Posted by
BT_Cribo
(07/11/20 10:28 AM)
I thought this was interesting so i gave it a try: VDM(Vacuum dried mushroom), TM (traditionally dried mushrooms at 75*C)
To make this as fair as possible these were made from the same culture, of the same strain, in the same harvest, from the same box. After drying both were powdered(this was necessary) and each were ingested in a quantity of 2g in 6 subjects over 12 individual single blind tests.
Using a 0.3hp vacuum pump I simply placed one large mushroom in the vacuum chamber. I then waited 10 minutes. I took out the mushroom an found it had gone from 6.681g to 0.707g. I am 90% certain that all of the water had evaporated, but i only used this process of drying several times so i can't be too sure. After the test mushroom The drying process was done by eye. I waited for the first sign of any splitting of the stems, which usually only took around 7 to 9 minutes.
now for the weird part, the mushroom only shrank by a marginal amount if any until I re-pressurized the chamber, after which it basically fell apart. from all of my testing only one small mushroom remained intact and the density was so low it felt like holding Aerogel (yes i have held Aerogel before I'm a chemist if you couldn't tell by now.) Given the fact that the VDMs were essentially powdered i was forced to powder the TMs as well.
Visual and physical characteristics:
VDMs color remains through the drying process, making even powdered VDMs a light brown to tan color. Pieces of dried but intact VDMs look almost no different from when they were undried aside from some lines parallel to the stem forming, as well as some small cracks to the stem. the texture is similar to those cheap "Space ice cream" snacks, while they become extremely brittle to the touch, even breathing on them will usually end with them becoming powdered.
Testing results:
All six subjects reported a better taste from the VDMs over TDs, 4 subjects reported that the VDMs were less harsh on their stomach(I consider this statistically insignificant considering the better taste). 3 subjects describe the VDM as more potent but with a shorter effect duration with 1 subject claiming little to no potency difference and 2 describing it as just as potent but a shorter effect duration(I do believe there to be some significance to this finding but not enough testing was done to make any hypothesis).
Final thoughts:
I did find this to be interesting. the fact that all participants preferred the flavor, and 5/6 finding it to not last as long shows that something is happening differently to the mushrooms when vacuumed then when air dried. Either way more testing has to be done to make any real claims, and I encourage others to try this out if they happen to have a vacuum chamber, and share their experiences.
Posted by
bharry84
(08/24/11 05:35 PM)
I am wondering if there is a way besides dehydration to keep me mushrooms from going bad for a few days. I was wondering if freezing them would denature the Psilocybin. I pick in the morning but cant brew them til a few days later sometimes. HELP