You've found yourself with more mushrooms than you can eat-
Now what?!
Like any other vegetation, once you take the mushroom from its growing place, the clock starts ticking. The sooner you can get your mushrooms preserved, the better they will be. When it comes to mushrooms you have three main choice: can, freeze, dehydrate- but which is best? Well, it depends on what you use them for!
Tip for any Mushroom Preservation Technique:
Wash them! Dirt= gritty texture= displeasing. I like to use the hose...gently. A big tub of water works well too- dunk and jostle them around for a minute or so. Regular running water is okay too. Depending on how dirty they are, whatever gets the dirt off is fine.
Do not worry about the mushrooms soaking up water and becoming waterlogged. Not that this video contains the MOST scientific data...but it convinced me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip9KMsoF4sM - its in the second half of the video.
Canning: This is the trickiest and probably most labor intensive. Be cautious and do your research- some species of mushrooms (Morel) are said to give off a toxic gas when they are cooked. When these are canned the gas does not have anywhere to go and stays with the product. Definitely needs to be pressure-canned. Consult your local canning reference, and do keep in mind that there are really no studied canning times for wild mushrooms, so many people do not endorse doing it. You may have to do some guesstimation.
Freezing: I would never freeze mushrooms raw- the texture is not good when thawed. The best way to freeze mushrooms is to saute them with oil or butter. Let them cool and then place in freezer safe vessel.
Some people go one step further and make a mushroom "sauce" or topping and freeze that. Think: saute mushrooms in butter, deglaze the pan with white wine, add salt and pepper, fresh chopped parsley and a splash of cream. Cool and freeze. Thaw and serve over steak or chicken. Mmmm. That's what I'd do!
Use mushrooms to make these things and then freeze them: mushroom stock, vegetable stock- heavy on the mushrooms, homemade cream of mushroom soup, mushroom and barley soup, vegetable soup-heavy on the mushrooms...you get the idea.
Dehydrating: This is my favorite method- mostly because when rehydrated, the mushrooms are not far off from their original texture. Of course, I prefer the Excalibur 3900 dehydrator- I would highly recommend this to anyone who does any serious dehydrating. Everything else is a huge step down from this...but it will still work...
Any commercial dehydrator is fine. There are also several creative methods, two of which I think are worth mentioning. Stringing: needle and thread, string the mushrooms, hang in a drafty place until dry- works best with morels and other whole intact mushrooms. Box fan + square furnace filters+ bungee cords= a pretty creative dehydrator- works best for littler pieces. You can find more information about these techniques by googling them.
Dehydrating Step-by-Step for Hen of the Woods:
1. Wash mushrooms (see previous note). I rinse with water first. As I break them apart I use a paper towel to wipe hidden dirt bits. These are a very dirty mushroom. If there is stubborn dirt, I sacrifice some of the mushroom and just cut the dirty part off with a knife. 2. Reduce mushrooms to the size that you desire. Consider what you will use them for. When rehydrated, I like to add them to soups/stews or saute and use them in side dishes, sauces, etc. For these things I like the pieces to be smaller (bite-sized). They also dehydrate and rehydrate faster this way.
I cut off large chunks with the knife and then break them into smaller pieces with my hands- it is more rustic looking.
3. Place in a single layer on the dehydrator trays. (In the picture are larger pieces than I normally do.) In the Exicalibur dehydrator these took somewhere between 4-6 hours to dry completely.
This is what they look like when dry- very similar to the original. They should be stiff and crisp with no mushy spots at all.
Store in an air-tight container: I use ziplock bags or large glass jars.
Rehydrating Dried Mushrooms:
Place desired amount of mushrooms in a vessel and pour very hot/almost boiling water over them. Wait 20-30 minutes for complete rehydration.
Always rehydrate them first, even if you are using the mushrooms for a soup or casserole and are putting them in to liquid anyways. It seems redundant but the dish will come out better if you do this extra step.
