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How to TEMPORARILY preserve mushrooms?


Jack

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10/8/2021

Hello, 

Most of the time I collect wild mushrooms during my week-long camping trips. I immediately eat some of them, but usually I end up with much more than I can consume. Sometimes I dry them on the grill over the campfire; sometimes I get an electric campsite, so I bring a food dehydrator and dry them that way. Yet I would like to know if are any other ways to TEMPORARILY preserve mushrooms, until I get home—up to 7 days? Once I'm home, I’ll properly dry, cook or pickle the mushrooms. 

Of course, I know mushrooms pickling, but it requires boiling, jars, etc. and this process is not really feasible while I’m camping. If anyone could recommend/suggest any other methods, I’d really appreciate that! BTW, somebody has suggested that I place mushrooms in jars and simply fill the jars with vinegar or a solution of salt and water, but I have no idea if it would work. 

Thanks! 

Jack

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If you are back country with no electricity, I have no advice except to eat and enjoy as much as you can when you are in the woods. And carry out as much as you can from your final day of picking.

If you are "camping" and have electric service... fry your mushrooms and freeze them. No loss of texture or taste.

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12/08/2021

Hi Johny,

Thanks for your reply. Before posting my question, I conducted some research online and was unable to find any answers to my question, either. I guess I'll follow your advice. I'll also continue drying mushrooms over the campfire, they're perfect for a Polish dish called "Bigos" (stewed dish made of sauerkraut and/or fresh cabbage, meat and mushrooms) and give it a wonderful smoky flavor.

About 20 years ago, while camping in a provincial park, we were collecting so many choice mushrooms that I decided to locally buy a food dehydrator and we moved to an electric campsite. I ended up with several kilograms of dried mushrooms! Unfortunately, many choice campsites are not electric and that's why I usually pick non-electric campsites. And of course, last year and this year I was lucky to book ANY available campsites-and I had to do it 5 months in advance!

Regards,

Jack

 

 

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Once a year, I make Bigos with my home garden sourced sour kraut, apples potatoes and home made sausage.

I like the idea of smoke dried mushrooms to add the the stew. If it rains this year, I might try that.

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Some people DELIBERATLY burn Bigos so that it gets that specific flavor.

About 15 years ago I made Bigos, using mushrooms that I had dried on a grill over a campfire. I shared it with a couple of friends. They said they had NEVER eaten such a delicious Bigos before!

That’s why I have no problem with drying mushrooms over the campfire, later I add them to Bigos and it’s delicious!

And one more thing: When I collect chanterelle mushrooms, I usually place them on my car’s dashboard, exposed to the full sun, and they get dry in no time. Then I often eat them raw, they resemble chips, but are tastier and of course, much healthier (they don’t contain all the mysterious ingredients—to understand them, one needs to have a degree in chemistry!).

Last year I learned about a recipe on a Chanterelle Infused Vodka. Although I rarely drink vodka, I put several chanterelle mushrooms in a jar with vodka and the next day I enjoyed drinking it!

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Not too many people know what Bigos is (well, they don't know what they're missing), so of course, I guessed  you're of Polish descent. And your nick sounds very familiar! Besides, whenever I go mushroom picking and meet other people engaged in this activity, they're invariably East-Europeans or Italians, I don't recall ever meeting Canadians (as a matter of fact, I meet other mushroom pickers very rarely).

In the mid-1980s I took a breadth course called “People and Plants” and it dealt, among other topics, with fungi. The professor said that a lot of mushrooms were very poisonous and it was difficult to identify them; thus we should avoid collecting & consuming them. Yet, he added, a lot of (brave) people in Eastern Europe did collect & eat them, but every year a number of them paid the ultimate price--and I wholeheartedly confirmed his statement.

I’m sure that nobody who attended that lecture ever went mushroom picking!

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My way is to Storing the mushrooms in glass jars with airtight lids is a good option, but you can also store them in airtight zipper bags. Place the vessel in a cool, dark place and they'll stay good for 6 months to 1 year. To rehydrate them, pour boiling water over the mushrooms and let them soak for 20 to 30 minutes.
 

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On 8/20/2021 at 9:09 AM, Jeff Falcone said:

Why not simply air dry the mushrooms?

 

I've never done this myself, but I've read that it is quite common for folks to hang mushroom to air dry. If I were to try this I'd cut the mushrooms into thin pieces and make a mushroom clothes line.

If you do not put mushrooms through hot cycle worms will finish them first. Even if you select worm free mushrooms few eggs will usually pass through inspection. I am not sure about exact temperature to kill all bugs but do not cook mushrooms at the same time. Something in 120 to 180 F Range I suspect.

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Thanks for your suggestions. Of course, once I'm back home, I usually air-dry mushrooms or pickle them. However, my question was about a way to TERMPORARILY preserve mushrooms, when I have no access to electricity or cooking facilities.

BTW, I just came back from a week-long camping trip in the Southern Georgian Bay area in Ontario. I found... 1 (one) edible mushroom! I asked locals and they said they had not see too many mushrooms recently due to a very dry weather (+30 C) and very little rain. 

Stringing mushrooms is quite popular in some countries; in some homes hanging strings of mushrooms make very original ornaments! 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Its been a great start to the year with much rain in central Ontario but its been dry for a month.  These recent rains have made them pop, head out to your spots!  I have flush reports coming in from Barrie, Parry Sound and Barrys Bay.  Im heading up to my property in Barrys Bay tonight - told my client I will be back Saturday to continue work.  Priorities… ya know 😝🍄

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Last week I was in Arrowhead Provincial Park (near Huntsville, Ontario) and saw TWO (2) mushrooms. I talked to locals and they said they did not see mushrooms, either, and added that 30-50 years ago mushrooms had been much more plentiful than nowadays. 

I'm heading to the Bancroft area (of course, in Ontario) and will certainly look for mushrooms, hopefully I'll have more luck this time.

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Hey Jack, reports from last week were the same for me.  I recently spent two weeks up on north Superior Lake and the coast forests were empty! Further away from the water there were nearly zero mushrooms. 
 

I just got to Kaszuby and there are mushrooms on the property, few old ones and a bunch of babies - boletus and leccinum with some suillis.  Heading to my producer forests in a few hours, need that sunlight - Headlamps only work for a few hours 😝. Will post results.

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Thanks! Even though I'm not going to just mushroom picking, I would love to bring some mushrooms home. Last year I was so disappointed, no mushrooms whatsoever, even though some of my friends reported plenty of mushrooms. I'll also post my results.

BTW, I love Kaszuby!

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Its all about getting the right forest and at the right time - last year was a banger year for us.

 

Sorry for derailing the original thread. As for the original question I don’t have much to offer, seems like all options have been explored.  Keep in mind you can get a ticket for collecting in parks - just a heads up.  I have never tried temp preserving in vinegar - getting into back country with jars and vinegar is work - best to preserve museum quality specimens 😝

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As long as we're talking about mushrooms, it's OK!

I know it's not legal to pick mushrooms in provincial parks, yet when I spoke to wardens in Algonquin Park, they said they did not mind-after all, when you're doing backcountry camping in provincial parks (e.g., Algonquin, Killarney, French River, the Massasauga), you're allowed to pick dead wood for campfire, unlike in parks with drive-in campsites, so probably it's OK to pick mushrooms and berries while backcountry camping. 

I haven't found any other info on temporarily preserving mushrooms either. IF if find any, I'll dry them on my grill, over the campfire.

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Hej Jacek!

Good luck in Bancroft.  Filled two buckets with young edilus and leccinum.  Back hurts from crawling under conifers uprooting the buggers and trying not to look like a bear.  Found some chantrelles and lactarius as well - subglabripes are just starting to pop.  Tomorrow is another mushroom day and after that its walleye, bass and trout 😀. Maybe I will stay up here for a few more days to catch another frowth spurt but work is a calling…….

There were also big ones too.  Few but they were there.  If you see this face in the bush, turn back - no mushrooms left behind 😝

06535968-542E-448D-9F8C-DEC2B88E4D9A.jpeg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally this year, I did see many mushrooms, both in Silent Lake Provincial Park and other areas. Even though I did not spend much time on collecting mushrooms, I managed to bring about 3 lb home, they were delicious! And for the first time I collected oyster mushroom-after consulting several books I had with me, I determined they were indeed oyster mushrooms-besides, I'm still alive! 

Had I spent more time looking mushrooms, I am sure I would have collected a bucket or too as well. Besides, I almost exclusively collect non-gilled mushrooms and most likely leave out plenty of edible fungi, but since my mycological knowledge is quite basic, I would rather be on the safe side.

Troutddicted: what are you going to do with the big one? Use it instead of an umbrella? I found one big one, too; amazingly, it was perfect, no worms or snails. BTW, we have had plenty of rains this week (and more are to come), so I am sure in a week or so there will be a lot of mushrooms everywhere.

 

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Ok going back to the original question, you can smoke them. Build a basic setup out of what is available in the forest (lots of YouTube tutorials etc) or I suppose you could buy a smoker. In my opinion the labor of this totally makes sense if you have a lot. 
 

I’ve also stored mushrooms in vinegar but always with at least a quick boil in water first if not longer depending on what I’m working with (honey mushrooms I’d boil longer) There are recipes for this kind of thing around. 
 

I have totally dehydrated mushrooms in paper bags in my car, just checking on them a lot/rotating things around. Paper bags can do wonders for wicking moisture out. 

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Ttzop: thanks for your comments.

I smoke mushrooms by placing them on a grill over a campfire and as I said before, it works great... unless it's raining and I can't have a campfire! Unfortunately, I have a small car and don't want to bring any other contraptions and spend too much time preserving mushrooms on-site.  

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