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theturnage_ep
Mr. Baggins



Registered: 12/18/13
Posts: 24
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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HELP! Are these rotting? (pic)
#19372475 - 01/05/14 11:38 AM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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So I fan dried for a long time, they felt pretty dry, i wanted to use silica gel packs to suck out the rest of the moisture.. I put them in a strainer, into a pot,then layed the packs at the bottom of the pot (not touching the mushrooms). Well i wake up this morning and the mushrooms absorbed more moisture!! and the gel packs were spent! ORange beads that turns green after they are spent....and they were def green. Well i literally just learned that silica packs with indicators are bad b/c of the chemical thats in colored beads. The packs get saturated, then re-release the moisture (that is infected with that chemical, IM ONLY ASSUMING), and the mushrooms absorbed them up again. Now looking at this picture, I cant tell if they are rotting now. The once grayish/blue colored stems that were once dry, now started to developing a yellowish tint, and all the other colors are also now darker. Im fan drying them again right now. My heart tells me these will be bad to eat, hell they look bad. I want to make sure though. Opinions?
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cronicr



Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 61,436
Loc: Van Isle
Last seen: 2 years, 8 days
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put the fan back on them and or chuck them in the oven onlow with the door open and the fan pointed at it, or toss them in your crisper for the night
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  It doesn't matter what i think of you...all that matters is clean spawn I'm tired do me a favor
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crackacola
Big Daddy


Registered: 12/14/13
Posts: 234
Last seen: 8 years, 9 months
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Re: HELP! Are these rotting? (pic) [Re: cronicr]
#19373032 - 01/05/14 01:32 PM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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Probably moisture that was pulled from the middle of the mushroom bodies.
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FOR TRADE <---- Check out my spores for trade!
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twistedty
Forcefully Retired



Registered: 07/01/12
Posts: 5,487
Loc: Middle
Last seen: 3 years, 6 months
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Re: HELP! Are these rotting? (pic) [Re: crackacola]
#19373496 - 01/05/14 03:30 PM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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Novanity1
Student


Registered: 08/29/10
Posts: 326
Last seen: 9 years, 1 month
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I think it absorbed more moisture for 2 reasons.
1. It wasn't in an air tight container.
2. Not enough silica.
If the container isn't air tight then the silica will draw moisture from the air outside of the container and become spent quickly. Then your mushrooms, in turn, absorb the moisture from the air too because the container isn't air tight.
Also, how many silica packets did you use? It takes a good amount of silica to get mushrooms "cracker dry" so a handful of silica packets probably wouldn't do the trick. Keep in mind mushrooms are 90% water so that's a shitload of water to draw out of the mushrooms, even after fan drying.
Don't worry about those toxic chemicals in the color indicating silica. It's not gonna get absorbed in the mushrooms that easily. I would only be concerned if you ingested the colored silica bead. Even then, you're probably fine.
Here's a pic of a properly constructed drying chamber:

Just make sure you use and airtight container with rubber seals on the lid. I've got about 2 inches of silica with wire mesh on top of it so it doesn't come in direct contact with the mushrooms. Don't waste your time with the packets, just buy the crystal silica kitty litter and put it in the oven for a couple hours before using.
In all honesty though, I don't actually use that drying chamber for "drying" anymore. It's just for storage now, so my mushrooms don't reabsorbed moisture after being dried out. Food dehydrators are by far the best way to go. I picked up one for $30 which is almost the same cost as the tupperware/silica/wire mesh I used to construct my drying chamber.
Your mushrooms are probably ok. It looks like mostly bruising. They would have a funky smell if they were rotting.
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applesmasher420
CGI and Visual Effects Artist




Registered: 09/12/10
Posts: 3,288
Loc: Kekistan
Last seen: 20 hours, 23 minutes
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Re: HELP! Are these rotting? (pic) [Re: twistedty]
#19373528 - 01/05/14 03:41 PM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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Quote:
Novanity1 said: I think it absorbed more moisture for 2 reasons.
1. It wasn't in an air tight container.
2. Not enough silica.
If the container isn't air tight then the silica will draw moisture from the air outside of the container and become spent quickly. Then your mushrooms, in turn, absorb the moisture from the air too because the container isn't air tight.
Also, how many silica packets did you use? It takes a good amount of silica to get mushrooms "cracker dry" so a handful of silica packets probably wouldn't do the trick. Keep in mind mushrooms are 90% water so that's a shitload of water to draw out of the mushrooms, even after fan drying.
Don't worry about those toxic chemicals in the color indicating silica. It's not gonna get absorbed in the mushrooms that easily. I would only be concerned if you ingested the colored silica bead. Even then, you're probably fine.
Here's a pic of a properly constructed drying chamber:

Just make sure you use and airtight container with rubber seals on the lid. I've got about 2 inches of silica with wire mesh on top of it so it doesn't come in direct contact with the mushrooms. Don't waste your time with the packets, just buy the crystal silica kitty litter and put it in the oven for a couple hours before using.
In all honesty though, I don't actually use that drying chamber for "drying" anymore. It's just for storage now, so my mushrooms don't reabsorbed moisture after being dried out. Food dehydrators are by far the best way to go. I picked up one for $30 which is almost the same cost as the tupperware/silica/wire mesh I used to construct my drying chamber.
Your mushrooms are probably ok. It looks like mostly bruising. They would have a funky smell if they were rotting. 
people who use desiccant chambers usually air / fan dry them for a while. When the Mushrooms are almost dry. desiccant chambers are great at getting the mush cracker dry. With Silica gel you should be able to dry it in the oven and re-use 
Quote:
twistedty said:

This was my first dehydrator only cost lie $15 - $20
Its worth the investment.
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Novanity1
Student


Registered: 08/29/10
Posts: 326
Last seen: 9 years, 1 month
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Quote:
applesmasher420 said:
people who use desiccant chambers usually air / fan dry them for a while. When the Mushrooms are almost dry. desiccant chambers are great at getting the mush cracker dry. With Silica gel you should be able to dry it in the oven and re-use 
Quote:
twistedty said:

This was my first dehydrator only cost lie $15 - $20
Its worth the investment.
Yeah I guess I forgot to mention that you should fan dry first before putting it in the chamber. I'm pretty sure the OP knows to do that already though.
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Kizzle
Misanthrope


Registered: 08/30/11
Posts: 9,855
Last seen: 12 hours, 6 minutes
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Re: HELP! Are these rotting? (pic) [Re: Novanity1]
#19374590 - 01/05/14 08:05 PM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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A couple other possibilities -
Those packets aren't meant to absorb a lot of moisture so depending on how much moisture was left in the mushrooms they can become saturated quickly
If the packets were already used or exposed to open air they would need to be redried before they could be used as a desiccant
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theturnage_ep
Mr. Baggins



Registered: 12/18/13
Posts: 24
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Hey thanks, yeah the container they where in were not sealed tight at all. I also only used three 2g packets of the silica gel...im guessing that wasnt enough. Since mushies easily absorb, whats the best method for simple storage? Would airtight ziplock baggies do fine?
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cronicr



Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 61,436
Loc: Van Isle
Last seen: 2 years, 8 days
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yep zip locks are fine
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  It doesn't matter what i think of you...all that matters is clean spawn I'm tired do me a favor
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dirt dweller
Dam my chicken is burnig



Registered: 01/27/12
Posts: 131
Last seen: 5 years, 9 months
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Save yourself the trouble in the future buy a dehydrator
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seminoob
Stranger



Registered: 09/04/13
Posts: 67
Loc: maine
Last seen: 6 years, 9 months
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Re: HELP! Are these rotting? (pic) [Re: dirt dweller]
#19375599 - 01/06/14 02:06 AM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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I use silica jel all the time, Ive never had any problems with the indicating beads, Ive probably even accidently eaten one by now, it doesn't do anything, that being said you probably wouldn't want to accidently eat too many at one time. the color on your shrooms looks like bruising to me.
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cronicr



Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 61,436
Loc: Van Isle
Last seen: 2 years, 8 days
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Re: HELP! Are these rotting? (pic) [Re: seminoob]
#19375611 - 01/06/14 02:11 AM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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do a couple mono's and you will be running to wallworld for a dehydrator
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  It doesn't matter what i think of you...all that matters is clean spawn I'm tired do me a favor
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seminoob
Stranger



Registered: 09/04/13
Posts: 67
Loc: maine
Last seen: 6 years, 9 months
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Re: HELP! Are these rotting? (pic) [Re: cronicr]
#19375643 - 01/06/14 02:27 AM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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Ya Im definetly getting a dehydrator. for now I got about 2 pounds of silica gel. my last batch produced 6.25 ounces dry in three flushes, the silica handled it no problem, but I agree, silica works, but its slow and has to go in the oven when saturated, pain in the ass.
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Novanity1
Student


Registered: 08/29/10
Posts: 326
Last seen: 9 years, 1 month
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Re: HELP! Are these rotting? (pic) [Re: cronicr]
#19376919 - 01/06/14 11:30 AM (10 years, 24 days ago) |
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Quote:
cronicr said: yep zip locks are fine
I notice a lot of experienced growers say ziplock bags are fine for storage....
However, that method simply does not work for me. Maybe it's cuz I live in south Florida where it's so humid you can practically drink the air lol. My mushrooms always seem to absorb a little moisture when I just leave them in a ziplock, so I store them in a desiccant chamber just to be safe.
But hey if storing in ziplocks works for you then more power to you. It's just less steps needed.
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applesmasher420
CGI and Visual Effects Artist




Registered: 09/12/10
Posts: 3,288
Loc: Kekistan
Last seen: 20 hours, 23 minutes
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Re: HELP! Are these rotting? (pic) [Re: Novanity1]
#19377048 - 01/06/14 12:03 PM (10 years, 24 days ago) |
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Quote:
Novanity1 said:
Quote:
cronicr said: yep zip locks are fine
I notice a lot of experienced growers say ziplock bags are fine for storage....
However, that method simply does not work for me. Maybe it's cuz I live in south Florida where it's so humid you can practically drink the air lol. My mushrooms always seem to absorb a little moisture when I just leave them in a ziplock, so I store them in a desiccant chamber just to be safe.
But hey if storing in ziplocks works for you then more power to you. It's just less steps needed.
Yup, even in CA Zip lock mushies will become bendable in a few weeks. Air tight Glass, or vaccum seal plastic is the way to go
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