Dehydrated Mushrooms and Mushroom Powder

Dehydrating foods for storage can help immensely in stocking the pantry.  A larger amount of food can be stored dried than in other forms and properly dried foods have a long shelf life.  I honestly don't do as much dehydrating as I should.  We were getting low on dried mushrooms and mushroom powder so I decided to use some of my recent mushroom to replenish my supplies

Mushrooms are very easy to dry using a dehydrator with temperature control.  I dehydrated two batches (total of 12 trays) of sliced mushrooms, some to be used for mushroom powder.  This was about four pounds of mushrooms.  I am currently using a Nesco dehydrator expanded to six trays.  The mushrooms were simply brushed off, ends trimmed then sliced thinly.  There is no need to treat them to prevent darkening when dehydrating.  I placed the slices evenly on the ungreased dehydrator trays then dry at 130°F/54°C until the mushrooms are leathery feeling.  Once the mushrooms where dried, I vacuum sealed them for pantry storage.

Dried mushrooms are the perfect addition for soups, stews and casseroles.  The two 500 ml (pint) jars of mushrooms will be enough to use in several dishes.  Mushroom powder is a must have in our home.  It is even more versatile than dried or fresh mushrooms.  A little adds a lot of flavour!
 
Dried foods are susceptible to moisture, insect infestation and rodents.  The easiest way to protect dried foods from this type of damage is to vacuum seal in glass containers.  I used my Foodsaver vacuum sealer with the jar attachment to seal the dried mushrooms and mushroom powder.  This is a perfect way to reuse the metal snap lids that can only be used once for canning.