Finally I was able to gather some mushrooms this year. In the midst of our first frosts, a friend who was going out of town gave me the heads up as to where some oysters were growing. So Intimidating Minnow and I set out for a day in the woods with a basket.
After picking oysters, I went home to unload the booty, an amount to cover the bottoms of both my crisper drawers in the fridge. From there I messaged Pacer Tailbone and asked if she'd like to join us on the next round of woods, which she did. A few more miles of hiking gave her a bag of oysters and myself a nice sampling of wood ears.
I dehydrated my mushrooms for cabinet storage in jars. The wood ears don't take much time at all, so I took those out soon and let them get back to room temp for a couple more hours in a bowl. The oysters are fleshier and have more moisture, so they take longer.
I got a text from Pacer Tailbone, "I have worms. Do you?" I looked through all my oysters and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I replied that maybe it was just one of her oysters that had worms - mine came from different woods. But a few minutes later, as I was peering through the clear dehydrator lid, I saw movement. I messaged her back, "I have worms. I think the heat is bringing them out."
So here's the deal. Worms are out there. What am I going to do, go to the grocery store for mushrooms? Ha! I don't think so. There are worms in apples, worms in nuts, worms in elderberries, worms everywhere. Throughout this process of preservation I have seen so many worms that I'm not put off by them too much. They are a sign of organic food to me now. You cut around them, pick them out. The issue with these oyster mushroom worms were that they were so dang small. Their bodies were the exact color of the mushroom, and the only sign of the worm was a tiny black speck of a head smaller than a grain of sand. I'd periodically check the dyhdrator trays for movement, pull a slice of oyster out, rinse in the sink, and search the trays again later.
The next day I saw Pacer Tailbone and we both expressed how much we liked the flavors of the mushrooms that we each cooked in butter while dehydrating the rest (eating them just before the worm discovery). Then she passed me a quart of dehydrated mushrooms and said, "I can't eat these. I'm sorry." We laughed about this and I accepted the oysters. There were no visible worms in them by this point, and if any were missed they just got obliterated by the dehydrator. But sometimes just knowing what was in the begining of your finished product overrides the interest in eating it later. Pacer Tailbone said, "I could eat them if I had to. But I don't have to. You're the one doing the challenge."
I have two quarts of dried oysters and 1 pint of dried wood ears. Likely these will go into soups later.
Image credit: Cale Ruiz
After picking oysters, I went home to unload the booty, an amount to cover the bottoms of both my crisper drawers in the fridge. From there I messaged Pacer Tailbone and asked if she'd like to join us on the next round of woods, which she did. A few more miles of hiking gave her a bag of oysters and myself a nice sampling of wood ears.
I dehydrated my mushrooms for cabinet storage in jars. The wood ears don't take much time at all, so I took those out soon and let them get back to room temp for a couple more hours in a bowl. The oysters are fleshier and have more moisture, so they take longer.
I got a text from Pacer Tailbone, "I have worms. Do you?" I looked through all my oysters and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I replied that maybe it was just one of her oysters that had worms - mine came from different woods. But a few minutes later, as I was peering through the clear dehydrator lid, I saw movement. I messaged her back, "I have worms. I think the heat is bringing them out."
So here's the deal. Worms are out there. What am I going to do, go to the grocery store for mushrooms? Ha! I don't think so. There are worms in apples, worms in nuts, worms in elderberries, worms everywhere. Throughout this process of preservation I have seen so many worms that I'm not put off by them too much. They are a sign of organic food to me now. You cut around them, pick them out. The issue with these oyster mushroom worms were that they were so dang small. Their bodies were the exact color of the mushroom, and the only sign of the worm was a tiny black speck of a head smaller than a grain of sand. I'd periodically check the dyhdrator trays for movement, pull a slice of oyster out, rinse in the sink, and search the trays again later.
The next day I saw Pacer Tailbone and we both expressed how much we liked the flavors of the mushrooms that we each cooked in butter while dehydrating the rest (eating them just before the worm discovery). Then she passed me a quart of dehydrated mushrooms and said, "I can't eat these. I'm sorry." We laughed about this and I accepted the oysters. There were no visible worms in them by this point, and if any were missed they just got obliterated by the dehydrator. But sometimes just knowing what was in the begining of your finished product overrides the interest in eating it later. Pacer Tailbone said, "I could eat them if I had to. But I don't have to. You're the one doing the challenge."
I have two quarts of dried oysters and 1 pint of dried wood ears. Likely these will go into soups later.
Image credit: Cale Ruiz