By Deepali Verma
Dehydrating mushrooms is a wonderful strategy to extend their storage life, as mushrooms themselves have a relatively short shelf life. Here are some simple instructions for drying mushrooms at home.
Keep the mushrooms in a dish of cold water. Now, using your hands, gently rub the mushrooms to remove any residual dirt. Please be careful not to damage the mushrooms in any way. After that, you should wash it with clean water.
If left moist, mushrooms may decay. Therefore, they must be cleaned and dried with a dry kitchen towel. Thus, the towel will absorb water. Avoid using tissues to clean and dry mushrooms.
Mushrooms spoil quickly, even if they're fresh. Remove that component and discard it. Keeping the discoloured section for too long may destroy the whole batch of mushrooms, so separate them.
Slicing mushrooms makes dehydrating them easier. Slice mushrooms thinly. Avoid thick or thin ones. Medium-width mushrooms are best. This speeds mushroom dehydration.
Mushrooms can be sun-dried or baked. Sundry mushrooms by placing slices on a tray with gaps. Sunlight them for 2-3 days. Baked mushrooms dehydrate too. Sun drying takes longer. Bake mushrooms at 120° for 5-10 minutes.
Store mushrooms in sealed containers after dehydrating. They'll decay if left exposed. They can also be stored in zip-lock bags. Use kitchen tissue and dehydrated mushrooms.