SHROOOOOOMS!!!

[wawhitey]

I have a small morel patch growing right outside my house under my fruit trees!!! Too busy with bear season to get all iron chef on them, so i was wondering, aside from sauteeing and freezing, do any of you guys have any wisdom on preserving them, such as drying methods? Man im stoked!

[Ben Nicholson]

I have two ways I save ours. One is to cut them in half (lengthwise), sting them up with fishing line, and hang them in the sun all day. They'll be dehydrated perfectly. Then toss them in a paper sack and put them in the fridge. If you use this method, don't wash the shrooms first.

The second method I use is to again slice the shrooms in half. With this method you do wash them. Wash them and give them a quick soak. Next, put some wax paper on a cookie sheet. Lay the shrooms on the wax paper and put in the freezer for about 30 mins. This will flash freeze them. Take them off the paper and put in a freezer bag and right back into the freezer.

Both ways work great. I like the flash freeze for the ones I'll fry later and the dehydrated method for ones I'll use for soups, stews, etc...

Good luck! I'm jealous, they aren't out in Eastern Iowa yet, but they will be soon!

-Ben

[Lefty]

My dad used both of Bens methods

[wawhitey]

I have two ways I save ours. One is to cut them in half (lengthwise), sting them up with fishing line, and hang them in the sun all day. They'll be dehydrated perfectly. Then toss them in a paper sack and put them in the fridge. If you use this method, don't wash the shrooms first.

The second method I use is to again slice the shrooms in half. With this method you do wash them. Wash them and give them a quick soak. Next, put some wax paper on a cookie sheet. Lay the shrooms on the wax paper and put in the freezer for about 30 mins. This will flash freeze them. Take them off the paper and put in a freezer bag and right back into the freezer.

Both ways work great. I like the flash freeze for the ones I'll fry later and the dehydrated method for ones I'll use for soups, stews, etc...

Good luck! I'm jealous, they aren't out in Eastern Iowa yet, but they will be soon!

-Ben

Went ahead and did the freezer method. Amazing they were rock hard in a half hour. Thanks. Went out and watered a bit where the patch was, hoping i get another good fruiting.

[Lefty]

When I was in Minnesota my yard was constantly growing inky caps, I fried and grilled a lot of them,.. When fresh they were way bettern than what was available in stores