Can I mail fresh chanterelles?

October 7, 2009 11:51 AM

How can I mail chanterelles? Will freshly picked chanterelles hold up unrefrigerated in a cardboard box for 3-5 days? If not, will sauteed and vacuum-sealed ones make it? I would like to send some fresh as a gift, but not if they show up rotten and slimy.
posted by scose to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

No, they won't survive. Dry them, then mail. Or, send them overnight, packed in an insulated box with freezer packs.
posted by infodiva at 12:31 PM on October 7, 2009

I can confirm infodiva's advice that if sent overnight with freezer packs they will arrive in decent shape. It gets quite expensive though, which is perhaps why they cost so much. My mother-in-law successfully checked a large cooler full with freezer packs on a flight and we have FedEx'ed them before.
posted by ChrisHartley at 2:05 PM on October 7, 2009

I'd go for it - if you can mail them overnight or 2nd day. Three to five days is definitely pushing it. If you don't wash them, put them in a paper bag, and mail them in a cardboard box, the worst that will happen after two or so days is that they'll arrive a little shriveled. I know that it's nicer to send clean mushrooms, but not messing with them will keep them more structurally sound. I've kept uncleaned chanterelles (in the fridge) for over a week, and they've been fine. Chanterelles are nice because they don't get maggoty, and are pretty tough.
posted by shrabster at 6:12 PM on October 7, 2009

Agreed. Golden chanterelles are very, very sturdy. After picking, I usually have a paper bags full of them, which slowly age on my kitchen counter (sometimes in the fridge) until I get around to cooking them.

Ship them uncleaned and definitely poke a hole or two in the box so that any excess moisture can escape.
posted by shinybeast at 9:27 PM on October 7, 2009

Response by poster: Good call on shipping them uncleaned. Since I'll be getting them for free, it sounds like it could at least be worth a try.
posted by scose at 9:31 PM on October 7, 2009

Re uncleaned: nonsense. Clean them, dry them off thoroughly (as in, no exterior moisture), and ship them quickest.

Mushrooms do not absorb moisture during normal rinsing. This has been proven with controlled experiments. And chanterelles, which are sturdy and do not even have gill-like structures, are completely immune to a washing.

I've seen what crawls into, on, and under mushrooms in the field. Wash them buggers.
posted by IAmBroom at 12:45 PM on October 9, 2009