Foraging for wild Chanterelle Mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest is a fun and exciting activity to do in the fall. Chanterelles are just one of many edible mushrooms, that can be cooked and ate fresh or dehydrated and preserved to eat later on. Today I share with you just how easy it is to dehydrate your Chanterelle mushrooms.
This was our first year going out and foraging for Chanterelle Mushrooms in our local forests here in the Pacific Northwest. It’s actually been on my homesteading bucket list of new things to learn and try for quite some time.
We were surprised just how easy it was to find these golden gems in our local area and to fry them up for tasty delicious meals for our family. Recently on our last family camping trip we came across a honey pot of Chanterelles. We debated wether cashing them in, or preserving them for our own family.
Chanterelle mushrooms make a beautiful side dish to accompany any roast dinner. I love to fry them up with butter, garlic and onions with a steak or better yet with a white wine cream sauce over homemade pasta!
There’s so much you can do with fresh and dried chanterelle mushrooms it’s crazy! You can even make ice cream with them!
I’m a bit of a harvest hoarder, so I researched recipes to eat them fresh and learned how to preserve them best.
There are two options to preserve your chanterelle mushrooms. First you can freeze them, or you can dehydrate them. I’ll show you how and why I chose to dehydrate my Chanterelle mushrooms.
HOW TO DRY CHANTERELLE MUSHROOMS
Jump to Recipe
I’ve become a recent fan of dehydrating as a way of preserving food for our family. There are many great perks to dehydrating your food.
There comes a time in the fall, when your freezer has reached full capacity. Come November, with hunting season and fishing season coming to an end and our processed meat from the farm and food from the garden and orchard, our freezer is jam packed.
Our cold room is also packed with canned preserves and we start to run out of space. As a homesteader, there really isn’t any greater feeling.
I’ve come to love dehydrating as a way of preserving space without the extra need for electricity to store it and I can store much more dehydrated food in a mason jar then if I were to can it.
There’s also added nutritional benefits to preserving food. Fibre, carbohydrates and minerals do not change during the process of dehydrating and food tastes sweeter as the natural sugars are more concentrated.
MATERIALS NEEDED FOR DEHYDRATING CHANTERELLE MUSHROOMS
Chanterelle Mushrooms
Have you foraged for chanterelle mushrooms before?
Some basics to look out for are
I highly recommend using a mushroom guide book or better yet take a mushroom course to learn safe practices for foraging and identifying wild Chanterelle Mushrooms.
Air Tight Container or Bags
I prefer mason jars, as they are air tight and help keep the dehydrated mushrooms from becoming crumbly or a powder as they would if tossed around and stored in freezer bags.
Dehydrator
The options for a dehydrator are endless. I highly suggest a drawer system with timer and heat settings like this one shown below. The options are endless as to what you can make and create in a dehydrator.
Check out what Mary T. Bell has to say in her book, Food Drying with An Attitude. You’ll find lots of inspiration for dehydrating like I have! It was a great gift that went along with my dehydrator one Christmas.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
STEP ONE: Clean the Mushrooms
Once Mushrooms have been harvested from the forest floor, they can be stored in the fridge in a waxed paper or brown paper bag until they are cleaned for up to 10 days.
Wash and get all the dirt off the mushrooms using a brush or knife. Washing the mushrooms does not take away the taste or nutritional value as some might think.
Once cleaned, they can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days. Loosely arrange the mushrooms in a bowl with cloth or paper towels and cover lightly with towels until ready to dehydrator.
STEP TWO:
Slice the Mushrooms 1/2 inch thick.
STEP THREE:
Arrange mushrooms on the dehydrator mesh sheets in a single layer with space between slices to allow proper air circulation.
STEP FOUR:
Dehydrate at 130 F. Mushrooms should take between 4-8 hours to dehydrate until they are dry and crispy.
You’ll be surprised just how small your mushrooms become. Check the mushrooms every 2 hours or so, and remove any pieces that are dry and crispy and add to a clean sterile mason jar for storage.
STEP FIVE:
Store the dehydrated mushrooms in an airtight container in a dark, cool place. Dehydrated mushrooms can be stored from 6 -12 months.
Properly storing dried mushrooms helps keep them fresh. I like to use my preserved foods within the year or until I have replaced it with the next seasons harvest.
FREQUENT QUESTIONS ABOUT CHANTERELLE MUSHROOMS
Are Chanterelle’s Good for you?
Chanterelle Mushrooms contain fibre and are a good source of vitamins B and D, as well as minerals including selenium and copper. Eating them may stimulate your immune system. Which is why seasonal eating is so awesome! These mushrooms are ready to forage and eat just before the winter cold and flu season.
Can Chanterelles Make you Sick?
There are some similar looking mushrooms that look like Chanterelles that’s why it’s important to know what you’re looking for. I’ve listed some great guides below to help you forage for Chanterelles.
What time of year do Chanterelles Grow?
Chanterelles are foraged from the forest floor end of summer, early fall. Mushrooms must have a good amount of rain in order to grow, that’s why our “wet coast” or Pacific Northwest Coast is such a great area for growth of Chanterelle mushrooms.
A few words of warning,
There are many toxic and poisonous mushrooms, so its’ best to ask around for guides or experts in your area. I highly recommend a few of these guides for learning how to forage wild edibles.
Also, mushroom pickers get lost of the woods all the time. I had a friend get lost in the woods over night when foraging with her partner and dog. Be prepared when heading out into the wilderness!
Also be prepared for wild animals. Our uncle, had a recent cougar encounter when foraging for Chanterelle mushrooms this fall.
LEARN EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT MUSHROOMS!
I was beyond excited when the Herbal Academy launched The Mushroom Course this past spring. I learned so much more about mushrooms like mushroom folklore, safe foraging practices, must-know biology, and become adept at preparing delicious wellness-promoting mushroom recipes.
ENROLL NOW!
I hope you have fun and enjoy hunting for mushrooms like kids do for easter eggs! Tell me about your findings and preserving your own Chanterelle Mushrooms below! – Diana
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P.S If you’re reading this in Spring, chances are you should be looking for Morels instead! Read the Post here. FORAGING FOR SPRING MORELS
