|
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
|
daytripper31
midnight toker

Registered: 06/28/06
Posts: 14
Loc: the zoo, MI
Last seen: 16 years, 10 months
|
drying my mushrooms...
#5904689 - 07/27/06 09:15 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
i've looked everywhere in town for calcium chloride and it seems like no one has it. i'm also a bit hesitant to order it online. is there anything else common that i can use to dry out my beautiful mushrooms?
-------------------- "When things get too heavy, just call me helium, the lightest known gas to man." -Jimi Hendrix
|
monstermitch
Growing in Bags Doesn't Work


Registered: 02/10/06
Posts: 3,911
Loc: Arizona Bay
|
|
yes.
a Nesco American Harvest Food Dehydrator!!!
the snackmaster pro is the way to go.
desiccants are messy, costly, and take time. food dehydrators dry cracker dry every time and with no mess.
plus they stack vertically and take up very little space.
--------------------
|
Tippinthru
contented

Registered: 04/07/05
Posts: 1,131
Loc: "The Garden"...
|
|
^ he is telling it, like it is.
You can also dry fruit, herbs & the like, in one. Not to mention, make jerky.
-------------------- Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time... [
|
daytripper31
midnight toker

Registered: 06/28/06
Posts: 14
Loc: the zoo, MI
Last seen: 16 years, 10 months
|
|
Quote:
monstermitch said: yes.
a Nesco American Harvest Food Dehydrator!!!
the snackmaster pro is the way to go.
desiccants are messy, costly, and take time. food dehydrators dry cracker dry every time and with no mess.
plus they stack vertically and take up very little space.
anything a little less costly? funds aren't exactly where they would need to be for that at the moment...
-------------------- "When things get too heavy, just call me helium, the lightest known gas to man." -Jimi Hendrix
|
Tippinthru
contented

Registered: 04/07/05
Posts: 1,131
Loc: "The Garden"...
|
|
If there are thrift stores, in your area. Shop them. I found a $150 dehydrator in one, for $10. 
-------------------- Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time... [
|
fastfred
Old Hand



Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 6,899
Loc: Dark side of the moon
|
|
Use that silica cat litter. It's just like the silica desiccant that they sell, but it's cheaper. It's the kind that looks like crystals or semi-clear pearls.
Food dehydrators are a waste of money anyway, unless you can get them really cheap. You can build something yourself for next to nothing that will have much better performance. e.g. a box fan and some bread racks.
-FF
|
The_Chariot
Stranger


Registered: 07/10/06
Posts: 127
Last seen: 13 years, 7 months
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: fastfred]
#5904776 - 07/27/06 09:53 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
and if your even cheaper, you can use a fan. But I'd go with the dehydrator. It seems to dry them just right.
-------------------- My will be ashes and a casket for all I want. The apocalypse, this way comes. So come. Sing the song. Repent kingdom, the end is here and it won't remain silent. The devil is in Atlanta. The army is surrounded. The civilians panic.
|
Tippinthru
contented

Registered: 04/07/05
Posts: 1,131
Loc: "The Garden"...
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: fastfred]
#5904785 - 07/27/06 09:56 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
>>>>Food dehydrators are a waste of money anyway, unless you can get them really cheap.
I disagree.
When you spend the money, effort, and time to cultivate shrooms. Why chance, having the fruits rot.
Once you have a harvest, you should take the best possible care, to store it. Otherwise, it can turn to crap, fairly quickly.
A decent dehydrator is not expensive NEW, even cheaper used. They are made to dehydrate food products, for long term preservation. They work every-time, 100% satisfaction.
Other cobbled together means, and methods don't always work 100%.
The old hands, all seem to have a Nesco, or equivalent dehydrator.
What's that tell you?
-------------------- Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time... [
|
monstermitch
Growing in Bags Doesn't Work


Registered: 02/10/06
Posts: 3,911
Loc: Arizona Bay
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: Tippinthru]
#5904819 - 07/27/06 10:08 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Tippinthru said: >>>>Food dehydrators are a waste of money anyway, unless you can get them really cheap.
I disagree.
When you spend the money, effort, and time to cultivate shrooms. Why chance, having the fruits rot.
Once you have a harvest, you should take the best possible care, to store it. Otherwise, it can turn to crap, fairly quickly.
A decent dehydrator is not expensive NEW, even cheaper used. They are made to dehydrate food products, for long term preservation. They work every-time, 100% satisfaction.
Other cobbled together means, and methods don't always work 100%.
The old hands, all seem to have a Nesco, or equivalent dehydrator.
What's that tell you?
--------------------
|
fastfred
Old Hand



Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 6,899
Loc: Dark side of the moon
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: Tippinthru]
#5904842 - 07/27/06 10:17 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
> A decent dehydrator is not expensive NEW, even cheaper used.
Hmmm... The ones I've seen are $80-120. That's just for what is basically just a few cheap plastic racks and a little heating element. Most of the ones I've seen don't even have a fan in them.
You'll get better performance for much cheaper with a box fan and any sort of racks. As long as you have airflow around the fruits there is no way you can go wrong.
> They work every-time, 100% satisfaction.
They don't produce the airflow that a boxfan will, so they aren't going to remove the bulk of the moisture as fast as a box fan will. So you end up with slightly more rotting than with fan drying. That's why I don't like the dehydrators. There's also the heat issue.
With a dehydrator your basically trading airflow-based drying for heat-based drying. It's slower (at least at getting the first 25% of the moisture out) and it speeds up any undesired reactions that are going on.
If you do even a half-assed job of cobbling a fan drying unit together it will work 100% every time and you'll save money and end up with better drying capacity and quality.
> The old hands, all seem to have a Nesco, or equivalent dehydrator. > What's that tell you?
Suckas!
-FF
|
monstermitch
Growing in Bags Doesn't Work


Registered: 02/10/06
Posts: 3,911
Loc: Arizona Bay
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: fastfred]
#5904847 - 07/27/06 10:19 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
FF,
have you ever used a nesco?
--------------------
|
fastfred
Old Hand



Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 6,899
Loc: Dark side of the moon
|
|
I once had a ronco. I made fruit roll-ups, banana chips, raisins all that shit they hype it for. Never even thought about using it for mushrooms.
I put together a setup that used some soda crates or bread trays or whatever you call them with a box fan on top. It was so cheap and worked so well I never even thought about using anything else again.
If you can find the crates I'm talking about you'll see what a great system it is. They're like plastic milk crates except they are about the size of a box fan and the sides are solid. They also use almost the same ones in industrial dishwashers. Anyway companies and stores often leave them out back, free for the taking.
-FF
|
unkempt
Im unkempt

Registered: 05/21/06
Posts: 219
Last seen: 2 years, 4 months
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: fastfred]
#5904883 - 07/27/06 10:32 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
yea i jacked mine from the home depot hotdog stand lol..had tons of them
|
fastfred
Old Hand



Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 6,899
Loc: Dark side of the moon
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: unkempt]
#5904902 - 07/27/06 10:39 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
+ +
= the best drying system you can have. Higher capacity, faster drying, and no heating. Beats a food dehydrator hands down. And if you're thrifty you can build it for aound $6 if you snag the racks and buy a thrift store fan. That should leave some money for duct tape and other misc supplies you might need.
The best racks are just like these except they have solid sides. You would have to duct tape the holes in the sides if you want good airflow with say a 8 tray unit.
Then again maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. It's not like I've dried a lot of mushrooms or anything. 
-FF
|
fastfred
Old Hand



Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 6,899
Loc: Dark side of the moon
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: fastfred]
#5904918 - 07/27/06 10:44 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
> yea i jacked mine from the home depot hotdog stand lol..had tons of them
Yep, those are the ones! Now that you mention it, I have seen them lying around hotdog stands and roach coaches.
-FF
|
tallgreen
chillin like avillain

Registered: 05/21/06
Posts: 293
Last seen: 17 years, 4 months
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: fastfred]
#5904943 - 07/27/06 10:52 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
Just move to Arizona. Set them on the counter and they'll be cracker dry in 24 hours.
-------------------- Nothing you can know that isn't known. Nothing you can see that isn't shown. Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be. It's easy. All you need is love. - The Beatles
|
monstermitch
Growing in Bags Doesn't Work


Registered: 02/10/06
Posts: 3,911
Loc: Arizona Bay
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: fastfred]
#5904948 - 07/27/06 10:53 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
fastfred said: I once had a ronco. I made fruit roll-ups, banana chips, raisins all that shit they hype it for. Never even thought about using it for mushrooms.-FF
exactly.
why don't you go to a thrift store and buy one.
use it and then come back and talk your trash about it.
how can you expect people to believe you? you speak against things you haven't even tried!
--------------------
|
fastfred
Old Hand



Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 6,899
Loc: Dark side of the moon
|
|
> why don't you go to a thrift store and buy one.
For one, I only grow oysters now and I don't dry them. For another you seem to be missing the point. If I had 20 pounds of fresh mushrooms to dry I wouldn't even be able to get a quarter of them in an $80+ food dehydrator.
> use it and then come back and talk your trash about it.
I'm not trying to talk trash about food dehydrators, I'm just telling you a better way to do things. If you don't mind a small capacity, small height racks that make you pull the caps off the big ones, and a 5-10% potency loss from the heat drying then by all means use a food dehydrator. More power to you. It's certainly an easy solution. Some people probably are just too busy to spend time building a superior system.
The main point that I hope you get... Is that airflow dries BETTER than heat. That's why I'm not going to run out and get another dehydrator.
-FF
|
monstermitch
Growing in Bags Doesn't Work


Registered: 02/10/06
Posts: 3,911
Loc: Arizona Bay
|
Re: drying my mushrooms... [Re: fastfred]
#5904983 - 07/27/06 11:09 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
I set the nesco to 97 degrees.
I highly doubt that I loose 5-10% potency.
I highly doubt that your superior system can get them Cracker Dry.
You can stack each unit 22 trays high. There are spacer trays for very large caps, or just lay them flat.
to each his own, and I have no problem with that.
--------------------
|
fastfred
Old Hand



Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 6,899
Loc: Dark side of the moon
|
|
Quote:
monstermitch said:
Quote:
fastfred said: I once had a ronco. I made fruit roll-ups, banana chips, raisins all that shit they hype it for. Never even thought about using it for mushrooms.-FF
how can you expect people to believe you? you speak against things you haven't even tried!
My point was that in my situation, even though I had one, it was so obviously inferior to the system I made that I didn't even consider using the dehydrator.
My first and second crops were mostly eaten wet by me and my friends, the remaining extra bits were dried in front of a fan. For my 3rd crop until I retired my yields were FAR too large to fit in a single dehydrator. Even if I had had double the racks in the dehydrator it wouldn't have been able to dry what I had so obviously it wasn't going to work. So I came up with a better system.
-FF
|
|