I have wanted to put some hard data to the “best” dehydration method discussion for a long time. I finally buckled down and did it, (actually, as write this, I am in the middle of the drying processes). Yes, this is going to be wordy and needlessly long. My defense is that I want to explain as much as I can to eliminate as much doubt as possible. I will answer follow up questions and may repeat the experiment with suggested deviations if time, resources, and interest allow. TLDR at the bottom of the OP under Results and Conclusions.
There has been much discussion, sometimes outright argument, about the best temperature to dehydrate mushrooms. The majority of advice from experienced Shroomery users for the past decade or more has recommended dehydrating in a purpose-built dehydrator on the max heat setting (generally 160 to 165f or 71 to 74c) for 24 hours. However, many users cite older posts by prolific users that state that higher temperatures are known to destroy actives and recently there have been a few published studies that can be used to infer that this may be the case as well. In addition to this, others have stated that higher temperatures may actually be more desirable because they would stop enzymic action or speed up the drying process.
My position has always been that no amount of theory or extrapolation beats unbiased testing. While I have followed the recommended 24 hours at 71c (160f) with excellent results, I refuse to proclaim that it is definitively the best method without some rigid testing and results. We know it is reliable, but not necessarily that it is measurably better for protecting potency. So, I set myself the task of designing an experiment that should limit the variables as much as possible. The following are the procedures followed and then the results.
Test parameters:
Using fresh Golden Teacher Cubensis grown specifically for this test. (Thanks to Womble for the spores)
Tracking four methods listed from highest to lowest temperatures:
- Air fryer oven at 85c (185f)
- Dehydrator full heat at 71c (160f)
- Dehydrator lowest heat at 35c (95f)
- Desiccant air dry at 25c (77f)
To compare methods while minimizing variables:
- Use several (8) mushrooms that I split vertically twice, and trim as needed to get 4 equal parts by weight.
- Separate them into 4 samples using one quarter of each mushroom in each sample. This eliminates any potential differences due to different individual fruit potency.
- Place one sample in an air fryer with a dehydrating setting at 85c, another sample in a standard dehydrator at 71c, one sample in a standard dehydrator at 35c, and the final sample in a desiccant chamber at 25c.
- With equal starting sample weights, the final weights of each sample should be nearly the same if all methods remove all moisture.
- Once all mushroom samples are dried (determined by checking for no weight loss over time) and equal weights each sample will be powdered for testing.
- Each sample will be potency tested using Miraculix Qtests and a colorimeter which should be reliable to within +/- 5% accuracy.
- Test each sample 5 times to find and eliminate any anomalies by dropping the high and low readings then average the remaining three.
- If one method is clearly superior by a margin of greater than 10% then we will have a result that I am willing to defend.
Notes:
- The eight mushrooms were selected for thick, straight stipes to make splitting them into equal samples more manageable. The quartered samples were each weighed and trimmed if necessary to get matching sample sizes from each mushroom. The total weight of each sample composed of a quarter of each of the 8 selected mushrooms was 7.5 grams.
- In the air fryer, trays were placed above and below the sample to prevent direct radiant exposure from the heating elements. The oven was preheated and the samples were weighed every 30 minutes until they stopped losing measurable weight.
- In the dehydrator set to max the sample was dried for three hours and then weighed hourly until the weight remained the same and was approximately equal to the air fryer dried sample.
- The dehydrator on min was run over night and then the sample weighed every two hours until the weight stabilized.
- The room temperature desiccant sample was left over night and then the sample weighed every two hours until the weight stabilized. To do the desiccant dehydration, I placed the contents of two tubs of DampRid in the bottom of a plastic shoebox with a paper towel on top and the sample on the paper towel and closed the lid. Side note that I was surprised to find that this sample lost weight faster than the dehydrator on the lowest setting.
- Keep in mind that each sample was very small and each piece was sliced into vertical quarters. I believe that contributed to the short times required to reach stable weights. For larger batches with unsliced mushrooms the drying time would likely be much greater. Particularly in the case of the desiccant drying. 594 grams of DampRid to 7.5 grams of split mushrooms was quite effective, but I suspect that would not be the case with a much lower ratio for a full flush of mush.
- Most potency results were nicely consistent with three noticeable outliers. One high and two low compared to the rest of the readings for each sample. The miniscule weights at the threshold of the scale’s accuracy, slight inconsistency in the grind of the mushrooms, and the +/- 5% accuracy of the colorimeter & Qtest combo may account for the differences. That is why I did multiple tests on each sample and eliminated the high and low score for each. That made for an expensive experiment, but the three anomalies were each from a different sample and the rest of the readings were within 3% of each other giving a result that I am quite pleased with.
Pictures:
    
The mushrooms selected, sliced, quartered, and weighed.
     
The drying chambers.
 
Some sample results. The blue in the first indicates varying amounts of psilocin. The darkness of the second shows the potency. The clear sample 0 is the reagent used to calibrate the colorimeter.
Results:
The moment that I made you wait for (unless you skipped to the end as any reasonable person should).
Conclusion:
- It turns out that dehydration on the lowest temperature setting does in fact lead to slightly more potent dried mushrooms. In this test there was an improvement of a little less than 3% more actives when dried on the lowest temperature versus the highest temperature on the standard dehydrators.
- The 3% is within the stated +/- 5% accuracy of the Qtests, so we can’t call it significant or even certain. But I am fairly confident in the results given all of the precautions stated above.
- Since the difference was so slight, I will still dehydrate mine on high to eliminate any doubt about getting them sufficiently dry for long term storage and continue to recommend the same. In a follow up test, I will compare the shorter and longer drying times following the same methods as this test.
- The higher temperature of the air fryer did not result in better potency preservation. It is fast and effective if you are ready to watch it closely, but not as safe for the actives. My air fryer may not move as much air as others, so I would not call this a definitive test. In a pinch, it is possible to use air fryers to dry mushrooms if you take a few precautions, but it does not appear that using a higher temperature than a typical dehydrator improves potency retention.
- The desiccant surprised me with its speed for a small quantity of mushroom segments. However, this is not a solution that will scale well. As mentioned in the notes section, the ratio of desiccant to mushrooms here was quite effective, but not reasonable for a full flush. Again, in a pinch, it is a pretty good option.
Important update.
Follow up test that affects the results of the original experiment.
I wanted to confirm that drying at lower temperatures was sufficient to fully dry mushrooms for storage.
So I performed the following simple test.
With a small flush of mush, I dehydrated at 77f(25c) for 24 hours after verifying that the weight had stabilized and weighed the resulting "cracker dry" mushrooms. Then I dehydrated the same mushrooms at 160f(71c) for 24 more hours and weighed the same batch. If they had fully dried in the first run at the reduced temperature, they would still weigh the same after the second.
They did not.<in narrator voice>
The fresh test flush was 129grams from a shoebox.
The low temperature dried mushrooms weighed 11.06g.
The same mushrooms after the hot dry weighed 10.34g.
That implies that the low temperature dried mushrooms still contained 7% more water than the high temperature dried mushrooms.
That result indicates two contrary points to me.
1. If the potency tested samples for the low heat drying were made up of 7% more water then the potency results may be a little off.
2. Ambient temperature dried mushrooms contain too much water for long term storage. They may seem cracker dry, but are not as dry as their heat dried cousins.
So I stick to my recommendation to always heat dry for best potency preservation in storage. If you plan to use them right away forced ambient air may improve the final potency by as much as 10%. Keep in mind that my ambient test was with a relative humidity below 20% so your mileage may vary in a more humid environment. Insufficiently dry mushrooms can lose far more than 10% potency in a few days, weeks or months. Fully dried mushrooms easily hold their potency for years.
Postscript: I have other test results to post shortly but wanted to get this one out first. Nothing as controversial or interesting to the gen pop. Just continuations of other things I have been working on for a while. I also have some more GT almost ready for that longer dehydration time test mentioned above.
Edited by ReverendMyc (09/21/26 05:44 PM)
|
Threaded
Previous
Index
Next
ReverendMyc 
langten69 
Belintaf 
Edit 
Reply 
bluefoot
yogithehoneybear
flybynite
omniscientlore
1 2 all )
I_Stain_Blue
Quiescence