Hey everyone, at the beginning I would like to welcome you all to my new contribution and hope you had a day that brought one or the other positive experience into your life! In my new publication I would like to bring a mushroom a little closer and am happy if you can learn new things.
Drying mushrooms is a great way to preserve them for a longer period of time and by drying not only the date of expiry improves, but also the aroma is improved and usually the active ingredients are preserved. There are many examples of species that have relatively little aroma in the fresh state and by drying, it unfolds and thus increases the potential enormously and in the kitchen many of these mushrooms can be used well for seasoning food and with some mushrooms, there are active ingredients which are destroyed by drying but it can be generally said that with most species the full spectrum is preserved and this sometimes even over years, but this always depends on the type of storage. Unfortunately, some types of mushrooms are not suitable for drying and before someone start to preserve the discoveries, people should definitely find out beforehand whether their mushrooms are suitable for drying and if species have been found which are not suitable, it's best to consume them fresh. Basically, a distinction can be made between two types of drying, a slow or a fast one and I have made the best experiences with slow drying in the air and for this there are various possibilities such a net in which the mushrooms are placed and this can also be described as gentle drying. How long it takes for this to dry can be different and both, the moisture content of the mushrooms and the circumstances during drying can have an enormous influence and care must be taken that the moisture is never too high because otherwise it takes too long until the discoveries are dry and also the danger increases that mold can develop and also the temperature has a huge influence.
The fungi should be checked regularly to prevent possible infestation during the process and it's also very important to choose a room that is located in the dark because the active ingredients can be destroyed by too much influence of light and it's also interesting to mention that fungi lose between 80 - 90% of the weight during the process. As a simple rule of thumb, it can be said that 200 grams of wet mushrooms are 20 grams after drying and accordingly people can also adjust the dosage when cooking and after drying, it is recommended to store them airtight in a glass or similar containers. The second method is the fast drying which has the advantage that it usually only takes less than one day, but there are also differences that are noticeable in the quality and often lose important nutrients due to drying too quickly and for this method an oven or a dehydrator can be used. Before the mushrooms are dried, it's important to clean them thoroughly for both, gentle or fast drying and in the oven it is optimal to choose a temperature between 50 - 70 degrees Celsius and in the oven the mushrooms must be left until they are dry. With a dehydrator, there are usually certain programs according to which people can focus and are specially tailored to the drying of mushrooms and if not, you should set them between 40 to 70 degrees Celcius and the mushrooms dry up to 8 hours depending on the temperature. Afterwards, the dry mushrooms should always be soaked in water before consumption and then thoroughly heated to avoid possible intolerances and it can be said that it can be worthwhile to store mushrooms in the long term and thus the aroma is properly developed.
Many thanks for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about this topic! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens.