Mushroom Powder – How to Make and Use It

Mushroom powder may quickly become one of your favorite pantry items. It is simple to make and can be used in a variety of ways in your kitchen. The powders, on their own, add an earthy and meaty-like flavor to all sorts of dishes. Blend them with other spices for a fantastic kick of flavor! The best part is the mushroom powder can be made from any culinary mushroom (note the variety of colors you can achieve with different mushrooms) and it is super easy to do it!

Mushroom Powder – Ingredients

You’re going to need:

• A pound or more of your favorite culinary mushroom – I really like to do this with shiitakes or even portobellos; but try several varieties and see what you like. You may even want to try your hand at growing mushrooms. Amazon carries some awesome kits that are fairly easy to use.
• A food dehydrator – I use this one
• A food processor or blender
• Jar with air tight lid for storage

Mushroom Powder – Directions

1. Clean your mushrooms – if you use water to clean make sure you allow them to dry completely for better dehydrating times.
2. Slice your mushrooms into thin slices.  You can use a mandolin slicer for more uniform thickness but watch your fingers! I use all of the mushroom – caps and stems.
3. Arrange your mushrooms slices on your dehydrating racks in a single layer. Don’t crowd them too much because you need that air flowing through all the racks.
4. You’ll want to set your dehydrator at about 130 degrees and allow for up to 14 hours; you should check them after 10 hours.
5. You want dry, almost-crisp mushroom slices. They should not have any “sponge” left in them.
6. Once your dehydrated mushrooms have cooled you’re ready to make mushroom powder!
7. Take your dried mushrooms and use your food processor or blender to crush into a fine powder. You may need to do this in several batches if you’ve done a lot of mushrooms. Don’t overfill your blender or processor, you could have larger pieces left.
8. Allow the powder to settle before you take the top off – or you might be breathing it in!!!! Ick
9. Store in an air tight container in a cool cabinet without a lot of light. It should keep for several months without issue.

Mushroom Powder – How to Use It

Your imagination and creativity are the only limits to use this awesome powder.  But here are a few ideas:

• Add to soup, stew and even chili
• Use in egg dishes like omelets, fritattas
• Meatloaf
• Dust veggie dishes for more flavor…even your mushroom haters will like it. 😉
• Mix with salt and other spices for a tasty blend
• Use anywhere you’d like mushroom flavor with out the texture
• The possibilities are endless!

If you like Mushroom Powder then you’re going to love Tomato Powder!!!