Dehydrating Mushrooms

[Roll_Bones]

I dehydrated some baby bella mushrooms last Friday. It took about 3 hours. I don't have a very good dehydrator and after checking the temp it was running just a little under 150°. Presto round kind with 4 trays.
I removed them when they snapped and did not bend. But after cooling on the counter they would bend.
Do they need more drying? I put them into containers and left the lids off. But I did seal them yesterday.
TIA

Oh...I sliced them pretty thin before going into the dehydrator. About an 1/8th inch.

 

[pepperhead212]

My guess is that it was fairly humid where you are, and those mushrooms absorbed some moisture. I would put them back in the dehydrator briefly, until they are brittle again, then jar them immediately.

 

[blissful]

Dehydrate them so they are brittle 10 minutes after you take them out of the dehydrator. If you are going to crush or smash or grind them they need to be very dry-brittle.
Things take longer than I ever estimate to dry completely. And know that you can't over dry them.

 

[taxlady]

Have you read about conditioning your dehydrated food? The simplified version is that you put the dehydrated food in an a jar and close the lid firmly. Next day you check for any signs of moisture, like mould or condensation. Give the jar a shake. This should even out the amount of moisture between all the pieces, to start with, some will be drier than others. If there is mould, throw it away. If there are signs of moisture, dehydrate it some more. Do this every day for a week.

 

[blissful]

For that week after dehydrating, the sound of shaking the food in the jar should sound like hard crisp food, not soft thudding. If it is not hard and crisp on day 2, put it in the dehydrator and get it drier. (I noticed my apple slices weren't as dry as I thought they were.) Like @taxlady says, check it for one week then it can be stored long term.

 

[larry_stewart]

As mentioned above, the humidity in your house plays a big role. I've had mushrooms that dried for a sufficient amount of time, but the dehydrator timer stopped the process while I was at work. When I came home ( a few hours later) although dried, they had absorbed some other moisture from the air, making them not suitable for long term storage. No big deal. Just had to dehydrate them a little more ( and make sure I was home when the timer stopped ).

Apples and tomatoes are the few things that I could never total get dried. They were always a little pliable. After the drying process of tomatoes, I just store them in a ziplock in the freezer

 

[Roll_Bones]

Dehydrate them so they are brittle 10 minutes after you take them out of the dehydrator. If you are going to crush or smash or grind them they need to be very dry-brittle.
Things take longer than I ever estimate to dry completely. And know that you can't over dry them.

Thanks. That is my main concern "over drying" them. Is it okay to dry them again as they have been in the sealed jar for at least 24 hours.

Have you read about conditioning your dehydrated food? The simplified version is that you put the dehydrated food in an a jar and close the lid firmly. Next day you check for any signs of moisture, like mould or condensation. Give the jar a shake. This should even out the amount of moisture between all the pieces, to start with, some will be drier than others. If there is mould, throw it away. If there are signs of moisture, dehydrate it some more. Do this every day for a week.

Like always I perform the task before coming here and getting the answers ahead of time. Thank you. I have not done much reading at all. I just found the mushrooms and they were beautiful and I did not want to waste any like I usually do.
Thank you.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Okay. They are back in the dehydrator set at 120°. I will check in 1 hour.

 

[Roll_Bones]

1 hour did it. They are now dry.