Magic mushrooms, like all organic plant matter, have a pretty short use by date. Once harvested, you only have a few days before they attract bacteria and mold.
If you have more than you can use, or you just don’t fancy tripping right now, you can dry them.
Drying mushrooms is relatively easy and it’ll keep those shrooms valid for weeks and even months.
How Do You Dry Fresh Mushrooms At Home?
To dry magic mushrooms at home, simply place them on a towel or a piece of tissue or cardboard. Place the mushrooms down individually and make sure they are adequately spaced, with a couple of inches between each mushroom.
Place the mushrooms out of direct sunlight in a cool and dry place, and then leave them. Large walk-in closets are best for this, but you can also place them in pantries, kitchens, and anywhere else that’s dry and cool.
That’s really all that you need, but if you can’t find a suitable location, use a fan instead. Just place the mushrooms in a well-ventilated area and set the fan down next to them.
The fan will circulate the air and steadily dry them out.
Check the mushrooms after a few hours. You’re waiting for the point at which they become rubbery. You may also need to change or turn the cardboard/towel if it has soaked up a lot of moisture.
How Long Does it Take to Air Dry Mushrooms?
It should take a few hours for your magic mushrooms to dry if you’re using the aforementioned air drying process. But it’s not perfect.
In fact, if you live in a very humid environment, the method might not work at all.
If you’re confident that the environment is dry enough for this method to work, check on them after a few hours, make sure they are getting drier, and then leave them for another day or two.
The drier the better. You want them to reach a point where they snap when you bend them.
What is the Best Way of Drying Magic Mushrooms?
If you want to dry your magic mushrooms quickly or live in a very humid environment, you should consider investing in a dehydrator. It might sound like overkill, especially if you don’t have many mushrooms to dry, but there are some very reasonably priced dehydrators on Amazon these days.
Simply place your magic mushrooms in the trays, set the temperature low, and then dry for around 6 or 7 hours.
This method works best if your mushrooms have been air-dried for a few hours beforehand.
How Do You Dry Mushrooms Without A Dehydrator?
If you don’t have a dehydrator and you live in a humid environment, there are still a couple of other options.
The first is to use an oven. But before we go any further, it’s worth noting that this is not the best way to dry your mushrooms and it should only be used as a last resort. Ovens rarely go low enough to dry and so you may end up cooking them and reducing their potency.
The trick is to keep the temperature very low, preferably around 130 F. You don’t want to cook the mushrooms, nor do you want to damage the psilocybin.
Place the mushrooms on a baking tray, space them out, and then check on them every hour or so, turning them over and patting them dry to ensure that they are properly dried.
If your oven doesn’t go as low as 130 F, you can try drying them at 140 F. In such cases, it’s best to prop open the oven door and let some of that heat escape.
The other method for drying mushrooms is to use a desiccant, which is a substance that draws water from the atmosphere.
Silica gel is a great example of a desiccant, and it’s one you will have seen in countless food and non-food products.
We tend to treat silica gel with extreme caution, likely due to the “do not eat” words emblazoned on the front of the packets. But those warnings are there to remind you that silica gel is not food, and not because they are a potent poison.
You still shouldn’t be going around eating silica gel packets, but they’re not as dangerous as you might think.
To dry shrooms with silica gel, line a box with paper towels, add lots of silica gel, place some more paper towels on top, and then add your mushrooms. Close the box and then wait for a couple of days.
The silica gel will likely change color as it absorbs water from the mushrooms. The mushrooms themselves should be dry and ready to be stored away.
How Do You Dry Mushrooms For Later Use?
You can use all of the methods above to dry mushrooms for later use.
Ideally, you want your mushrooms to be cracker dry, which means they break like cookies/crackers and don’t bend like rubber.
Once dried, you can store magic mushrooms in an airtight container and keep them for several weeks.
There’s no fixed expiration date, as it all depends on how well the drying process went. Check them thoroughly before you use them and look out for signs of mold and bacteria, including soft spots, white/black spots, and a sickly sweet smell.
If you notice any such issues, get rid of the entire batch. Consuming infected magic mushrooms is not the same as accidentally eating a slice of bread that has a spot of mold. It could make you very sick and is just not worth the risk.
Summary: Creating Your Own Dried Mushrooms
Needless to say, the drying process is all about removing as much moisture as you can. Bacteria thrive in warm and moist environments, so if you can remove that water and keep the shrooms in a cold and dry place, you’ll greatly prolong their shelf life.
You can dry magic mushrooms at home using some basic pieces of equipment and a few simple steps. If you have a dehydrator, great, as it will do most of the work for you. If not, just grab a fan, place them on a piece of cardboard or cloth, and wait.