Hydration
The mushrooms are about 90% water and 10% good stuff. This 90% water majority creates one of the biggest problems with cooking and especially with preserving mushrooms.
Mushrooms can be preserved by freezing. However, they must be cooked first. If fresh mushrooms are placed directly into the freezer, the water inside of them will expand and basically crush the mushroom from the inside out. The result will be tragic. If you are going to store mushrooms in the freezer, cook them first, let them cool, and then put them in the freezer.
Dehydration is the most common way of preserving mushrooms. Fresh mushrooms dry at a rate of about ten to one. That is, it takes about ten pounds of fresh mushrooms to make one pound of dry mushrooms. It also means that about one and a half dried ounces equals about one pound of fresh mushrooms and vice versa.
A common kitchen dehydrator works fine for drying your mushrooms. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into as equal sized pieces as possible. Place equal sized pieces of mushrooms together on the same rack in the dehydrator.
Mushrooms can be preserved by freezing. However, they must be cooked first. If fresh mushrooms are placed directly into the freezer, the water inside of them will expand and basically crush the mushroom from the inside out. The result will be tragic. If you are going to store mushrooms in the freezer, cook them first, let them cool, and then put them in the freezer.
Dehydration is the most common way of preserving mushrooms. Fresh mushrooms dry at a rate of about ten to one. That is, it takes about ten pounds of fresh mushrooms to make one pound of dry mushrooms. It also means that about one and a half dried ounces equals about one pound of fresh mushrooms and vice versa.
A common kitchen dehydrator works fine for drying your mushrooms. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into as equal sized pieces as possible. Place equal sized pieces of mushrooms together on the same rack in the dehydrator.
Small Morels can be dried whole. Most other mushrooms will need to be dismembered and sliced up into equal pieces. Larger morels should be “butter flied” open. Leave the mushrooms on the dehydrator long enough to get all of the moisture out. After a few hours start sorting through the mushrooms, remove the dry ones and place them into a jar or other sealed container. A single moist mushroom in a sealed jar can ruin your entire stash.
Dried mushrooms will stay good all year. You will find that drying the mushrooms concentrates their flavor and makes cooking with them very easy. There is more flavor in dried mushrooms than fresh, therefore they will have a bigger flavor influence than might be expected from their small volume.
When rehydrating the mushrooms, we encourage you to use more than just water. Think about what you are making and get creative. If you are making orange Chanterelles, add a little orange juice and orange vinegar to your rehydration mix. If you are making a stir fry,
rehydrate your mushrooms with a little soy sauce and water. Plan ahead, rehydration is your chance to marinade your mushrooms so why marinade them with just water?
Dried mushrooms will stay good all year. You will find that drying the mushrooms concentrates their flavor and makes cooking with them very easy. There is more flavor in dried mushrooms than fresh, therefore they will have a bigger flavor influence than might be expected from their small volume.
When rehydrating the mushrooms, we encourage you to use more than just water. Think about what you are making and get creative. If you are making orange Chanterelles, add a little orange juice and orange vinegar to your rehydration mix. If you are making a stir fry,
rehydrate your mushrooms with a little soy sauce and water. Plan ahead, rehydration is your chance to marinade your mushrooms so why marinade them with just water?