# how to process on a 3 or 4 day shroom hunt??



## Sr.Blood (Mar 1, 2008)

Last year was a banner for me, went in the northern lower for a 4 day weekend, and got so many i didnt know what to do with them.
First day we got like 200, next day about he same. NIce problem to have.
My thought on precessing was to rinse / soak them, like if you were to eat them the next day. The next day i would do a final rinse, strain, and bag in 1 quart bags, still wet.
By the time we got home, i opened the first batch up to dry or freeze and noticed an off odor.
What is the best way to process when on a long trip like that??

Thanks for any input!
Won't be long, with these 70 deg days and 50 deg. nites.

Mike


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## Boardman Brookies (Dec 20, 2007)

This is how I do it. When I go camping and am out picking for a long weekend I process everything at the end of the day. I do not wash the morels. I slice them length wise then place them on an old metal screen from a large window. Every few hours I will flip them over as they will start to stick. I prefer to air dry all the morels I do not eat right away. I put the finished product in a large paper grocery sack until I get home then use my food saver and make individual bags.


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## Oldgrandman (Nov 16, 2004)

This is how I do it and hope this makes sense...

If you can keep them cool and in a paper bag and don't put too many in one big bag, they will stay pretty fresh. About 1/3 full at the most in a grocery sack and lightly rolling them around every so often so they do not stick to the bag. The paper will draw out the moisture especially if too warm. I have been successful up to 3 days. 

Usually I keep them in a bunch of smaller heavy paper bags if I am gone for that long. Do not keep them in a vehicle without being in a cooler or in the direct sun for very long. Don't let them get wet. At 200 a day this would be pretty easy to manage.


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## Sr.Blood (Mar 1, 2008)

Just what i was looking for, thanks.
Now, where are them shroomzz???:corkysm55:corkysm55


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## Scottygvsu (Apr 19, 2003)

What i do is cook em, put them in a vacuum bag, juices and all, then freeze them until the juices get solid. Then hit em with the vac sealer. An old timer taught me that trick. It makes for more room since the shrooms shrink so much when cooked, and keeping them in the juices seems to preserve the flavor.


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## aimus1 (Feb 28, 2011)

Boardman Brookies said:


> This is how I do it. When I go camping and am out picking for a long weekend I process everything at the end of the day. I do not wash the morels. I slice them length wise then place the m on an old metal screen from a large window. Every few hours I will flip them over as they will start to stick. I prefer to air dry all the morels I do not eat right away. I put the finished product in a large paper grocery sack until I get home then use my food saver and make individual bags.


Screens work well but if im camping and planning on drying what I don't eat at camp I'll do the ol needle and fishin line thing. Just thread some mono through the eye of a needle. Then stick the needle through the shrooms and thread them down the line leaving a little space between. hang where they'll stay cool and dry. Kinda like the buck poles you see at deer camps. but we call ours the shroom pole. Lines of grays, whites and blacks for visitors to envy. When you get home you can simply strip them off the line and into the dehydrator to finish. Works good and looks really cool at camp. Take a picture of the camp shroom pole and campers from season to season with the dates you camp. Keep in an album with your shroom journal or calendars. Makes for good campfire stories and memories of those banner years and spots. Week and a half till shroom camp and I cant wait. I've got a pound in the haul log and its not even April yet.


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## dleppek2 (Sep 4, 2008)

I found that freezing on a sheet pan work great. Then bag them and had them last for 8 months. And enjoy them as fresh ones.


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## PerchPuller (Jan 4, 2011)

With fresh morels I would cut them lingth wise and put them in a big bowl of water (stay with me on this) to get the slugs out for an hour or so. Shake them around to get the spores off of them. Next i would put them on paper towel or dish cloth. They will dry out. Just keep turning them every hour. They will dry good. OH, TAKE THE WATER IN THE BOWL AND THROW IT IN THE SAME PLACE FOR 5 YEARS!!!!


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