251 replies to this topic

[the1]

I wonder if there's a way to fiddle with the heating element maybe bypass it altogether if you look on some home brew sites they have external temperature thermostats that could regulate the heat at a lower temp but it would turn the fan off too.Or you could just throw out the dehydrator thermostat and replace it with one of those home brew thermostats which are very accurate and have a pretty wide temp range.It just depends on how much money and time you want to put into it.Good luck

[AGAMA]

The heating element can be removed from the dehydrator, making it just a fan.

Very easy process. Just open it up, and look around. If it's not obvious to you how to remove it, post a pic. I, or someone else will explain it then. There are a few variations out there. I have done this to two dehydrators so far. They are able to be reassembled just as easily.

I go 1.5 to 2 days this way, then on to Damprid. Works like a charm, with no loss of potency, IMHO.

Gluck

[mushmind]

I was fan drying on a screen which simply was not getting it. When it gets humid here ( and we are not using the ac) it's like blowing steam past a wet sponge and expecting it to dry. It will take forever which probably cost potency do to degradation also. I have fan dried a truck load over the last few years but I was hoping for a better and faster way. Taking the heating element out of a food dehydrator isn't going to make them dry any faster than a fan... In fact it would probably be a lot slower given the less air flow. One way to find out is to eat some and compare.

[mushmind]

actually testing them sounds like a brilliant idea. glad I thought of it.

[Bulk]

Man, mines set to 160 lol.
Works wonders!

Never had any issues with my stash.... cept getting my friends too fucked up..... lol.
Last friend was convinced she was gonna die lol.

....
Good times
:headbang:


I hear lots about heat breaking down magic....
Everyone "Knows" it's "Easy" to kill magic with heat.

Yet in practice.... it seems to stand up to heat well....
Gollys honey tek, that grilled shroom I saw the other day, shroom tea, dehydrators.....
It all seems to work.

All I can say is, I never see any loss of potency in mine, I've gone through all kinds of dehydrators and drying teks.... Mine always seem fine however I dry em....

Edited by Bulk, 18 February 2011 - 05:44 PM.

[wildedibles]

Rotate trays so top on bottom and bottom on top every hour its more work but nothing gets burnned and nothing is wet.
Usually If I have a lot of herbals to dry I leave them in basket the wood helps absorb the moisture stir move around once a day and they are dried in a few days to a week.

[Bulk]

Rotate trays so top on bottom and bottom on top every hour its more work but nothing gets burnned and nothing is wet.
Usually If I have a lot of herbals to dry I leave them in basket the wood helps absorb the moisture stir move around once a day and they are dried in a few days to a week.

why don't you just take the dry ones out as they dry.... My bottom treys dry faster then the top, so after a few hours I check em.
If the bottom few treys are done. I just bag them and let the others finish up...
Seems like less work (half-Assed, Efficient maybe?) then cycling the treys.

[MrChen]

Man, mines set to 160 lol.
Works wonders!

When I have used a dehydrator it has been the cheap Nesco one with the heat control. Always used it on the lowest heat for fungi/herbs. Lasted 5 years. When it broke I bought another one. It's got to have the heat adjustment so I can dry everything from beef to mush perfectly.

I don't see any real loss in potency in drying magic shrooms except for the fact freshies seem more potent than any dry regardless. Its probably overeating ;) The mid dry state that can also get ya :space: when dryness is mis-read :D

[Scribbles]

I use a disabled dehydrator. It's really dry here though so obviously that is the factor. It runs 24/7. Literally. I throw them in as I pick them. Most will sit a day or two straight, sometimes more until I need to make room or they wonder off. :3 . I don't use desiccant because that day long dry is enough.

I hear lots about heat breaking down magic....
Everyone "Knows" it's "Easy" to kill magic with heat.

Yet in practice.... it seems to stand up to heat well....
Gollys honey tek, that grilled shroom I saw the other day, shroom tea, dehydrators.....
It all seems to work.

All I can say is, I never see any loss of potency in mine, I've gone through all kinds of dehydrators and drying teks.... Mine always seem fine however I dry em....

I always thought the same thing. Haven't had the need to try a heated system yet but logically mild heat at 98+ shouldn't be a problem due to psilocybins break down point being well above 100, correct?

Come to think of it, I should check the temp of my microwavable chocolate I use. Those things blow peoples HEADS OFF despite the hot chocolate which surely must be above 90. Probably in the low 100.

[mushmind]

Thanks for the responses folks. That is goos news to me. Im gonna get another one so that I can dry even more mushies. I can dry quite alot of mushies with mine but during peak harvest times it can get filled up pretty quick and I love it cause it is so fast compared to fan drying.:headbang:

[newmyco]

I pretty much swear by a five tier dehydrator I got at a thrift store. Just disabled the heating element which took literally five minutes and it left me with a self contained fan that dries the mushies like a nice cracker.

Just have to figure out what works for you.

[tryptaminer]

SWIM will NEVER dry with a food dehydrator again..

both cambo and z were dried with a dehydrator which had a similar heat setting to the one you've mentioned... both samples were THE LAMEST doses SWIM has ever taken..

HUGE mistake to use anything with heat... speeds up oxidation and they also believe it possible that the alkaloids transpire in the accelerated drying.

some members fuck with rewiring it to turn the heating element off.. which then becomes the same exact thing as a fan, so all the fuss for not much difference..

SWIM doesn't even like to air dry anymore.. they prefer desiccants BY FAR


that's my .02 anyway, for someone to get that far in the growing cycle just to lower the levels of psilly through quick drying is really redundant.. however its not to say SWIM hasn't been through the trials...

[curandZero]

We've got strong "pros" and strong "cons" here — all based on personal experience. I guess sometimes you just have to do what works for you. Thus will it always be. :)

[iamsmiley]

i haven't found heat to be the big problem that some say it is.i'd say the biggest con with using a dehydrator is that they are to small.i made a drying chamber out of an old movable closet that came with my house.it's vented outside and has a commercial dehumidifier attached to it as well as a dual overhead stove fan to run alone if i don't have much to dry or to help exhaust old spore laden air.

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[ragstoriches]

I use a cardboard box I took from work and a little fan bought at hellmart. The box is 14'' cubed so there is plenty of drying space when laid on it's side. They dry in about 12-16 hours. And that is large crops done all at once. It took a little more than 24 hours last time. I did 45 grams. I neglected to shake them around though.

[iamsmiley]

I use a cardboard box I took from work and a little fan bought at hellmart. The box is 14'' cubed so there is plenty of drying space when laid on it's side. They dry in about 12-16 hours. And that is large crops done all at once. It took a little more than 24 hours last time. I did 45 grams. I neglected to shake them around though.

that's how i did my first dryer box! i must say it worked well but i later went to the style i have now that vents outside because i have allergies to spores that i didn't used to have.

[Killboticus]

I picked a few from the forest...put them in a brown bag and set them on my computer monitor. Works well for a few shrooms..but as for bulk prob not.

[kcmoxtractor]

i disagree totally with the notion that the dehydrator destroys potency
mine goes up to 155F and neither myself or my friends have ever reported
a loss in magic.

[Manofmanyhats]

I feel like this is ground already tread upon. I know theres a thread around here with critical temps in it. Boiling water is 212*f and tea is an efficient method of ingestion, so a lower temp presumably is ok. Nothing beats freshies. I rock a dehydrator at 115*f then go to 135*F over about 6-8 hours.

[Harold]

Whats the most efficient method of drying mushrooms without loosing potency?