Mushrooms are wonderful in most dinners. I always double the amount I might used in home cooked meals because it feels like such a luxury to have tons of mushrooms in sauces and soups when camping. It's common for me to use 2-lbs of fresh mushrooms in dehydrated meals for 4 hikers. Dehydrated mushrooms essentially have no pack weight, hydrate quickly with very hot water (5-10 min), and should be drained before adding to one's meal. The standard variety, grocery store and Portabella mushrooms are excellent choices. I vary between thin and thickly sliced mushrooms depending on my energy for slicing!

Directions for Dehydrating at Home:

(1) Use 4.5-lbs of large, firm mushrooms (8 trays)
(2) Wipe off any dirt
(3) Slice
(4) Placed sliced mushrooms on trays
(5a) Thin Slices: Set temperature to 140 degrees for 1.5 hrs, then at 120 degrees for the remainder of the dehydrating process (5 hours)
(5b) Thick Slices: Set Temperature to 140 degrees for 8-10 hours; lower to 120 degrees when mushrooms begin to feel mostly hard and life-less.
(6) Vacuum seal in desired quantities. I will usually use 2-lbs for 4 hikers. Cut storage bag about 4" longer then you will need to leave extra length for hydrating mushrooms in its storage bag at camp.

Directions for Hydrating at Camp:

(1) Cut and open vacuum sealed mushroom pouch as to leave plenty of room to add very hot water and to fold/reclose the top of the bag during the hydration process.
(2) Add 2 cups of very hot water to mushrooms. Re-seal pouch. Wait 5-10 minutes. Drain liquid (or substitute hydration water for your meal with mushroom hydrating water - a much smarter way to conserve filtered camp water and to avoid food smells around your camp!).