Just picked morels? How to preserve....

Just picked morels? Saving them for later?
What's for the best way to preserve?

Here's some advice gleaned from the experts:

Frank (michiganmorels.com)states: “Morels have a high moisture content and need to either be kept cool and moist or allowed to begin the drying process right away.”

Jason Edge (morelmasters.com) recommends taking ice-filled coolers in your vehicle, placing a few sheets of cardboard over the ice, then placing your mesh bags filled with morels on top of the cardboard—leaving the lid slightly open to allow air circulation. He says, “Never place morels in a trunk of a car unless you are less than five minutes from home. This is like putting ice cream in the sun!”

The late Larry Lonik suggests simply leaving store-bought ice in its bags to reduce moisture.

Once you arrive home, the morels should be sliced in half lengthwise, thoroughly rinsed in cool water (do not scrub), drained on a paper towel, then cooked or placed in the refrigerator. (Do not wash them if you’re going to preserve them by drying.) A few Roons recommend soaking morels in cold salt water for 30 minutes; however, most recommend simply rinsing. Nancy Smith Weber (author of A Morel Hunter's Companion) notes that there is little advantage to soaking, as it compromises flavor and increases cooking time. Salt may also slightly dehydrate the mushrooms.

If you’ve managed to not engage in gluttony and have some morels left over, they can be stored in the refrigerator. Jason reports that he has kept them in the fridge to two weeks, kept continually moist with a dampened paper towel. Carl and Marge Robinson (Carl is Mushroom King of Mesick) keep their morels in the refrigerator in a two-quart jar, and change the water every day. “They’ll keep for a coon’s age,” reports Carl— about a week, interprets Marge. Nancy reports that she has kept them for up to a week, but doesn’t recommend more than three to four days. If you don’t have time to clean them, store them in a paper bag in the refrigerator— remember, a plastic bag speeds up the rotting process.

Be sure to throw out any mushrooms whose identity you’re not 100 percent sure of and any showing decay; as with any other food, rotting mushrooms can make you ill. And Nancy points out, “Just as with other fruits and vegetables, bacteria on a spoiled specimen can spread in a few hours or overnight and contaminate an entire batch.”


---adapted from the Finding Morels eBook (www.morelmushroom.info/finding_morels.html)