Drying and Storage

Documents:

• Cyber's Drying mushrooms FAQ
  • 5.00
  
  
  The 10 most common questions I have see about drying mushrooms.
  
  
• Drying Silica Gel and other desiccants in the oven
  • 5.00
  
  
  Here is a small tek on how to re-use Silica Gel and other desiccants.
  
  
• Can I freeze mushrooms?
  • 5.00
  
  
  Yes you can, however they should be dried first.
  
  
• Can you use rice as a desiccant to dry mushrooms?
  • 5.00
  
  
  Rice can used as a low-tech desiccant for some purposes, but for long-term storage you should not rely on rice alone.
  
  
• Can you just place picked shrooms in the sun to dry?
  • 5.00
  
  
  Sun drying can be fairly effective, especially in dry climates, but the mushrooms will never dry completely due to atmospheric humidity.
  
  
• Why should they be "cracker dry"?
  • 3.00
  
  
  Cracker dry mushrooms keep best for prolonged periods of time.
  
  
• How much weight is lost when drying mushrooms?
  • 3.00
  
  
  Mushrooms consist of over 90% water.
  
  
• What are the different ways to dry mushrooms?
  • 3.00
  
  
  The best and fastest way to dry the mushrooms is to pre dry them in front of a fan of some kind (like the small fan of the computer power supply.
  
  
• Which desiccant is the best to use?
  • 3.00
  
  
  One of the best drying agents is drierite.
  
  
• How do I setup a computer fan for drying?
  • 2.00
  
  
  It´s easy.
  
  
• Can I cook with mushrooms?
  
  Yes, you can, although they might lose some of their potency this way.
  
  
• How long will fresh (undried) mushrooms keep in the fridge?
  
  Stored in a paper bag or a container allowing evaporation they will keep, depending on your refrigerator, around a week.
  
  
• Some more info on desiccants
  
  Silica Gel Silica gel is silicon dioxide (SiO2).