Detailed Explanation of Key Points of Edible Mushroom Drying and Processing Technology

Almost all edible mushrooms, such as shiitake, wood ear, enoki mushroom, lion's mane, straw mushroom, oyster mushroom, button mushroom, silver ear, etc., can be made into dried products. Drying and processing can be divided into sun drying, oven drying, and hot air drying. Spring has more rainy days, so shiitake and wood ear are often mainly oven-dried; in summer and autumn, with scorching sun and high temperatures, which is the straw mushroom production season, sun drying is often the main method. Hot air drying is not affected by environmental conditions, can be carried out in all four seasons, is suitable for various mushrooms, and produces good drying quality. The quality of drying is also closely related to mushroom harvesting, grading, stem trimming, cleaning, and slicing. When harvesting shiitake, grading should be combined with it: separate by size, shape, and thickness; flower shiitake and thick shiitake should be separated separately; long-stemmed mushrooms, deformed mushrooms, and small mushroom bits should be treated as substandard. Then cut off the base of the mushroom stem (mushroom foot), leaving the stem 2-3 cm long, and at the same time remove weeds, wood chips, etc., but do not use water. Drying method: first sun-dry the graded fresh mushrooms for one day, then dry them over charcoal fire; they can also be continuously sun-dried, but never pile them up to ferment before they are dry. If drying over charcoal fire, the temperature should go from low to high: first dry at 20-30°C for 6-8 hours, then dry at 50-60°C for 2-3 hours until the mushroom stems are completely dry. Turn the dried mushrooms by hand until they rustle and crush easily when pinched; after cooling, they can be stored in plastic bags. During baking, note that charcoal or coal fire must not have smoke or off-odors, and strictly prevent broken mushrooms from falling in and producing smoke, otherwise the quality of the dried mushrooms will be affected. To make the heat dissipate evenly, a piece of iron plate can be placed over the fire; where conditions permit, a blower can be used to send hot air or steam pipes can be used to send warm air for drying. To dry straw mushrooms, select mushroom eggs of uniform size, remove mud and sand, then use a knife to make two crossed vertical cuts from the base, cutting 2/3 of the length of the mushroom egg into four petals; after sun drying, they are called orchid mushrooms. Some also make one vertical cut from the side, leaving the base uncut, or cut them into two petals; after cutting, they can be sun-dried on a concrete yard. Dried mushroom egg slices should be cut into vertical slices with a slicing machine and hot-air dried to ensure quality. Oyster mushroom, phoenix mushroom, and enoki mushroom can all be dried whole in the sun or by baking.