How to dry Shrooms

I've tried a few times, each time ending up with a pile of black vomit looking stuff.

Anyone got any tips for drying?

i just leave mine laying on the table untill they get pretty dry, then i stick them in the oven at 170 with the door open for a 30 mins to get them bone dry, then to the jars.

I need to get a food dehydrator as i hear they work great but haven't yet.

The turning black is because of moisture. Just lay them out on paper towels with a *gentle* amount of air blowing on them and away from sunlight and excess humidity. A lot of people use the food dehydrators but I would avoid any heat at all because I think it can degrade the active ingredient.

If you have $22 you can buy a pre-made dessicant drying kit from midwest grow kits (this includes shipping). Or if you want to just buy the stuff yourself you could do that, but it will probably end up being about the same price probably. Here's a description....no expensive dehydrator: Here's the website. Scroll down to the very bottom of this page:

http://www.midwestgrowkits.com/grow-kits.html

Easy Mushroom Drying Kit

This kit includes everything you need to dry your mushrooms perfectly! There is no better way to prepare them for storage than to dry and preserve them the right way. Our Easy Drying kit combines two of the best desiccants we have tested for drying mushrooms. Guaranteed perfect results every time even in the most humid climates! This drying kit can be used over and over! Dry pounds!

This kit includes:

• Clear 6.5 Quart Container
• Mesh 0.5 mm separation screen
• 10 oz of Calcium Chloride Desiccant
• 4 oz of Sicilia Gel Desiccant with color changing crystals

To re-use the kit simply bake the desiccant at 250 degrees for 60 minutes in the oven and let cool briefly and they will be ready for use again!

$12

I might actually buy one of them. ^
Looks good, and mainly is easy to use.

Cheers man, + rep.

thanks. easy is what I'm always looking for!

162.5 F is the temp that psilocybin begins to oxidize at. If that helps any.

You could make a dessicator for less. Use Epsom salts baked at ~200C for an hour. Or just use a food dehydrator on low.

We used the screens from sliding glass doors in an apartment. A window screen

I used to dry mine on a small fan for a day or two then used a home made drying chamber. Crystal kitty litter is what I used for my drying agent. It's cheap and available everywhere. Plus you can reuse it over and over again just by drying it in the oven.

I like MrEDuck's idea, I actually have epsom salts lying somewhere around the house, I'll see what I can do.

But I'm still going to buy the drying kit, just to see what works best, will give you guys some feedback when it arrives.

A fan IN an insulated box with a heater on the bottom.

I had a multitray dehydrator but it was too small. and it did not have enough airflow. But if I added air flow it would get to cold.

So:
I bought a large square window fan.
I bought the largest moving box I could from UPS.
I bought a couple of wire stands from the dollar store.

I had a temp control for a seedling mat.
I had silver reflective insulating panels hanging around (what, doesn't everybody?)

I taped the reflective panels to the INSIDE of the box.
I Gorilla taped the wire stands to the back of the fan and layed it flat in the box, now with enough clearance underneath for airflow.
I placed the heating element from the dehydrator under the fan.

I controlled it with the temp control and kept it at about 110 degrees. Most of the time the heating element was off, the heat from the fan keeping the box warm.

I had a bunch of wire baskets that I bought from the dollar store. On each harvest, I'd use a bit of tape and package whatever could fit in a pair of trays and tossed it on the fan. since I was pulling multiple trays daily, I always had a bunch of baskets in there. It ran 24x7 for months.