New Morel Mushroom market

I see some retail outlets are selling dehydrated Morel Mushrooms for $413.00 a pound currently. I will make some more time next spring to visit some of my good spots. It looks like a strong market ahead.

Do they taste the same? $400 a pound, wonder how many pounds of fresh that is

Shiitake mushrooms are in alot of country stores around here, and the Amish that sell have them too.
I never heard of them before so I looked them up and Turns out they are good for your immune system, so I'm guessing covid is the reason they are popular now.

As dry as we are going into winter i am not expecting much of a morel season next spring

I have dried hundreds by hanging individually on a string in my basement like castor. Then once dry I place them in containers to keep them until use. They taste great once rehydrated for cooking.

My mom, aunt and grandmother would string bushels of papinki mushrooms but hung them in the attic. Good memories.

We slice puffballs, dry them, then powder the slices. Keep the powder stored in mason jars. Quick way to add mushroom flavor to any recipe.

How thin do you slice the puffballs?

Do you use a dehydrator, air dry or something else?

Keith

Maybe half inch. We lay them on wire racks in the spare kitchen and put a fan on them for a couple days. Flip them every 12 hours or so. We also cut the "skin" off them, it can be pretty tough when dry.

If you only have a few to dry , place them in your frost free refrigerator on a rack so air flows around them.
I didn't have enough for a batch to cook , so put them in the refrigerator , and forgot about them.
They dried rock hard and break up for soups , soak them in water for frying.
I've dried many of them that way.

Sheephead, Chicken Mushrooms and Chantrels I slice, bag and vacuum seal and date. Those that dry more then others when in the freezer reconstitute very easily when cooking.

Michigan State University had a video a few years back of a farm in the northern lower , that grew them year around. I lost that video when my computer crashed , and can't find it now. Did find an interesting one though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3E78Q20RlE

Thanks. I'll try this.

Keith

The dry will make it way better if you get the right rain in the right time this spring, stressed out trees will put off a lot of morels come spring.