Dry Mushrooms – Here’s How

Collected mushrooms should be stored and this works best if you dry the mushrooms. You can then easily process them into soups or other delicacies.

Drying mushrooms properly: the preparation

To keep freshly picked mushrooms longer than three days, they should be dried.

• First, clean the mushrooms by removing dirt and soil from the mushrooms. Use either a kitchen towel or a brush for this.
• Slice the mushrooms as thinly as possible.
• This works best with an egg slicer. This will give you even slices.
• For small mushrooms, it is sufficient if you halve or quarter them lengthways.
• You can then dry the mushrooms in a dehydrator, oven, or air dry.

How to dry mushrooms in a dehydrator or oven

To dry mushrooms in a dehydrator, you need a suitable dehydrator. An alternative to this is an ordinary oven.

• You operate a drying oven as described in the operating instructions.
• Vitamins and the aroma of the mushrooms can be preserved better in a drying oven than in the fresh air.
• To do this, dry the mushrooms for two to four hours at around 50 degrees Celsius.
• If you don’t have a drying oven and want to dry the mushrooms in an oven, then you should make sure that
• the temperature in the oven is always about the same temperature. This should not be more than 40 to 50 degrees Celsius. Otherwise, the mushrooms will dry up in the oven.
• Line the baking tray with baking paper and cover the surface with the mushroom slices.
• Put the baking tray in the oven and do not close the oven completely, but leave a gap, for example by inserting the handle of a wooden spoon between the oven and the door.
• The mushroom slices should stay in the oven for about four to five hours.