Me and my friend have found quite a lot of good fields with the raining summer, but how do you properly dry them until they're eatible. We've tried letting them sit in a paper bag, but they just like melt and then smell foul. He put some in his freezer to preserve but then like an idiot took them out before he went to school and they again like turned black and juicy/slimey. I only got good dried shrooms one time and found them really easy to eat. So i figure if i can refine my way of drying them i can actually have a good expeirence.
try putting them on a piece of cardboard out in the sun? I've never had much experience drying either...but that's what I would do. Or maybe not even in the sun, just in a room somewhere that has as little humidity as possible.
Why dry them? Do this, ive never actually done it but read about it. Take a freezer bag, put your shrooms in it. Then take one of those spray cans that you clean electronics with, that have air in them. Put the nozel in to the corner of the bag, fill it up, then push all the air out, fill it back up and seal it was best as possible, put it in another slightly larger bag and fill it with the air. Then place that into a plastic bag and fill it up with the air then tie it very very tight so no air can leak out. From what I understand shrooms go bad because of c02 in the air. I could be wrong but this is what I have read. The air in these cans doesnt have any co2 in them so they dont go bad, they will but slowly. Just place the bag in the feezer also. So far the best way ive read to keep them fresh. Also when they are dried they lose some potency.
DO NOT DRY SHROOMS IN THE SUN! They don't like heat or light. Instead if you live in a dry area, simply blow a fan on them for several hours until they are cracker dry. If you live in a humid area you will need to get a dissicant and a dissicant chamber. Look up drying at www.shroomery.org that should point you in the right direction. Drying is a very important process because if done incorrectly your mushies could go bad or get drained of some of their psychedelic juices.
I just place mine on a clean dry towel and let nature take its course. They are cracker dry in around 4-5 days, then place in clean plastic bag.
To throw my 2 cents in on TreePhiend's message, here's a method I use. Some people say it makes the mushrooms taste chemical-y, but I don't think so. Take a shoebox and some tongue depressors/popsicle sticks. Make a platform in the shoebox 3/4 of the way up by cutting into the shoebox and sticking in the popsicle sticks. Go to your home improvement store and buy some DampRid, put it in the bottom of the box, under the sticks, and put the mushrooms on top of the sticks with the box closed. Leave it over night, and when you come back, voila, "powder-dried" mushrooms. On a second note, if you plan on eating them directly after you pick them, I recommend a peanut butter and mushroom sandwich, the peanut butter really masks the taste. Also, you can boil them down on low heat and add some Kool-Aid (no off-brands) to the broth and chug. Thirdly, and this requires a hot plate and a magnetic stirrer - forget the third thing. Aim positive
On a paper towel outside? Or inside? I find that inside they seem to cause a pretty bad smell.07-30-2004 09:10 AMOutside is fine unless its wet...I do it inside on top of my boiler and it works great.
I never dry mine. Since I live in Canada the mush isn't illegal until its prepared to be consumed aka drying. But if you insist upon drying, put them in a cool dark and well ventilated area, you don't wanna destroy your psilocybin.
This is done ALL THE FUCKING TIME around here, (well, in the summer, anyway). Lay a cardboard box on it's side. Throw in the shrooms, and point a fan on high into the box. It might take a couple days, depending. Could be hours. If you can, get a damp-rid basket-cup ($3) and a refill ($3) at the grocery store. Stick the basket-cup in the box and turn the fan on low. Much faster. If you want to be lame and use heat, preheat the oven to 200 F and turn it off while you throw in the mushrooms. Leave the door open. Repeat until dry, but DO NOT turn the oven on while the shrooms are in it.
