I recently received 40g of sclerotia (also known as truffles or philosopher's stones) which I plan to use for experimentation. I know that while lower in potency, these can last a bit longer than regular mushrooms. However, as a first timer, I plan to take small doses and work my way up, probably spacing out the dosage by at least a few weeks if not up to a month. This means I will need to store these for a long time. The product boasts a "modified atmosphere packaging" which basically means it's packed in CO2 and claims to have a shelf life of 8 weeks, but I may need to store for longer. My concern is obviously with stopping mold and decay/rot. I'm also concerned with potency. My first thought is to stick them in the freezer, unless you experienced folk suggest otherwise. I could recreate the CO2 packing by getting a soda charger and cracking it into a freezer bag with the sclerotia, to displace the atmosphere. Could potentially use one of those "vacuum" things to pack it airtight, or perhaps a combination of some of these methods. Any suggestions?
are they dried or wet? you can dry them out and put them in an airtight freezer bag, i believe this is the best way to store normal shrooms, idk about sclerotia though. i dont think putting them in the freezer would be the best option...
I believe they are semi dried. Sclerotia are naturally much less "moist" and hard anyway though. If I just air dry them on a cookie sheet would that be ok?
I'd put a fan on it or something to get them extra dry. (Best is a dehydrator with heat turned off or cut off (if there's no option to turn it off.) You definitely want them very dry or they will rot.
Even without a vacuum seal they should be alright in the freezer for quite awhile. I've kept shrooms for a few months just in the freezer in the ziploc the came in and didn't see any decay (in the physical material or the potency). But I would make sure they are dried quite thoroughly.
Took another look at the truffles last night. They are pretty hard (which to me indicates dry). Like peanuts. Just to clarify, these aren't technically the fruiting part of the mushroom, so the water content is already naturally very low.
I would not recommend freezing them. Psilocybin will not break down below 160, nor will Psilocin. However, there are many many other compounds as well that may or may not. Lots of people have dried up temperature with a dehydrator to that without potency loss. Even with that I wouldn't recommend freezing them unless you build some kind of desiccant chamber to completely dry them. If there's any moisture in them when you freeze them they turn into mush, and it's pretty disgusting to eat. If it's going to be under a year before you eat them all, just dry them out in front a a fan for 3-5 days, then place them in a in a cool, dark, dry place, like a drawer, but not in anything sealed up.
Once they are dry (thinnest part of the stem cracks easily between two fingers), put them in a zip lock in the freezer. Tried and true for long term storage.
