drying Q/A

[director of sound]

has anyone used kitty liter to dry their harvest. you know the silica gel kitty liter tidy cat makes? i think a regular kitty liter would work if its one of the ones with no fragrence. ive used deci packs before that just have clay in em and regular kitty liter is clay. dry right seams a little expensive. what about drying some epsom salts int the oven and using that? i wanna try to stay away from heat or buying a food dehiderator.

[lebrony]

what i have been doing is fanning it until it seems as dry as it will get then i put it in a drying chamber with silica gels to get it extra crispy... i imagine that if the kitty litter is made using decissants it could work as well. it might not be as strong though. i would give it a try, i have no idea how expensive kitty litter is but if it works and its cheap then heck use it !!

[prism]

I just set mine on the table in the open air and wait. They dry in a few days and you aren't losing any potency... I am never in that much of a hurry anymore... Sometimes I use the ole dehydrator... Not so much anymore tho

[Dr.Hallucination.]

A piece of wire mesh and a fan....Works great takes a day or two.

[bosshogg]

only thing i could see wrong with this idea is, your fruits may turn out tasting like kitty litter.(eww)

foaf uses a nesco dehydrator , sold at wal***T for like 20$. a full chamber dries in 4-6 hrs.

*good luck*

[director of sound]

the stuff i was thinking about is about $20 for a 20lb contaner and its just silica gel no fragrances or chemicals.

[ggod]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiccant


It would appear that it would work.
Road salt is another option.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_th...p_of_road_salt


Or ....a cheap way to get some desiccant, Inside packaged food. The Nori I buy to make sushi/rolls comes with a great big package in the bottom. I have never seen a package that size before in anything.

[Coopdog]

My friend dries on unscented kitty litter with a fan on them and they don't taste like anything. Plain kitty litter and floor dry is just diatomaceous earth most of the time, but I think the silica gel would be fine also. Can't wait till I got soome to dry Peace...

[seedlessstinky1]

That ice melt salt works, but be careful and move the shroom around if on paper while drying. The water gets sucked out soo rapidly and gets the entire paper waterlogged. That kind of rots or at least takes longer to dry the shroom.

Epsom salt works for a bit, but then it tennds to clump up and get shitty. Keep it on a plate not a bowl.

However if you go to Wally world they have damprid by the garbage bags.

Whenever i've used any of these they were placed on paper and directly on top of the drying solution.

Lately im with Prism on this one. I ussually just set em out to dry for a day or two and then when cracker dry i bag em according to their intentions.......

[prism]

Originally Posted by seedlessstinky1

That ice melt salt works, but be careful and move the shroom around if on paper while drying. The water gets sucked out soo rapidly and gets the entire paper waterlogged. That kind of rots or at least takes longer to dry the shroom.

Epsom salt works for a bit, but then it tennds to clump up and get shitty. Keep it on a plate not a bowl.

However if you go to Wally world they have damprid by the garbage bags.

Whenever i've used any of these they were placed on paper and directly on top of the drying solution.

Lately im with Prism on this one. I ussually just set em out to dry for a day or two and then when cracker dry i bag em according to their intentions.......

Funny how time in this hobby slows you down... I was in an all fired hurry at first... Now I take my time and relax...

Yep I dry mine in the open air then grind and cap.... Place in the freezer...

[LotRev]

I am a personal fan of the fan.
Quick, easy, and to the point. They don't always look as nice though.

Just buy a fan once and you're set, and you probably already have one!

Does kitty litter absorb moisture from the air? or just in direct contact with it?

[ishkaboo]

What I have been doing is taking the shelves from an old food dehydrator and simply placing the shelves in a cardboard box with a box fan blowing down into the box, plus I have 2 flaps from the lid slightly ajar inwards to facilitate air circulation. They are cracker dry in 2-3 days depending on how thick and juicy the mushrooms are.

I have also used NaOH (lye, roebic drain cleaner) to dry them and that worked as well, although I recommend a day or so under the fan before putting them in the drying chamber.

[(neo)Figment]

I don't see people talking about it as much these days but in the summer when fans won't crisp them up I just take a cookie sheet and pour in a good amount of Epsom salt and bake it at 500F for about an hour. This changes it chemically in to a desiccant. You will know when its done cause it melts together then forms a block dry as a bone. Break this stuff up and its good to go and cheap too.

I don't know if that is in the vaults but I learned that here a couple years back.

[paulport]

I was a little unprepared for such a large harvest..Can i put the shrooms directly on the silica aka cat litter as posted above . My old set up was a bucket with screen and damprid in the bottom. I would just put them there and close the lid and leave it for a few days.

[ishkaboo]

Originally Posted by paulport

I was a little unprepared for such a large harvest..Can i put the shrooms directly on the silica aka cat litter as posted above . My old set up was a bucket with screen and damprid in the bottom. I would just put them there and close the lid and leave it for a few days.

The mushrooms should not touch the stuff. The stuff will end up all over the mushrooms, and you don't wanna eat that shit. If you don't have room you can put as many as you can fit in there, then put the rest under a fan and switch them half way through the drying process if you so desire.

[eap]

i agree with just setting them out to air dry the slow dry seems to make then a little more potent in foafs experience and usually takes about 3 days to be cracker dry it may give the psilocybin more a chance to break down to psilocin which is what i beleive makes them more potent although shorter lasting. after dry foaf vacumme seals and places in a cool dark place to protect the weaker psilocyn molecule. if i may ask a qeustion thats a little off topic whats with the lemon juice mush slurry supposedly making them stronger anyone heard of or have first hand knowledge of this to be true? every explaination has been theory that i have come across im looking for scientific info such as acitrate salt maybe i dunnno

[director of sound]

Originally Posted by eap

i agree with just setting them out to air dry the slow dry seems to make then a little more potent in foafs experience and usually takes about 3 days to be cracker dry it may give the psilocybin more a chance to break down to psilocin which is what i beleive makes them more potent although shorter lasting. after dry foaf vacumme seals and places in a cool dark place to protect the weaker psilocyn molecule. if i may ask a qeustion thats a little off topic whats with the lemon juice mush slurry supposedly making them stronger anyone heard of or have first hand knowledge of this to be true? every explaination has been theory that i have come across im looking for scientific info such as acitrate salt maybe i dunnno

all ive heard about that is it makes the mushies/alkaloids easier to digest/absorb. makes sence i could see making a "cold" tea that way by soaking mushie powder in water/citric acid for a while then straining or putting in one of those 'Bodum' french press coffee makers. it should bust the degradation by heat and oxygen since citric acid is slightly antioxidant-ish and it would be done at room temp.

for my drying i am thinking about layering silica gel/papertowel/mush/papertowel/silica gel and so on to fill a tub and let that sit sealed for a day or so in the fridge.

[LuCiD]

I bought a food dehydrator from wally world (walMart). One of those multi-layered stackable kind. I took a screwdriver and opened her up to dismantle the heating element. It has four layers to it, and blows fresh air through constantly.. WORKS LIKE A CHARM

Its just like the one at the link below...

http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.aol_refer.false.tpl.detail.msn_refer.false. item.K116713.ref.GBA?cm_ven=GOOGLEBASE&cm_cat=Cook ing%20&cm_pla=Kitchen%20Electrics&cm_ite=K116713

[androm33da]

I did the same with a food dehydrator. You could go pro and buy one with heat switch(off), but i like to open and rearrange things.
Dont put your mushies on papertowels or toillet paper! As they dry wet caps usually become one with soft papers , so use harder surfaces if you don't want to eat paper with your mushies.