A lot of people love mushrooms, especially on pizza. Mushrooms also go well with sandwiches, salads, soups and pasta. While stores may have dehydrated mushrooms, there’s no reason you can’t dehydrate your own mushrooms. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you could grow your own mushrooms, too. Below are three ways to dehydrate your mushrooms.
Why Use Dehydrated Mushrooms?
When you dry mushrooms, particularly shiitake mushrooms, you intensify the flavor of the mushroom. With shiitake mushrooms, it brings out the mushroom’s umami flavor, which is a meaty or savory taste. The umami flavor brings a meaty taste to soups, stocks, and other dishes.
When you dehydrate your own mushrooms after a proper cleaning, you don’t have to worry about chemicals or pesticides lingering on your mushrooms. If you buy mushrooms from the store, it’s best to buy the ones that are whole rather than sliced, diced, or in some other state. This way they retain their flavor, boosting the flavor once they’re dehydrated.
How to Dehydrate Mushrooms Without a Dehydrator
It’s fairly easy to dehydrate mushrooms without a dehydrator. All you do is air dry the mushrooms of your choice by placing them in a container that provides airflow under the mushrooms. A food strainer or a colander will provide the airflow the mushrooms need for dehydration.
Make sure you won’t have to use the colander or food strainer as you’ll have to leave the mushrooms out to dry for a week. Once they’re dry to the touch and feel like small rocks, then you can store them in a dry, cool place until you use them. Dehydrated mushrooms generally last for about two years before going bad.
How to Dehydrate Mushrooms in the Oven
To dry mushrooms in the oven, all you need are a few jars and some baking sheets. The first step you need to do is clean the mushrooms.
Even if you choose mushrooms from the store, you need to ensure that there’s no dirt on the mushrooms. If you forge your own mushrooms, be sure to clean out the inside of the cap and all the other nooks and crevices where dirt sticks. Once you clean the mushrooms, then you slice them 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.
Thinner mushroom slices dry faster than thick mushroom slices do. Once you put them in the oven, you need to set the oven to 150F degrees and leave the baking sheets in the oven for an hour. Then you turn the mushrooms over, and place them in the oven for another hour.
How to Dehydrate Mushrooms With a Dehydrator
Dehydrating mushrooms in a dehydrator is a fairly easy process. After making sure to clean and slice the mushrooms, arrange the mushrooms in a single layer on the mesh sheets that go with the dehydrator. Set the dehydrator to 130F degrees and leave the mushrooms in the dehydrator anywhere from four to eight hours. Once dried, store the mushrooms in an airtight container somewhere dark and cool.
