Once you've got them home... O.K., so you found these beauties out in the woods or fields or on a lawn somewhere. You lovingly cut them from their environs and carried them carefully, trying to to break or bruise them, and you've arrived home. What now?
What type are they? When do you want to use them? How do you want to use them?
Storage and Preservation-- Most mushrooms are best eaten unpreserved. That certain "here and now" quality remains with the fresh mushroom. Mushrooms are pretty persnickety,though, and in order to make sure you'll be able to enjoy the fruits of your endeavors, you have to make sure you treat them right. Some mushrooms, like Shaggy Manes, which autodigest the same day they appear, are so transient when fresh that you must practically have the pan hot when you get home in order to enjoy them. Most others can hold in the refrigerator for at least a few days. In the refrigerator, a paper bag works well on the short term. If storing them for longer that a day or two use a basket and cover the mushrooms with a damp (not wet) towel or you will end up with paper bag flavored mushrooms....The trick is pairing the mushrooms with their proper storage, preparation and preservation methods. How they will be used ultimately determines the ideal preservation method....
How much do you have?
If you have enough for one meal, eat them now while they are young and revel in
the true texure, aroma and flavor of the mushroom. If, however, you have landed
the monster 50 pound haul of Chanterelles or Hen of the Woods, you need to
either preserve them or have an impromptu
mushroom party.
Assuming you are greedy and want to keep them aaallll to yourself, you will need
to preserve them.
Drying:
This ancient form of preservation is very effective when done properly, and
frees up your freezer for other things like Tofutti Cuties, Kobe beef and ice
cubes.
The concept is to remove enough water from the mushrooms to suspend the
growth of bacteria and molds which are present everywhere. Here, in the
Northeast, our ambient humidity rarely dips low enough to merely lay the
mushrooms out to dry as they do in other places. Mushrooms are high in proteins
and are thus prime candidates for spoilage. It is advisable to use a food
dehydrator to make sure that the dessication process takes place rapidly enough
to disallow the growth of those nasty little microorganisms. It is advisable to
purchase or build a dehydrator which is both temperature controlled and has a
fan for air circulation (not Ronco). If you are planning to use the dehydrator
quite a bit for things other than mushrooms, invest in a high quality one like
the Nesco GardenMaster. You'll be happy you did.
When drying mushrooms, you should give them as thorough a cleaning as you can with a brush, knife, or cloth without moistening them. With hollow mushrooms such as Morels, you should slice them in half lengthwise to reveal any bugs or slugs who eluded you when you field dressed the mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are clean, you need to make sure they dry quickly so you need to slice or pull them into pieces no more than a 1/4" in thickness and lay them out only one layer deep per tray. You don't want to expose them to too much heat, or they will cook and discolor. The flavor, texture and aroma will also be altered. 110 degrees Farenheit is the warmest temperature recommended. For this same reason, dehydrating in the oven is a last choice for drying mushrooms.
Once they are dry, the mushrooms should be stored in an airtight container like a Ziploc freezer bag or a canning jar. As an added precaution you may want to go the next step and place a dessicant packet in the container with the mushrooms. You know those silica gel crystal packets in everything from sushi nori to medicine jars? Don't throw those away! They are your mushroom's friend. If your need for dessicant packets outstrips your ability to find them, you may need to take things into your own hands and either purchase some (go in on a case of them with some other people, as they are produced mainly for industries where they are purchased by the thousands) or make your own. You can make your own dessicant packets by purchasing silica gel crystals at a hobby store. They are sold there mainly for folks who like to dry and preserve flowers. As long as you sift out the very fine particles and sew the crystals into very finely porous material, these packets should be safe. As an added precaution you can place the packet at the bottom of the container so that any tiny crystals which escape do not fall into the food. As a handy indicator, some of these silica gel crystals from hobby stores change color when they need to be reactivated. They can be reactivated in the oven, following the directions on the package.
Some mushrooms which lend themselves particularly well to drying for culinary purposes are: Morels, Black Trumpets, Wood Ear, Boletes, Shiitake. Sometimes the flavors and aromas are actually enhanced by drying, though with the Boletes the texture suffers...
Some mushrooms which are miserable disappointments after drying are: Chanterelles, most polypores, Hedgehogs, Hericium, Lobster Mushrooms, truffles (don't even think about drying a truffle! Are you nuts?) Texture flavor and aroma are lost and the use of these mushrooms must be relegated to use in soups and stews where they will add more to the "earthiness" of things than anything else. When dried you can also powder these in a coffee grinder and use them as flavor agents or colorful powders to decorate plates, but they are much better used in other treatments. Follow the links for more details.
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