Dehydrating Mushrooms: Cooked them first vs Fresh

[Phong D]

Hello, I’m going to try to make beef stroganoff.  My recipe has tons of mushrooms cooked together with the beef and sauce.  I was going to throw all of this onto the dehydrator but I was wondering how to make the mushrooms turn out better.

Should I cook the mushrooms with the soup then dehydrate it all, or should I dehydrate it raw then cook it at the sight in the sauce?  Which produces better mushrooms?

[Renais A]

Beef stroganoff is one of my favorite backpacking dishes.  I’ve tried a couple different methods, all of which were reasonable.  For me, the best flavor and easiest product to prepare on the trail comes from cooking the entire dish at home, and dehydrating it.  I love the flavor of the fresh mushrooms, but I’ve also discovered that some additional dried mushrooms add significantly to the aroma and flavor.  I now use some commercial dehydrated oyster mushrooms from Mushroom House on Amazon for a real flavor enhancement.  I pulverize some of the oyster mushrooms to add to the sauce as it is cooking, and add some whole mushrooms to the home dehydrated product as I package it for the trail.  Because the mushrooms take a bit of time to rehydrate I cover the food with cold water in my pot for 15 minutes or so before heating to boiling.  With this procedure the mushrooms are soft and delectable.

On my AT thru this year I had one of these stroganoff dinners near Kinsman Notch.  You could smell the food hundreds of feet away as I ate by a pond.  Hikers passing by noticed and commented.

Renais

[David Thomas]

Isn’t this like assembling an iPhone?  i.e. something better done in China?

Just get dried mushrooms from any Asian grocery store.  Many varieties are available.  There.  You’re done.  Cold-soak a few in advance to figure out the timing but per mushroom, they’re cheaper that way than buying fresh and doing all the work yourself.  If volume is an issue, use Renais’ approach and crush / powder them before packing.

[Jon Fong]

+1 Just get dried mushrooms from any Asian grocery store

China as a culture as endured a tremndous amount of flooding, famine, droughts whatever.  Preserving food has evolved over centuries.  Go to a number of Asian markets and you will find a plethora of food that has been preserved and ready for backbaking cooks.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

If you dehydrating the meal, finely chop the mushrooms and cook as normal, then dry. That’s all you need to do.

[Dave Heiss]

Hi Phong,

I would be interested in your beef stroganoff recipe, if you’re willing to post it.

[Steve Cockburn]

Me too. A good recipe never goes astray !!

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

If the mushrooms are IN a recipe, cook first. If drying them to use in recipes, dry raw. But most of all, no matter what – dice up your mushrooms and meat when drying, for much better rehydration.

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