Drying mushrooms extends their shelf life and concentrates flavor.
People have been drying mushrooms for thousands of years. People today still employ the same technique and technology to dry mushrooms that those early peoples did: the sun and air. However, there are several advances in mushroom-drying technology that extend to both commercial and home drying.
Goal
All mushroom-drying technologies and methods aim to accomplish the same thing: The idea is to draw all moisture out of the mushroom, which stops bacteria and mold from growing and ruining your mushrooms. You must dry them fast enough to prevent bacteria and mold growth but be careful not to cook the mushrooms if you are using a technique that presents such a risk, like oven drying. Mushrooms must be stored in an airtight container to avoid moisture formation. A silica gel packet helps keep them dry.
The Classic Technology
The ancient technology for drying mushrooms is simple: Give the mushrooms enough air or sun, or both, so that they dry out. Hang them by a string, lay them out on a clean surface in a single layer under the sun or store them in a mesh bag in a dry room. Air must flow to every nook and cranny of the mushroom, so rotate them, flip them and rearrange them hourly if they are in contact with one another or with another surface.
Home Technologies
People have developed innovative domestic mushroom-drying technologies for small-scale drying. Techniques include fanning and oven drying. Fan drying is an improvement on the classic technique; a great way to dry your mushrooms is to hang them by their caps along the length of a string, and point a running fan at them. Another way to dry mushrooms is in the oven. Place the mushrooms on a single layer in the oven at its lowest temperature, ideally not higher than 150 degrees Fahrenheit; flip and rearrange them after an hour, and after two hours they will be dry.
Dehydrator
A more advanced mushroom-drying technology is a dehydrator. Dehydrators are available for domestic and commercial use. Both consist of a heating element, a fan and a vent; the heating element maintains a constant temperature while the fan blows the moist air from the mushrooms out the vent until they are dry. Domestic dehydrators are usually round and about the size of a microwave, while commercial dehydrators can be the size of a truck.
Freeze Drying
Another advanced technology for mushroom drying is freeze drying. Freeze drying is less common because it is a more expensive process. The process freezes the mushrooms and then reduces the surrounding pressure to transform the frozen water within the mushroom directly to gas. The result is mushrooms with little to no water content.
Tags: bacteria mold, heating element, mushroom-drying technologies, mushroom-drying technology, oven drying, People have
