Morel processing steps
1 Grading and storing
After harvesting, the impurities attached to the mushroom body should be removed first. Afterwards, the morel should be stored separately according to different grades. Soft materials such as toilet paper or thatch should be laid on the inside of the basket and the bottom of the frame for mushroom collection. Arrange the morels in order, and handle them gently to avoid scratching or breaking the surface of the mushroom body. There should not be too many mushrooms in each basket, this is good for avoid crushing the mushroom body, which may affect the appearance of the product and may degrade it.
2 Cut off the handle
The length of the shearing handle should be determined according to the shape of the morel mushroom, the morel mushroom meat, the morel mushroom substance, and the morel mushroom surface. The handle is very important as it will affect the quality of dried mushrooms and the yield of dried morels, and will also affect the sales price of morels.
Morel drying process
Morels have high water content, so you should control the temperature and humidity during the drying process. The moisture content of morels harvested in different batches is different. Generally, the moisture content of the first batch of mushrooms is relatively low, and the moisture content of the second and third batches of mushrooms will increase. We will take the first batch of mushrooms as an example to show you the whole drying process:
1 The initial stage
The morels that do not need to be refrigerated should be cut into different lengths, they are placed on the drying screen, and the drying screen is pushed into the oven of the heat pump dryer, and the door of the oven is tightly closed to start the machine. The best drying temperature is 35°C, the humidity is controlled within 70%, and the time is about 3 hours. Use low temperature to fix the color of Morel to ensure that its shape is full and it will not be collapsed.
2 Warm–up and dehumidification
The temperature rises to the range of 40℃-45℃, the humidity drops to 55%, and the drying is about 2 hours. At this time, the morels shrink and the moisture decreases obviously.
3 Strengthen drying and dehumidification
The temperature rises to about 50°C, the temperature is set at 35% for about 2 hours to continue to strengthen the drying and dehumidification of the morel mushrooms. At this time, the surface of the morels is basically dried, but the mushroom body is still soft, especially at the junction of the stalk and the cap, and has not dried out.
4 Final high temperature drying
The temperature rises to 53℃-55℃ for high temperature drying.. It should be emphasized that in the drying process of Morel, it is not advisable to heat up too fast. Rising about 5°C in each stage is more suitable. The moisture content of the baked morel is about 12%, the shape is full, the stem is white, and the cap is brown or black. The dried morel is with a fragrant smell.
5 softening
After the morels are dried, don’t rush to put it into bags immediately. You can let them stand in the air for 10-20 minutes to soften the surface slightly, otherwise the hard morels will be brittle and damaged during the packaging process.