Psilocybin Questions: Can You Really Cook Psychedelic Mushrooms?

Many people are not fans of the taste of psychedelic mushrooms. They can be very earthy, gritty, and bitter. If you are seeking to mask the  mushroom taste, it’s possible to integrate them into more palatable dishes where other flavors will dominate. Since part of a successful psychedelic experience is mitigating stressful factors, removing the negative sensation associated with the mushroom’s taste can be viewed as part of creating an ideal environment.

You can absolutely cook your mushrooms, and they are commonly added to teas, entrees, chocolates, and more.  However, be aware that psilocybin WILL degrade at higher temperatures, which will negatively influence the mushroom’s potency: this is unavoidable. Unfortunately, there is not enough data on what temperature psilocybin degrades at, or how fast this process occurs, so the primary focus is to ensure that you’re not overheating your mushrooms. Ultimately, the loss of potency is considered a trade off for the outcome of the recipe; if you are against losing potency of your mushrooms, do not apply heat to them. 

Some people describe the taste of dried mushrooms as saw-dust, dirt, or cardboard, probably because they smell a lot like they taste. With the ability to add them to tastier dishes, you can ease into your psychedelic experience with a positive first encounter. Below you will find a few recipes to both literally and figuratively help you avoid psychedelics leaving a bad taste in your mouth.

Basics About Ingesting Psychedelic Mushrooms 

Ingestion Process:

• Individual consumes mushrooms
• Onset of effects typically occur about 45-minutes to 1 hour after consumption
• Peak sensitivity to the effects of the mushroom occurs at about 2-5 hours 
• Individual comes back down to baseline levels 

Recipes for Mushrooms (Cooked)

Tea

1. Grind 1 gram of dried mushrooms into a fine mushroom dust using a coffee grinder.
2. Add mushrooms to a 500 milliliter pot of boiling water.
3. Add thin slices of fresh ginger to help reduce nausea, and a couple green tea bags for flavour.
4. Optionally add a squirt of lemon juice (keep in mind lemon will catalyze the psilocybin and speed up the onset of the trip).
5. Turn heat off and stir occasionally as it steeps for 15-20 minutes.
6. If you don’t want to eat the soaked mushrooms (which will not be completely extracted), pour the mixture through a coffee filter into a mug.
7. Add honey to taste, and enjoy responsibly!

Pizza Topping 

Simply add fresh mushrooms or dried mushroom dust on top of your frozen, homemade, or purchased pizza. Cook for the allotted time on the directions (or just for 5-10 minutes if the pizza is already cooked and hot).

Quesadilla

Ingredients:

• Mushrooms (both psychedelic and otherwise)
• Flour tortillas
• Green onion
• Salsa
• Sour cream
• Cheese
• Chicken or other protein

Directions:

1. Use a saucepan to sauté the vegetables and mushrooms together
2. Add protein and cook thoroughly. Use frozen already-cooked chicken for the fastest cook time.
3. Then, use a separate pan for the tortilla, placing a handful of cheese around the tortilla.
4. Allow the tortilla to crisp up then add the sauté pan of chicken and vegetables. 
5. Fold tortilla and be sure it is cooked on both sides, thoroughly melting the cheese
6. Garnish with sour cream, salsa to dip, and any extra cheese you desire.

Recipes for Mushrooms (Uncooked)

If you’re not excited about losing potency from cooking your psychedelic mushrooms, the best move is to simply add the mushrooms to existing recipes. Although it is perfectly feasible to cook psilocybin mushrooms, it’s much more effective to cleverly add them to finished dishes. Simply grind up the desired dosage of mushrooms and add to any dish, as-is. Below are a few examples of recipes that will greatly reduce the smell and taste of mushrooms:

Blue Juice

1. Add 5-10 grams of fresh mushrooms and 100 grams of ice cubes to a jar, and give it a good shake.
2. Place the jar into the fridge for 24 hours
3. As the ice melts in the fridge, the psilocybin content will be extracted creating a hazy blue colour
4. Strain the resulting blue liquid through a fine sieve and discard (or eat) the mushroom bits. 
5. Drink immediately or freeze into blue ice cubes for future use. 

Pina Colada Smoothie
Mix the following ingredients at desired ratios into a blender, blend and enjoy:

• Fresh or dried mushrooms of desired dosage
• Orange juice
• Pineapple juice
• Coconut milk
• Honey 

Fruit Smoothie

Mix the following ingredients into a blender, blend and enjoy:

• Fresh mushrooms of desired dosage
• ½ cup of blueberries
• 1 banana
• 1 ½ cup of almond milk
• 1 tablespoon of honey

Yogurt

Simply grind up mushrooms into flavoured yogurt to mask the taste.

Capsules

You can also grind up the shrooms and place them inside capsules to avoid the taste.

1. Acquire a capsule machine online
2. Grind up as many dried mushrooms as you want to capsule (it’s fine if you have extra)
3. Following the capsule machine’s instructions, you will be scraping mushroom dust into holes containing the first capsule shell.
4. Tamp down the powder into the shells using the supplied tamping mechanism
5. Fill any extra space in the shell with more mushroom dust, and tamp again
6. Finally, press down the top plate of the capsule machine containing the outer capsule shells
7. Gently remove and use a bowl to catch the capsules as you press them out of the machine.

Sweets

Many people take their shrooms dry and straight with sweet items like candy, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or with vibrant flavors like Nutella that can easily overpower most other flavours present.

All of the above recipes are less about exact measurements and more about experimenting with the measurements. There’s no right or wrong quantity for each of these recipes, only how much you enjoy each ingredient, or what you think would mask the taste best. Have some fun and experiment with unique variations to find your preferences. Ultimately, mushrooms can be added to anything, so the possibilities are as long as your imagination. 

How Long Can You Store Your Mushrooms (Cooked & Raw)?

The best way to store psilocybin mushrooms is in a dehydrated state as this removes the moisture that causes them to quickly deteriorate and go rotten. Once dehydrated, they are best stored in an airtight jar with a desiccant / silica packet as a precaution against unwanted moisture. In this state, the psychoactive content of your mushrooms is guaranteed to last for years. Fresh psilocybin mushrooms can be stored in the fridge for a similarly long time as store-bought culinary mushrooms, but will of course deteriorate rapidly. 

It’s always worth checking that your mushrooms don’t contain visible signs of dirt, mold, or bacteria overgrowth. Fresh psilocybin mushrooms should smell exactly like what you would expect other mushrooms to smell like. Sweet smells can be indicative of mold development, whether you can see it or not. Depending on your climate, and number of houseplants you own, you may also want to check that no fungus gnats or other bugs can make their way into your mushroom storage. 

Differences Between Mushrooms & Truffles

When it comes to mushrooms and cooking, truffles are often brought up in the conversation.  Not everyone may be aware of the distinction between magic mushrooms and magic truffles. They are similar in that they both possess psychoactive compounds that will lead to a psychedelic experience. However, the main differences are listed below.

Mushrooms: The mature fruiting body of the fungi that is typically visible above ground and easily accessible for identification and harvesting.

Truffles: The Sclerotia of the mushroom: a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes, which is evident by their relatively hardened composition. Sclerotia, or truffles, are typically found underground and as such are more difficult to harvest. Magic truffles only develop on certain species of psychedelic mushrooms.

Mature mushrooms and truffles can both be used in the recipes above. Always keep in mind that magic truffles generally have less potency than their mature counterparts. Use mature mushrooms more sparingly with careful attention to dosage.