# Drying morels



## Osroc76 (Apr 22, 2017)

I've never dried mushrooms before. Can anyone tell me if there is anything special that needs done to dry morel mushrooms safely for consumption later? Any help would be appreciated.


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## trahn008 (Jan 18, 2013)

They must be dehydrated and stored in glass jars. They will last for years, any other way you will have sub par results. The best tool any serious mushroom hunter should own IMAO.







Happy Hunting!


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## Osroc76 (Apr 22, 2017)

Thanks for the reply Trahn, how do I know how long to dehydrate? I know I've heard to make the pieces similar in size, but how do I know they are safe to store?


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## Osroc76 (Apr 22, 2017)

And also, I picked them Saturday night. Can I clean them now and dry tomorrow night? Or wait until tomorrow night and clean and dry immediately after?


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## trahn008 (Jan 18, 2013)

I leave them whole and run the dehydrator at 105f until they are crispy dried and while they are still warm they go right into mason jars. I have morels still from 10 years ago that are still perfect.


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## trahn008 (Jan 18, 2013)

I never wash any mushrooms with water before I dehydrate. I don’t even really brush them off they go right into dehydrator as is. Most of the dirt and bugs fall off when they are dry. They also get a good wash when the get rehydrated. I’ve done hundreds of pounds of mushrooms this way, and is the only way I do them.Happy Hunting!


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## Osroc76 (Apr 22, 2017)

Thanks so much! I appreciate you guys!


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## trahn008 (Jan 18, 2013)

As far as when you know they a dried. I just grab the biggest one and pinch if it still has flex keep drying.


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## Osroc76 (Apr 22, 2017)

So my morels are nice and snug in the dehydrator, I'm guessing by the coloration on the trays, and by the dehydrator fan that the spore print of morels is a yellowish-orange?


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## trahn008 (Jan 18, 2013)

Yes. yellow orange. Happy Hunting!


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## sb (Apr 25, 2013)

*Once upon a time . . .*

Once upon a time I used this below, to dry morels and other mushrooms -- the dehumidifier in the basement. I'd place 'shrooms on a screen and position it over the dry air outlet. It worked, sort-a -- if they got too dry and light, sometimes I'd have to pick them off the floor as they would go flying.










Than a friend was selling his house to move to FL in retirement and called me up and said the magic words "we have several dehydrators and you can have them for nothing, if you can use them!".

I took both and gave the cheaper one to my mushroom hunting buddy and I kept this one below.










It has made me into a believer of good quality in dehydrators. Though there have been times that I've still used my 2nd 'cheapie dehydrator' also, to dry lots of 'shrooms at the same time.

*Happy Hunting!*


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## Osroc76 (Apr 22, 2017)

sb said:


> *Once upon a time . . .*
> 
> Once upon a time I used this below, to dry morels and other mushrooms -- the dehumidifier in the basement. I'd place 'shrooms on a screen and position it over the dry air outlet. It worked, sort-a -- if they got too dry and lite, sometimes I'd have to pick them off the floor as they would go flying.
> 
> ...


Love the story SB haha. This is what I have. It was my dad's and it's dried allot of jerky, and some mushrooms that we don't usually talk about on here! It seems to work well. But maybe I just don't know better. I know it works better than the one I had before haha!


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## D_licious (Apr 8, 2019)

sb said:


> *Once upon a time . . .*
> 
> Once upon a time I used this below, to dry morels and other mushrooms -- the dehumidifier in the basement. I'd place 'shrooms on a screen and position it over the dry air outlet. It worked, sort-a -- if they got too dry and light, sometimes I'd have to pick them off the floor as they would go flying.
> 
> ...


That is damn clever!! Thanks for sharing that idea for folks that do not have a dehydrator!


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