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Moby Graped
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Registered: 12/30/14
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Last seen: 1 year, 10 months
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Drying mushrooms
#23586649 - 08/28/16 11:52 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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have only harvested 5 or 6 times so still slowly figuring things out. When I first began a friend donated a food dehydrator that was picked up 2nd hand. I think once before I had used a one of those space heaters with a fan inside and it worked fairly well letting it blow on the mushrooms for about 12hrs. Thought food dehydrator would be even better. So when I attempted to use the food dehydrator it quickly turned the mushrooms a dark brown color and even though I left them in there for whatever time this forum or the dehydrator instructions indicated they quickly grew moldy and I threw them out and returned to the first method, putting the results in the freezer until I was ready to use them. This has worked well but I suspect there is still some moisture in them and would like to get them cracker dry because I would like to give some to some friends and therefore want to make sure they have a stable shelf life without turning moldy. Was thinking placing them in front of the heater fan first before the food dehydrator....thoughts? Also read about desiccants guess I could go that rout as well. Anybody know some brands of reliable food dehydrators the one I used I think was a cut rate model and maybe why I ran into that particular problem which I'm also curious to know if anyone else has encountered?
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XnMe
Somth'n of a Somth'n



Registered: 06/23/16
Posts: 1,272
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Dude desiccant is all you need. Sealed container/box with desiccant at the bottom and a screen/paper towel or something to keep them off the desiccant. I use \/
 Works everytime, if left for 12/24 hours I usually do 20+ to be perfect cracker dry. And you can dry them in the oven for reuse! Have fun.
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XnMe
Somth'n of a Somth'n



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Posts: 1,272
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: XnMe]
#23586774 - 08/28/16 12:29 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Home depot not even 15$
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Moby Graped
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Registered: 12/30/14
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: XnMe]
#23586816 - 08/28/16 12:43 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Can I use a storage container like the kind you make a fruiting chamber out of work, without the holes of course, or does it need to be super airtight and if so what type of container would you suggest
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Inocuole
Scalpel of Evil's Bane



Registered: 11/21/11
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Get a 30 dollar dehydrator and get them dry quickly so you don't lose potency. Desiccant is for keeping things dry, not drying them.
Nobody who is even slightly reputable would recommend using desiccant as the sole way to dry your mushrooms. Mind the rating system.
Food dehydrator is hands down the best method. Mine is a presto, but they all serve the same basic function for this purpose.
15 dollars for desiccant that ruins your mushrooms and runs out very quickly, or twice that amount for perfect mushrooms every time for a couple years?
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lukehighwalker710
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Registered: 03/04/16
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: Inocuole]
#23586862 - 08/28/16 12:54 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Highwalker
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Moby Graped
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: Inocuole]
#23586863 - 08/28/16 12:54 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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You've never had that browning problem
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Inocuole
Scalpel of Evil's Bane



Registered: 11/21/11
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I've never seen definitive proof that this actually happens to anyone, and it's definitely never happened to me.
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lukehighwalker710
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Registered: 03/04/16
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They shouldn't change color that much. Here's a pic of some I harvested, dried, and ate recently. Like innocule said, get a working dehydrator. Its pretty much a necessity for properly drying mushrooms without losing potency.
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Highwalker
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Inocuole
Scalpel of Evil's Bane



Registered: 11/21/11
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Well you always lose potency when drying, but it's important to minimize that loss.
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Moby Graped
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: Inocuole]
#23586943 - 08/28/16 01:18 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Well it definitively happened to me, the dehydrator was one of the kind that just had a heating element on the bottom and then stacks on top of it, there was no internal fan in it
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Inocuole
Scalpel of Evil's Bane



Registered: 11/21/11
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Moving air is the most important part of a dehydrator. What kind was this exactly? If air wasn't moving then you were using a broken dehydrator, not a dehydrator proper.
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XnMe
Somth'n of a Somth'n



Registered: 06/23/16
Posts: 1,272
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Fuck using heat, desiccant works perfectly fine. And it removes all the moisture from my fungi, I use a big Tupperware container sealed airtight... it's A1. Just remember to refresh the desiccant.
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XnMe
Somth'n of a Somth'n



Registered: 06/23/16
Posts: 1,272
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: Inocuole]
#23587005 - 08/28/16 01:44 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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How does desiccant ruin your shrooms?
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Edited by XnMe (08/28/16 01:45 PM)
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Moby Graped
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: Inocuole]
#23587020 - 08/28/16 01:54 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Yeah, think that's the missing piece of the puzzle, so maybe the fan was missing or it was so cheap it didn't have one, don't have it any more. So ill make sure next one has a fan,
Thanks
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Inocuole
Scalpel of Evil's Bane



Registered: 11/21/11
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: XnMe]
#23587172 - 08/28/16 02:42 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
XnMe said: How does desiccant ruin your shrooms?
By making them take too long to dry, requiring them to be in an enclosed space which promotes oxidation. Any half decent drying method will at least require moving air. At LEAST fan dry them before sticking them in a closed box with desiccant. Heat also quickly denatures the enzymes which contribute to the bulk of the oxidation.
I can hardly believe that you'd go as far as to say "fuck using heat" when it's the absolute most common method of drying them, within excellent reason.
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XnMe
Somth'n of a Somth'n



Registered: 06/23/16
Posts: 1,272
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: Inocuole]
#23587222 - 08/28/16 03:03 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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By making it take to long? And how would a closed space getting the moister pulled out promote oxidation, when it's not being exposed to as much oxygen.
Mushroomjoee "I use a food dehydrator with the heating element taken out. It effectively recycles the air in the unit consistently. Drys a few trays of mushies in just a day or two and I have not noticed any problems with potency." Taking a couple days is no problem
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XnMe
Somth'n of a Somth'n



Registered: 06/23/16
Posts: 1,272
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: XnMe]
#23587232 - 08/28/16 03:06 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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And I don't think heat is the most common at all, just the simplest for the impatient..
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Inocuole
Scalpel of Evil's Bane



Registered: 11/21/11
Posts: 24,863
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: XnMe]
#23587242 - 08/28/16 03:09 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
XnMe said: And I don't think heat is the most common at all, just the simplest for the impatient..

Okay bud. I can see you're gonna do well here.
For reference, 13 days ago, this guy refused to build a SGFC because he'd rather try to fan it or whatever. So yeah, top notch source of advice.
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XnMe
Somth'n of a Somth'n



Registered: 06/23/16
Posts: 1,272
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Re: Drying mushrooms [Re: Inocuole]
#23587266 - 08/28/16 03:19 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Haha taking things out of context without knowledge of true intentions shows intelligence
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