Dried mushrooms preserve all of their therapeutic and immune-boosting qualities, in contrast to vegetables, which lose much of their nutritional value during processing. It is the best technique of preservation because, if moisture and pests are avoided, dried mushrooms can last for many years. In fact, when you eliminate 80% of the water that makes up fresh mushrooms, you are left with a dried mushroom that is extremely concentrated and full of flavor and nutrients.
How To Make Dried Mushrooms?
Mushrooms are an easy and basic ingredient for novices to dry. Just make sure your counters, tools, and hands are clean and sterilized before you begin preparing your mushrooms to avoid infection, which could lead to batch spoilage later on. More so, depending on how many mushrooms you want to dry, your climate, and the resources you have, you can choose between different drying techniques to have your own stock of dried mushrooms. Here are four different methods of drying mushrooms.
1. Natural Air-Drying
This technique uses no special equipment to dry mushrooms. Mushrooms dry naturally over a longer period of time, but you must be careful since mold may start to form on them in locations with more than 60% humidity.
Step 1: Clean the mushrooms first.
Trim off any bruised or broken portions first. The mushrooms should then be washed under running water and dried with a kitchen towel.
Step 2: Get the mushrooms ready.
You can air-dry mushrooms in one of two ways, and the method you select will determine how you cook them.
- In a Container
Using a container, such as a mesh colander, that allows air to circulate all around the mushrooms is one method for air drying them. This technique works well for drying entire, cut, or cap-sized mushrooms. Your mushrooms will dry up more quickly the thinner the slices are. Make sure the mushrooms are arranged in the container in a single layer without touching or overlapping.
- In a String
Make sure not to chop your mushrooms in a way that makes it challenging to thread them. Thread the mushroom pieces onto strong thread or cooking string using a sterilized needle. The needle can be easily sterilized by flame-sterilizing it with an alcohol lamp or candle.
Step 3: Let the mushrooms air dry.
Put the container or string in a well-ventilated area where it will be protected from animals, birds, pests, and wetness. Air drying takes 7 to 10 days, depending on the size of the mushroom pieces and humidity levels. You can put your mushrooms in direct sunlight to hasten the process or use a fan to improve the airflow. Mushrooms that have been sun-dried can frequently be consumed in less than five days, and as an added bonus, the exposure to sunshine raises the mushrooms’ vitamin D levels.
2. Use An Oven
Using your oven, you can dry mushrooms if you don’t have a food dehydrator. The process takes a little longer, and until the mushrooms are entirely dried, you’ll need to keep an eye on them and turn them. You must watch the temperature when drying mushrooms in the oven to prevent burning.
Step 1: Clean and slice the mushrooms.
Cleaning and slicing your mushrooms in advance of drying is the first step.
Step 2: Preheat the Oven
Step 2: Warm the oven up
Turn up the oven to 140 °F (60 °C). Use low temperatures of no more than 150°F (60°C) while drying mushrooms in an oven or dehydrator because greater temperatures risk destroying the mushrooms’ active ingredients. Drying mushrooms in an oven that doesn’t reach as low as 150°F (65°C) is still an option. To enhance airflow and lower the temperature, lower the oven’s temperature as much as you can while keeping the door slightly ajar. To guarantee you achieve the proper temperature inside the oven in this situation, it’s a good idea to use an oven thermometer.
Step 3. Put the mushrooms in a row on a baking sheet.
Place your mushrooms in a single layer with space in between them on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Make sure the mushrooms are not overlapping or touching one another and that there is no extra water on them.
Step 4: Dry the Mushrooms
The mushrooms should be left on the baking sheet in the preheated oven for an hour. After that, take the mushrooms out of the oven, pat off any moisture that is evident, flip them over, and put them back in for an additional hour. Your mushrooms may be dried by this time. But it can take up to eight hours, depending on how thick your mushrooms are. Allow your mushrooms to cool, then try breaking one to see if they are sufficiently dry. They ought to be cracker-dry. Turn them over once more and put them back in your oven for an additional 30 minutes if they’re brittle and leathery. Every 30 minutes, check on them and turn them till they become brittle.
3. Use Freeze-Dryer
Although freeze-dryers might be pricey, freeze-drying is a great technique to preserve mushrooms for a long time and achieve that desired freeze-dried mushroom. Instead of using heat to remove the water from frozen mushrooms, freeze-drying uses a vacuum.
Step 1: Clean and slice the mushrooms in step one.
Utilizing the guidelines in stages 1 and 2 of the dehydrator section above, clean and slice your mushrooms before patting them dry. While whole mushrooms can be freeze-dried, slices of mushrooms freeze-dry better because they expose more surface area to the vacuum. However, it takes a little longer to freeze-dry even thicker slices.
Step 2: Pre-freeze your mushrooms in step two (Optional)
This step is not necessary because you can just put clean, sliced mushrooms in the freezer dryer. Pre-freezing, however, shortens the drying process’ duration and aids in avoiding contamination. Place the mushroom slices on a tray that will fit in your freezer, leaving space between each slice so that they can freeze independently. When they are frozen, either store them in freezer bags until you are ready to freeze-dry them or transfer them right away to freeze-dryer trays for freeze-drying. It can take several passes around the pan if your freezer is tiny and you have a large number of mushrooms to have them all pre-frozen.
Step 3: Step 3: Dry the mushrooms in a freezer
Your frozen mushrooms should be loaded into the freeze dryer on the freeze dryer trays. Pre-frozen, thinly sliced mushrooms dry completely in about a day, but larger mushrooms or mushrooms that aren’t pre-frozen may take up to 50 hours. Once the operation is complete, make sure the mushrooms are completely dry. Break a mushroom to accomplish this. It should snap without bending and be extremely brittle. Additionally, there shouldn’t be any ice in the middle of the mushroom slice. If not finished, re-freeze the mushrooms for another two to three hours.
4. Use A Dehydrator
Many people can attest that the best way to dry mushrooms is with a food dehydrator. You have more control over temperature and airflow than with alternative methods because of the quick and simple process. The mushrooms are also simpler to keep clean, and dehydrators typically don’t take up much room.
Step 1: Clean the mushrooms first.
On their stems and in between their gills, insects, dirt, and other debris are frequently present on mushrooms. Trimming and cleaning the mushrooms is the first stage in preparing them for drying. Trim off any blemished or bruised parts and tough stems before giving your mushrooms a brisk rinse in a colander or sieve under running water. The mushroom stems are edible and have a variety of applications, so don’t throw them away. Before putting your cleaned mushrooms in the dehydrator, blot them dry with a paper towel or let them air dry lying on a kitchen towel. While certain mushroom species are more straightforward to clean than others, for the most, a quick rinse under running water is the best solution.
Step 2. Chop the Mushrooms
You can dry mushrooms whole or cut, depending on the type, but it’s usually preferable to slice bigger mushrooms. Slice your clean mushrooms into 0.2 to 0.4 inch (0.5 to 1 cm) thick pieces using a sharp knife. When creating mushroom powder, you can cut the mushrooms into smaller pieces to make it simpler to process them into powder after they have dried. The mushroom slices or pieces should have a uniform size to dry in the dehydrator. Otherwise, some will dry considerably more quickly than others. The mushrooms will dry more slowly if the slices are thicker, so 0.2 inches (0.5 cm) slices work best to conserve electricity.
Step 3. The mushrooms should be arranged on the dehydrator trays.
Place the sliced or entire mushrooms in a single layer on the dehydrator trays, leaving space between them to allow for airflow. We advise lining the dehydrator tray with a mesh liner that has been cut to the correct size if your dehydrator tray has huge holes.
Step 4. Dry the mushrooms off.
Before inserting the trays into the dehydrator, make sure the mushrooms don’t have any extra water on them. To get them as dry as possible, pat them with a paper towel once more, if necessary. Until they are brittle and cracker-dry, dehydrate your mushrooms on low heat between 110 and 135°F (43 and 57°C). This can take anything from 4 to 12 hours, depending on how thick your mushrooms are and how many are in the dehydrator. However, using a dehydrator to dry sliced mushrooms often takes 6 to 8 hours.
Dried Mushrooms Recipes
Your favorite mushrooms taste even better after being dried since their flavor is more potent, concentrated, and wonderful overall. They are, therefore excellent for dried mushroom recipes such as:
1. Mushroom Medley Stir-Fry
The hint of sugar, coconut aminos, and white wine that it is covered in after frying gives this savory meal a sweet and toasty tropical hit. Enjoy the various flavors and textures that come from the combination of fresh carrots, tofu, and pork. Your dehydrated mushrooms provide a salty accent without any additional sodium, and the garlic and ginger offset the sweetness.
Ingredients:
- 1 and half teaspoon sugar
- Cut two green onions into 1/2-inch-wide pieces.
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil Monterey Mushrooms® Dried Mushrooms, 1-1/2 oz (any variety or a mixture of many)
- 1 minced garlic clove
- Ground pork, 6 ounces
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
- fresh ginger, sliced into 1-inch strips, 1 inch long
- Cut one medium carrot into 2-inch pieces.
- 1 block diced firm tofu
- 1 beaten egg (optional)
Instructions:
Reconstitution:
- Blanch for 2 to 5 minutes in boiling water, or soak in warm water for 30 minutes.
- An ounce of mushrooms that have been reconstituted is equivalent to about 4 ounces of fresh mushrooms.
Stir-Fry:
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar, white wine, and coconut aminos.
- Slice the mushrooms after reconstitution.
- Ground pork should be thoroughly mixed with garlic.
- Add the oil, ginger, and meat to a hot skillet or work pan.
- Cook the pork over high heat while mashing it to prevent lumping.
- Cook the pork for an extra two minutes once the pink has disappeared.
- Cook the carrot and mushrooms for 3 minutes.
- Add the tofu and stir.
- Stir in the sauce and green onions.
- When the egg is done, add it and mix.
2. Mushroom Polenta
This dish only calls for a few basic ingredients: onion, dried mushrooms, and butter. The best part is all it takes to cook your ingredients for 10 minutes in boiling water. You can either let it cool or harden it into a loaf before serving it as porridge. This traditional Italian food goes well with both savory and sweet foods.
Ingredients:
- 1/tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 ounce of any variety of Monterey’s dried mushrooms
- three water cups
- 1-tablespoon chopped onion
Polenta:
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- three water cups
- 1 cup of iced water
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- yellow cornmeal, 1 cup
Instructions:
To use sauce:
- In a saucepan, combine the dried boletes mushrooms, water, salt, and onion. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, then simmer for 20–30 minutes. Slice the mushrooms after removing them from the sauce. Reintroduce the cut mushrooms to the liquid after thickening them with cornstarch.
To make the polenta:
- Butter, salt, and three cups of water are brought to a boil in a pot.
- In a small bowl, mix cornmeal and cold water.
- Stirring continuously, slowly add the cornmeal mixture to the boiling water.
- Reduce heat; cook for 10 minutes uncovered while stirring often.
- Place the mixture on a serving dish, then drizzle sauce over it.
Final Thoughts!
For all lovers of mushrooms, learning how to dry mushrooms is advantageous. There are various techniques accessible. When fresh mushrooms are unavailable, you may still add the health benefits and umami of mushrooms to your meals by using dried versions of it. Everybody can cultivate their own mushrooms and dry any extra fresh ones to preserve them.
With all the health benefits you can get from mushrooms, you might look for freshly made nutritious mushroom snacks. You may visit www.munchrooms.com. These snacks are rich in fiber, vitamin D, vitamins B2 and B3, potassium, copper, and the potent antioxidant selenium, which helps to boost the immune system by preventing damage to cells and tissues. They are also low in carbohydrates and high in minerals.