Transport and Prepare Morels

As Frank points out, “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 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!” Larry 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 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 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.

Zachary Trost of Outdoor-Michigan discusses morel mushrooms with Tom Nauman of Morelmania.com

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.”

If you hit the motherload and have more mushrooms than you, your extended family and all your neighbors within a five-mile radius can consume within two weeks, you can preserve them. The most preferred method is drying, as it best preserves the original taste and texture. Jason recommends placing them on elevated nylon screens in direct sunlight for six to eight hours. It’s important to use a nylon screen, not a metal screen, as the moisture in the morels will rust the screen and ruin the morels! Nancy advises situating the drying area away from people. “Many people develop asthma, eczema, hay fever or other problems when they are around drying mushrooms. The spore rain from drying morels can be spectacular. We once coated part of a small utility room with a layer of pale yellow dust. . .”

Dried morels will be dry and crisp, and they can be stored in airtight plastic bags or glass jars in a cool, dry place. They can also be stored in paper bags or in vacuum-sealed jars or bags. Some prefer to string morels with a needle and thread, then hang them to dry.

Nancy offers a few words of caution concerning dried morels. If strung, they should not touch and should hang to dry in the sun. Dried morels should have no fuzzy growths, which is a sign of bacteria or mold. Also, if dried morels are kept at room temperature, you should be more alert to insect damage. She also says that even jars don’t have 100 percent airtight seals, so there will be some exchange of air between the jar and the surrounding atmosphere.

Another way to dry morels is in the oven. Space them apart on a cookie sheet, and set the oven to 100 degrees. Frank notes to not to heat above 100 degrees, so as not to ruin the taste, texture or size when you rehydrate them. Frank tried 250 degrees one time and ruined the mushrooms. He says, “I dried them rock hard in two or three hours at about 250 degrees. Turned out tough and tasted like tires. Lesson learned.” Keep the oven door cracked a few inches, and remove the mushrooms when they have become wrinkled and brittle, having baked for at least 45 minutes.

Later, when you get that undeniable craving for morels, simply rehydrate them in warm water or milk until they are soft, then drain on a paper towel. John likes to save the liquid for soups, sauces and stews.

You can also preserve morels by freezing them. Saute them until they are half to three-quarters done, then place them in an airtight freezer bag or a vacuum-packed bag. They will keep for one year. Nancy also employs either of these methods to freeze morels: placing them in a single layer in the freezer, then packaging them; or, packing them in freezer containers and adding enough water to leave about three-fourths an inch of space above them.

Carl and Marge use a similar process for freezing morels. They place clean morels on wax paper sprinkled with some flour and cover the morels with another sheet of wax paper. They place it in the freezer until the morels are frozen, then they transfer the morels to a plastic bag. They keep them frozen until ready to use; they advise placing morels directly in the skillet, not thawing them, so as to prevent the morels from becoming soggy.

Nancy definitely doesn’t recommend canning morels. She says they are low in acid, so they must be canned at extremely high pressure and high temperature to prevent the bacteria that causes botulism. Also, their flavor compounds will be altered or destroyed. And heaven knows we can’t have that!