How Do You Dry Mushrooms?

If you dry mushrooms, you can use the specimens you have collected yourself to enrich dishes even when they are out of season. You can use different methods for this: the oven method, freeze drying or air drying. Then store the mushrooms in an airtight container. It is very important that you dry the mushrooms thoroughly, they must be easy to break through. Otherwise, there is a risk of mold forming due to residual moisture. If dried and stored correctly, the mushrooms can be kept for years. Use them for different dishes as needed, before soaking them in some hot water. Note that dried mushrooms give off a more intense flavor than fresh ones.

The mushrooms are particularly easy to dry in the oven. To do this, slice the cleaned mushrooms and place them in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet. The mushroom slices must not touch each other. Bake them at 50 to 70 degrees Celsius until they are completely dry. When doing this, leave the oven door ajar, e.g. clamp a wooden spoon in between. In between, turn the mushrooms over to ensure an even result and carefully dab off any liquid that may have escaped. Finally, let the mushrooms cool completely. Allow about 2 hours in the oven, depending on how thinly you sliced. Alternatively, you can also use a special drying oven.

Alternatively, mushrooms can also be freeze-dried. To do this, clean the mushrooms and cut them into slices as well. You must be absolutely dry for this method so that no ice can form. Place the mushrooms between layers of kitchen paper and put them in a paper bag in the freezer. In it, the mushrooms will freeze and dry at the same time.

Finally, mushrooms can also be air-dried. For this, you can use a special drying rack. Alternatively, string the clean, sliced ​​mushrooms onto a string like beads, without letting the slices touch. Dry the mushrooms in a warm, sunny place with low humidity. After about two days, the mushrooms should be completely dry. You can also dry oyster mushrooms and prepare so many delicious oyster mushroom recipes.