How to create a mushroom dryer

Before continuing, you should know that I did not come up with this idea. I am simply showing the process it took me to create my own. I'm the one who typed all of these instructions out.

I hope you enjoy reading this, and I did my best to make it easy on the eyes and super easy to understand!

1. 2 identical mini storage tubs with lids
2. Sharp knife
3. Ice pick
4. Silicone sealant
5. Desiccant

Take your tubs, decide which tub will be on the bottom and hold the desiccant, and then the other will be on the top. Take the tub that is going to be on the bottom and remove the lid. You will need to use the sharp knife to cut the inside of the lid out, and just leave the rim so it can still clip on to the tub. Look at the picture below if you do not understand what I mean.


Now that that is done, you can set that aside for now. Take the tub that is going to be the top tub and start making holes in the bottom of it. If you only use the icepick, that is almost guaranteed your tub will crack. You need to use the sharp knife and ream a hole out, then use the icepick to stretch the hole to a decent size. Again, look at the picture to get a better understanding if you're stumped. Notice where I tried the ice pick? Yeah, dont do that.


This step is where that silicone comes in handy. Using the silicone, put a solid line all around the rim of the lid you cut the center out of. Then push the bottom of the top tub (the one you poked holes in) onto it to seal it together. You will definitely need to let it all dry and cure before using it to dry anything.


Congratulations, you just successfuly constructed a mushroom dryer! All you need to do to put it in effect is to put the desiccant in the bottom tub, snap the top tub with the holes in it, and put the mushrooms inside the tub. Remember to close the top lid also. Using this method, you are able to achieve cracker dry mushrooms, unlike putting them on a piece of newspaper under a fan.

Here is a picture of the finished product.
Q: What is a desiccant?
A: A desiccant is a substance used to remove the moisture from anything. You can usually find these at Home depot, Lowe's, or even Wal-Mart. One main brand desiccant is damp-rid. Desiccant's are relatively cheap, and they are re-usable! Here is a link to the wal-mart website for damp-rid. http://www.walmart.com/ip/FG30K-DampRid-Refill-42-oz./15033111

Q: How do I use/re-use a desiccant?
A: A desiccant might not always come usable. If yours comes unusable, you will need to bake it in the oven. Pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Set a timer for 15-20 minutes and they should be ready to use when done! You do this same thing when you want to re-use desiccant.

couldnt you just use a dehydrater??

Yes, but this is constructing your own cheap mushroom dryer and has no relevance here.

hilarious.^

I'm definitely gonna do this

What's the price on some desiccant?

Shouldn't be more than $10 at wal-mart. But at Home Depot/Lowe's you could find some for $4-5.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/FG30K-DampRid-Refill-42-oz./15033111

That should be enough right? I like this idea After you dry them can you keep them in mason jars?

Yes that stuff is perfect. Even cheaper then what I thought
I don't see why not. Doing this method removes most if not all moisture from the mushrooms.
Think of it like weed, you can leave that in a mason jar for a relatively long time and it's still good.

The desiccant stuff, is the same stuff inside almost everything you buy, and in beef jerky too.
Its the little pouch of stuff that says DO NOT EAT on the side

is that the shit that comes in brand new shoes in that little pack that says dont eat lol??

Exactly dwcannon!
I guess you could save up hundreds of those packets and use those

oh well i could just go to walmart and pull out shit loads of them out of the shoe boxes and not have to buy nothin!

There are plenty of ways to do it.
You could go into wal-mart with a zip-lock baggie and just open the package (its wal-mart) and dump some in and leave.
Or do as you said.
Or you could always just shell out the $4 and buy a fatty bag of it.

lmao well if your a cheap bastard like me just steal some

So does the DampRid come ready? Or do I have to bake it?

Damprid should come ready, because that's kinda the main purpose of it if you ask me.
The only reason it should come unusable is if they fucked up on their part.

So you should be good!

I'm definitely gonna do this method until I get my dehydrator, seems fool proof

This is all nice.

But.

Get yourself a framed window screen - any size and you can buy colapsable ones at Walmart.
Now quick, buy yourself a box fan - quick because Walmart doesn't sell box fans in the winter.

Prop the box fan up so it is a few inches off the floor, or a table, put the screen over the box fan, turn the fan on high, dump your mushrooms on the screen and wait two days. If they don't quite have that cracker dryness you want, put them in your oven on warm for an hour.

It works, it works well, it is cheap and it will work for lots of mushrooms if you want.

how do we keep the shrooms from blowin off the screen??

Yeah there are plenty of ways to dry you shrooms.
I enjoy diying anything and everything though

Maybe get two 10 qt tubs, and do the same thing I did, except put a window screen in the middle and wire up some 180mm PC fans to get good ventilation.
The reason I do this though is so that you can do it stealthily, and basically anywhere, closet, drawer, in an airplane. Wait, what?

(flight attendant) sit what are you doin are those shrooms?? five mintes later OMG we are crashing (everyone freaks out) lol