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Never eat a wild mushroom identified from a website. This one helps you rule things out. It cannot rule anything in.

Mr Mushroom
← The kitchen

Drying

The default preservation method, and for some species an improvement.

Why

Drying concentrates flavour by removing water and, in several species, by concentrating aromatic compounds that were dilute when fresh. Dried porcini and dried black trumpets are more intense than the fresh mushroom, not a compromise for it. The soaking liquid afterwards is a strong stock and throwing it away wastes most of what you gained.

How

  1. 01Slice to an even thickness, 5 to 8 mm. Uneven slices means some pieces are leather while others are still damp enough to mould.
  2. 02Dry at 40 to 50C with airflow until a slice snaps rather than bends. A warm oven on its lowest setting with the door ajar works; a dehydrator works better and does not tie up the oven for six hours.
  3. 03Cool completely before storing, or condensation will form in the jar and ruin the batch.
  4. 04Store airtight in the dark. Vacuum sealing extends this from months to years.
  5. 05Rehydrate in hot water for 20 minutes, then STRAIN the liquid through a coffee filter to catch grit and keep it. That liquid is the best thing in the jar.

What this step actually needs

What this step needsFood dehydrator$40.99What this step needsAirtight jars$22.81What this step needsVacuum sealer$29.98

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Species this matters most for

King bolete, porcini

Boletus edulis and the edulis group

Black trumpet

Craterellus cornucopioides, C. fallax

Morel

Morchella americana, M. esculenta and relatives

Yellowfoot, winter chanterelle

Craterellus tubaeformis

Shiitake

Lentinula edodes

The other techniques

Brush, do not wash

Clean with a brush and a damp cloth, not under a tap.

The dry sauté

Hot dry pan first. Fat only after the water has gone.

Cook it properly, and cook it through

Eight to ten minutes minimum, and longer for anything thick.

Freezing, cooked

Cook first, then freeze. Never freeze raw.