Storing Morel Mushrooms

Chefs and food consumers the world over love mushrooms. Coming from the kingdom known as Fungi, these delicacies enhance various meals. One specific type favored for such purposes is called the morel mushroom. Learn about these edible products and how storing morel mushrooms properly ensures their freshness and safety for extended periods.

Facts About Morel Mushrooms

Scientifically, this fungus is in the genus Morchella. It has many interesting common names including “dry land fish”, “molly moocher”, “sponge mushroom” and many others. Though they grow throughout the world, but morel mushrooms seem to best thrive in the northern hemisphere. The fungi typically sprout during the spring following measurable amounts of rainfall.

Foraging professionals stress the importance of understanding that other mushrooms known as false morels also exist. If consumed, some of these mushrooms carry the potential to cause serious illness and possibly even death in aging individuals or persons with underlying health concerns.

Many people forage for morel mushrooms. Therefore, knowing the difference between morels and their similar looking counterparts bears major importance. Typically, false morels like sac fungi display key differences such as caps that bulge outwards instead of inwards. Furthermore, the caps of false morels are chambered and not hollow like actual morel mushrooms. These, among many other attributes are ways to help you identify the differences, but never consume without an expert overseeing your ID.

Why Morels Are Popular?

Many chefs consider morels among the tastiest mushrooms commonly used for cooking purposes. They produce a unique flavor known to spice up a variety of dishes, as well as commonly prepared meals. Additionally, they are found abundantly in some areas of nature and are available for purchase at favored destinations like farmers’ markets. Unfortunately, not all supermarket chains sell the products.

Purchasing Morels

When purchasing morels, cooking professionals urge shoppers to make sure the mushrooms they buy possess a moist texture but not be soaking wet, feel soft, do not demonstrate any signs of shriveling, and give off a woodsy aroma.

Cleaning Morel Mushrooms

Before storing morels, they must receive a cleaning. The morel’s unique shape and texture make it harder to clean than other mushrooms. Therefore, morels usually contain a greater amount of dirt than many other mushrooms. Hopefully the picker did a good job of scrapping off the dirt when they found them. If not, a good brush can be helpful. You can also shake some of the dirt off, but don’t do it in a bag as some sources may say, this will only make things much worse. Some other online sources also mention washing or soaking your morels. Only do this as a last resort and only right before cooking them as getting them wet will make them spoil much quicker. And if you do get them wet, try and wick some moisture away from them quickly with fresh and clean paper towels.

Storing Morels

To ensure freshness and safety, shoppers must follow proper storage techniques. The three most commonly used storage methods include:

Refrigeration

Prior to placing morels into a refrigerator, put them inside a large container with a fair amount of space between each one. Doing so gives the mushrooms room to breathe, which enables them to remain fresher for longer periods. Morels stored in the fridge typically keep for up to one week. A barely damp paper towel can help keep them from shriveling up and losing weight in the fridge.

Duxelles

You can chop up your morels into little pieces, give them a sauté and then freeze them. If you freeze them raw and whole, they will turn to mush when you thaw them. Some people will fill an ice cube tray full of mushrooms to freeze them for easy separation later.

Dehydration

This is the most common way to store your morels for the long term. If you have a dehydrator, put your mushrooms on the racks with a little bit of space in between them. Set it somewhere between 110-125 for 5-10 hours depending on size and moisture content. It’s better to go too long, than not long enough. If you slice them in half top to bottom it will speed up this process and make them easier to clean. Storing them in a big glass jar with a silica packet is preferred.

Freeze-Drying Morel Mushrooms

Place properly dried morels on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for two hours. Once the mushrooms are adequately frozen, carefully place them into a sturdy Ziploc bag. The sealed bag should then be inserted into a large protective container to guard against contact with other freezable items and returned to the freezer. Freeze-dried morels often remain at their freshest for up to several months.

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