the room temp air that would be favourable, it would take longer of course but excess heat can effect ... uh the flavour yeh the flavour, mmm edibles.

[Hyphal]

i do use a dehydrator like the ones hypha has listed and my edibles are fresh to dry in 5-6 hrs. if you could find one with an ability to turn of the heating element and work with the room temp air that would be favourable, it would take longer of course but excess heat can effect ... uh the flavour yeh the flavour, mmm edibles.

Theres been heaps of debate on this, and I think the general consensus is that a 'mild' heat when drying fungi, leaves 'things' virtually un-affected.

If you take the heating element out of your dehydrator, all your left with is a very expensive fan, and you will still need to use the dessicant to finish them off (depending on the relative humidity of where you're drying - on a bone dry day in summer, a fan can be all you need).

The dehydrator in the link above has 3 heat settings - the first one is 35C, the second 55C and the third one is much warmer - for doing things like beef jerky.

If you start them off on the lowest setting and leave it overnight, then the next day put it to the middle setting for just a couple of hours, this will dry them to perfection.

[Anodyne]

Calcium chloride is excellent, but fairly pricey when sold as Damp-Rid - it can be re-used, but is much easier to re-dry if you remove it while it's still in pellets (i.e. don't let it absorb so much water that it becomes a puddle, as this is nasty to dry - spits a lot, and hard to break up once dry), so change it often if you want to re-use. I've never used the "pool water hardener" - plastid, could you give us a rough price on that? Also, what form? - powder, pellets?

If you're really pressed for funds you can use oven-dried salt, changed twice a day.

[NorthernComfort]

Calcium chloride is excellent, but fairly pricey when sold as Damp-Rid - it can be re-used, but is much easier to re-dry if you remove it while it's still in pellets (i.e. don't let it absorb so much water that it becomes a puddle, as this is nasty to dry - spits a lot, and hard to break up once dry), so change it often if you want to re-use. I've never used the "pool water hardener" - plastid, could you give us a rough price on that? Also, what form? - powder, pellets?

If you're really pressed for funds you can use oven-dried salt, changed twice a day.

oven dried magnesium sulfate (epsom salts) works great in a pinch....

pretty cost effective too.

although, not so great if your drying a large quantity of fruit bodies

[immanuel]

I'll be using a mixing bowl, so obviously not many mushrooms are going to fit into one. Probably have to have a couple. Anyway, I have espom salts and cat litter! Maybe a mix of both? Worth a try?

I have Max's cat and pet litter. Here's a little blurb on it.

"With Max’s, odour is virtually imperceptible, and moisture absorbency definitely superior. There’s also less mess and dust, and because Max’s free flowing granules are made from natural plant materials, Max can enjoy the freshness of the country every day."

Guessing this is OK to use? I'll just do a 50/50 of this with magnesium sulfate? I got no idea how much to use.

Edited June 22, 2007 by mardybum

[benjahman]

I'll be using a mixing bowl, so obviously not many mushrooms are going to fit into one. Probably have to have a couple. Anyway, I have espom salts and cat litter! Maybe a mix of both? Worth a try?

I have Max's cat and pet litter. Here's a little blurb on it.

"With Max’s, odour is virtually imperceptible, and moisture absorbency definitely superior. There’s also less mess and dust, and because Max’s free flowing granules are made from natural plant materials, Max can enjoy the freshness of the country every day."

Guessing this is OK to use? I'll just do a 50/50 of this with magnesium sulfate? I got no idea how much to use.

Mate keep this in mind for the future if you'd like a cheap, expedient and really effective dryer.

Things you will need

-Plastic Tub

- Shade cloth

- Milk Carton of Damprid

- Gaffer Tape

- Fan (size determined by size of drying chamber)

Get your plastic tub from the Supermarche (On the larger side is preferable so you can do 4-500 at a time).

Cut 2 sections of shade cloth slightly larger than the tub size.

Gaffer tape one section of shade cloth so that it hangs an inch or two above the base of the tub and tape the other (probably with the cloth overhanging the top edges of tub taped to its outside so that the bulk of the cloth hangs 2-4 inches above the top of the tub). Untape the corner of the top section of shade cloth and pour in your carton of damprid. Place your fan in with the damprid, running the fan's lead out of the corner of the box. You can cut a tiny niche to make this easier but you don't really need to. Switch the fan on at the fans on switch/ speed settings but keep it turned off at the powerpoint. Tape the top section of shadecloth back up. Now pour in your edibles. Spreading them out across the cloth. Put the lid tightly on the container, gaffer taping it as firmly closed as possible (a really negligible amount of air may escape.) Place this in a cupboard and turn it on at the powerpoint.

You'll have 4-500 edibles cracker dry in 36-48 hours, HEAT FREE and very quiet.

How it works:

The damprid takes all the moisture out of the air and the fan blows the now extremely dry climate air over the edibles nonstop. The damprid granules are unable to blow up and touch the edibles through the shadecloth and excess moisture that accumulates on the damprid drips to the bottom of the container for easy pour off.

The fan being sealed in a container really cuts down on noise also, convenient and stealth. Stick it in a cupboard and you have to really strain to hear it. Once its set up its really simple. You just turn it on and check it 2 days later and everythings cracker. The big advantages it has are its ease of use and construction, expedient one step heat free drying, ability to make it as big or small as you like and the fact that its relatively inexpensive... Costs $15 to make if you have a fan. Highly recommended mate, hope that helps

Namaste,

ben.

-

Edited June 24, 2007 by benjahman

[SaBReT00tH]

doesn't freezer storage reduce and eventually destroy potency??