I just got a windfall of Montana Morel Mushrooms but need suggestions as to how I can preserve them in some capacity for the next week or so without drying them. I am thinking of doing a ravioli, some tempura, and possibly a weekend Wellington but will need to keep them in the meantime.
Suggested ways of preserving your morels mushrooms - from dehydrating morels to freezing you'll find all kinds of techniques to preserve morels for later consumption.
Not to throw a wrench into the mix, but, what’s wrong with drying them. In my limited knowledge of mushrooms, the cool thing is drying them & then bringing them back by hydration. We have a mushroom farm close to us & I do it all the time with the Bellas. Granted, maybe I’m talkin through my hat & morels is a different animal. I also do it with shiitakes.
I sun dried what was left from a 5# score some years back and they didn't dry all the way. 6 weeks later it looked like Santa's beard in a ziplock. Maybe I should dry them on the pellet grill...
Yea drying is about the only thing that comes to my mind, can't freeze them. But I do like the idea of making a batch of beef Wellington, in fact that's been on my short list lately, got a nice tenderloin in the queue.
Buying fresh mushrooms in bulk and preserving them yourself is a cost-effective way to ensure you have wild mushrooms in your pantry all year long. ... Read More
according to this you can freeze and vacuum seal.
for shorter storage i imagine the old bread brown sugar trick would work. If you put a slice of bread in a ziplock with brown sugar it absorbs the excess moisture and stops the sugar clumping. I would imagine bread in a brown paper bag with the mushrooms and in the fridge could have similar results. Absorb the moisture so they dont get mushy.
Now that is just the op of what I was taught and do. We always added a couple of drops of moisture to brown sugar to keep it from clumping. Ma always said the clumping was from drying out. I learned something else today. Thanks
John "JR"
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You can store them in a lightly closed paper bag, in the fridge. Don't store them in a plastic bag, they will rot for sure.
I made up some fresh ones last night, with ghee butter. Threw it on a sliced piece of Tri-Tip and rolled them all up together with a little kosher salt. (Obviously no utensils were involved) Holy Sh*t that was beyond delicious!
They can be kept in the fridge for a few days if kept humid but not wet, but they do deteriorate fast. Grantgallagher and Spinaker have good suggestions for that.
If you do dry them, I suggest you do this outside the house. Some people can get headaches from the chemicals that evaporate from some foods during drying. Mushrooms are high on the list of foods that can do this.
Guys around here will slowly saute morels in butter to remove a lot of the water and then freeze them for later use.
Drying is the gold standard for all mushrooms. I had a buddy who froze some once. They were ok, but slimy and limp. You could cook with them (stews and such). Not sure how they'd have been fried.
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Can't say I've tried it myself, but if you google "how to preserve fresh morels", you'll get a bunch of hits describing ways that others have preserved them.
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I’m no help on preserving.... but Wellington! That would be amazing with fresh mushrooms like that!
And if you have time, I highly recommend making your own pastry. It’s fun to do if you haven’t made it before. A bit of a process but isn’t that what we like here!
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