Flavorful stock is something that can be hard to make as a homesteader. You can use a ton of vegetables to make a rich vegetable stock from scratch, but it takes a lot of time and a lot of vegetables that could be used in other ways. Mushrooms to the rescue though as dried mushrooms can make a dense and rich stock in minutes without wasting any of the mushrooms or burning through vegetables that would be used elsewhere. Let’s dive into mushroom stock a bit deeper.
Farming Mushrooms for Stock
Mushrooms are amazing. They’re delicious, flexible, and easy to farm. If you’re a homesteader looking to add protein to your table, mushrooms are a great way to grow. They can be grown year round indoors and also easily added to outdoor areas if you know what you’re doing. The other thing that mushrooms do amazing well is take to being dried. You can dry mushrooms with a simple dehydrator and they’re keep for ages. The wonderful thing about drying mushrooms through is that the act of drying actually makes them better for making stock.
Dried Mushrooms Have MORE Flavor
When you dry any mushroom with heated air, like you would in a dehydrator, you end up triggering reactions within the mushroom that build up new types of flavor molecules. Since mushrooms are about 90% water, when you dry them out their flavors become very concentrated and extremely accessible to the home cook. This change makes them a perfect replacement for stocks in addition to being a great bit of food as they are!
Using Dried Mushrooms In The Kitchen
There are a lot of ways you can use dried mushrooms in the kitchen. First and foremost you can simply add them to anything that is going to have some amount of liquid in it as it cooks. That liquid will rehydrate your mushrooms and pull that rich mushroom flavor out into any cooking liquid you’re using. This can be roasts as easily as it can be soups!
The second way you can use these mushrooms is to rehydrate them separately. If you rehydrate dried mushrooms in warm to hot water for about 30 minutes, you’ll notice that you’re left with some tender mushrooms, but also a very thick brown color in the resulting liquid. This is all flavor and can bused to make gravy, as a stock, added to soups, poured over vegetables, added to meat, really however you like at this point. The possibilities abound!
Another advantage in rehydrating before hand is that you can clean the resulting broth of impurities. Mushrooms typically aren’t washed before being dried and will have some amount of sediment on them from the growing medium they are raised in. For wild mushrooms this means dirt and sand, and for farmed mushrooms this means pasteurized compost. While none of it will harm you, you can easily remove that grit from the liquid as it will sink to the bottom. Simply retain a small amount of liquid pouring off the top and the particles in the bottom can be discarded.
If you still want to be extra sure to avoid dirt or grit choose wood eating species like oyster for your mushroom drying adventures.
Perhaps the best thing you can do with your dried mushrooms is make a reduction. Pouring the liquid and rehydrated mushrooms directly into a pan, then letting the liquid reduce will yield an amazing sauce that coats your mushrooms and clings to them well. Spoon this on top of a burger or over rice and you’re in for an amazing treat.
Dried Mushrooms Are All Similar
Some mushrooms are quite expensive. Some are rather cheap. When dried the differences between these from a flavor standpoint narrow dramatically. If you’re using dried mushrooms you can get a near indistinguishable flavor profile from cheap and expensive varieties. Because of this you shouldn’t spend a ton on fancy dried mushrooms when you can just get less expensive ones. If you’re growing and drying your own mushrooms, you should likewise dry the ones that don’t have unique flavors when fresh or that you can cheaply grow in abundance.
Some people can tell the difference between these mushrooms, but most of the time the drying process makes them so similar that the untrained mouth won’t know any better. If you can taste the difference, we encourage you to use what tastes best for you.
Big Flavor, Small Package
Dried mushrooms really pack a punch and can be a huge lifesaver in the kitchen. No matter if you’re growing your own for drying or buying them at the store, you’re going to have something that keeps for a long time, adds a ton of flavor to a dish easily, and can be used in a variety of ways. Dried mushrooms in the kitchen are a no brainer for any homesteader.
Happy Homesteading!