How long do morels last

Select and wash the mushrooms. Select only morels that are worst off, if you have beautiful fresh morels keep them in the fridge, they should last until you need them. Trim stems and discoloured parts. Soak in cold water for 10 minutes to remove dirt. Wash in clean water. Cut up larger mushrooms. Leave small mushrooms whole; cut large ones so that they fit in the can better. Cook for 5 minutes. Cover with water in a saucepan and boil 5 minutes.

This makes the mushrooms soften and allows any trapped air within the mushroom to escape reducing the spoilage potential. Fill the jars or cans. Fill the jars with hot mushrooms, leaving 2-inch headspace.

Add salt and Vitamin C. This is added to lower the pH making it more acidic to kill any bacteria, reducing spoilage and add taste to the finished product. Alternatively, you can avoid adding vitamin C, however, you will need to perform further sterilization techniques such as pressure cooking. Top with hot water.

Leave at least 1 inch of headspace. Seal the jar or can. At this point, you can further boil the jars to ensure sterility but if you have followed the procedure above you should be fine. Store the cans in a dark temperature-controlled environment for up to 5 years. How to freeze dry morels The Great Morel has never attempted a study of its own and therefore, it can only gather data from other sources — of which many can be found on the Info and Links page.

Why so? Maybe knowing will erase some of the mystery that surrounds this spring pastime. If you are still really curious, click on over to the Growth Cycle page for more on this subject.

Also, as mentioned earlier…read the blog post on the Life of The Great Morel which will offer additional insight. Now The Great Morel can back this with more than a theory. Thus placing small sticks beside them, and monitored them over a three-day period. The results at the end of the three-day period were as follows. One of three grew a total of one half inch. A second one grew just under a half inch and the last one showed growth that was almost immeasurable. So with this scientific study in hand — yes they do grow.

In closing, unless you are certain no one else will pick your crop, pick and bag them! Click here to see images of The Life of a Morel that were taken by Mike Wolfe, a well renowned shroomer from north central Indiana.

Mike took these images of a small grey morel over a 6 day period and once again is proof that depending on when you first spot the morel, they do in fact grow. Also check out the for advice and studies others visitors to The Great Morel have sent in.

Not much! A bag to carry your prize out of the woods, a decent hiking stick and you are on your way! There is debate among shroomers on what type of bag or sack one should carry. It seems the most highly recommended is an onion bag of some kind or a mesh bag. For several reasons, one being it allows your morels to breath thus keeping them fresh and lets some of the little critters fall out.

Some believe this also allows the spores to disperse out of the sack and replenish the woods just a theory as far as The Great Morel knows. Plastic bags are not highly recommended. If you are harvesting them by the pounds, you may want to think of keeping a bushel basket in the car! For other suggestions on equipment see equipment list on the Humor page. You can usually round up most of what you need from the closet, yet if you are looking to sport the latest in fashionable morel gear to impress all your shrooming friends, then check out the The Great Morel Store.

It is also suggested by many to protect yourself against ticks. Visit the Into the Woods page and see the detailed sections on ticks and poison ivy. There are many who believe you should use a mesh or onion bag to help in the distribution of the spores back to the forest floor.

The Great Morel knows of no pure scientific data to support this. However, Gregg Kathol a renowned and legendary shoomer in his neck of the woods did some research and reported the following:. I guess the spores can be compared to pollen. It takes hours for the spores to fall to the ground, so with even a slight breeze they can be blown miles away. I also learned that by the time a person picks them they have lost most of their spores anyways. Same thing for the roots being picked.

I learned this is a story because the growth of the shroom is a one time process. The Great Morel would find it hard to disclaim such research, so it is left to the shoomer. Most mushrooms need a temp of degrees F but with morels it is believed it is degrees due to them coming out in early spring. If you are looking for a great mesh bag — check out The Great Morel Store and order yourself one. You will typically find the morel begin to darken along the stems as well as the cap as it ages.

The amount of discoloration is a good indication as to if the morel is on the down side or not. Slight decay and discoloration is by no means reason to feel failure in your timing as a shoomer. Again, depends on how far along this decaying process is. It is not all uncommon for the tips of the caps to be missing either.

It is usually the weakest part of the morel as it stands in the sun or begs for rain or your morel is crying because it has been bitten by a cold night frost. So do not be alarmed if it has sprung a leak in the top of the cap. If the rest of the morel looks fresh and healthy, then pick it and trim the bad stuff off later.

Many morel hunters will use a 50 percent factor…. With the cooperative weather conditions the morel can survive for up to two 2 weeks before the natural decay process is likely to set in and begin to take place. Again, the weather has so much do with the life cycle and most morel hunters will agree it is by far the most important factor.

Many believe you should pinch the morel right at ground level. Of course one could use a knife or a chain saw depending on how big, but a simple pinch and twist will usually do. There are several reasons for this. One it helps keep dirt that is on the root from making a mess of the rest of the morels in your bag.

The other reason which again is another theory, but it is believed that by leaving the root you are assuring that the patch will reproduce next season. This often asked question will depend on how long you plan on waiting until preparation and how many are destined to be prepared. Some may suggest soaking in salt water to kill off any critters, but not always necessary.

Once rinsed it is suggested you place your morels in a large bowl or bowls and cover either with a damp paper towel or a damp scent free cotton cloth.

Then simply place in your fridge. The Great Morel used to leave them soaking, but suggestions from other shroomers changed the game plan slightly. At least once a day re-dampen the towel just to keep them moist. When prepped in this fashion The Great Morel suggests using and abusing them with the frying pan within one week. As a safe rule of thumb and to guarantee freshness…use the one 1 week rule. If you are looking at preserving your morels for a longer period of time, or you have more than can fit in your fridge, then it is suggested you check out the Preserving page for some of the great ideas from other morel hunters.

Notes: Salt water is acceptable by some and not by others. Those opposed say it makes the morels too salty. Also the above technique is making the assumption that the morels in hand are fresh from the start. Often times we find them a day or two late in which case you should lower the one week rule by days accordingly. Use good judgement as you would with any other food you are storing in the fridge.

The Complete Guide to Preserving Morels. Extend their usefulness well past the season? The Great Morel will point you in the right direction and all will be good after a couple clicks of the mouse. Start by heading over the Info and Links page and check out the section on Stuff for Sale Links and review some of these sites. The Great Morel does not endorse or get kickbacks from any of the sites listed, however, if you patronize them, tell them The Great Morel sent you and ask them for The Great Morel Discount.

This is as much a mystery as the great morel itself and there are a lot of people requesting best ways. Here are a few suggestions that have been offered to The Great Morel. Remove as much air as possible. This suggestion comes from Linda in Montana after a few failed attempts to mail them to her parents in Illinois:. We lined the bottom of the box with newspaper, divided the total of the morels into the 15 compartments and placed a paper towel on the top of each compartment. Another way to store Morel mushrooms is by drying them and placing them in an airtight container.

You can wash the Mushroom before drying, eventually killing any bacteria and removing the dust from the Mushroom. Make sure to check if the mushrooms are completely dried and crisp before placing them in an airtight container, or they will catch mold. You can easily re-hydrate the Mushroom by placing them in the boiled water. This technique does not have a severe effect on the taste of the recipes in which the Mushroom is being used.

To freeze the Mushroom, you can place it on a tray with some gap between each Mushroom and place it in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer the mushrooms to a freezing bag. To store the Morel, the most preferred way is to freeze this delight. Freezing Mushroom can make it last for a couple of months, and it is not that hard to freeze the Mushroom.

You can either cook the Mushroom by stir-frying it in oil on medium heat, or you can freeze it as they are. To freeze the Mushroom, you can slice it into pieces and then place the Mushroom on a tray maintaining a little distance from each other.

Freeze the mushrooms and place them in a freezing bag. Do not wash the mushrooms before freezing them.