Has anyone tried to use a food dehydrator to dry fresh harvested cubes?

Did it negatively affect potency?

Any advice greatly appreciated

I never thought about using any other technic ... how people properly dry them usualy?
I would dry at pretty low temp, and depending how packed they are it could take between some hours up to 24h
I would say that in the long run it would actually preserve them better, as moisture might accelerate the degradation of the spices

i used a food dehydrator to dry shrooms.
no negative effect was noticable.

I only used it on a very low temperature, and also just because the flat i was living in at the time was so humid i was afraid of mold.
if possible i would recommend to dry them the "normal" way

The best way is to use desiccant. Most hardware stores sell the stuff that can be "recharged" in the oven. You'll want to use a larger container to place the desiccant in the bottom. Place the smaller container inside containing the fungus. Then put the lid on the larger container and wait a couple days. Don't put fresh harvested fungus in the device as this will overload the desiccant. Let them dry for 10-12 hours first. If you want to supercharge this device, you can fit it with a small fan to move air around and exchange moisture between the fungus and desiccant. This will double the drying speed.NEVER allow the fungus and desiccant to come into contact as the desiccant is pretty toxic.

Anything over about 50C will slowly degrade the actives. At about 100C, you'll notice a substantial loss. Making tea has minimal degradation only because of the brief time at these high temperatures.

depending on how many you are drying and how big your harvest/flushes are, a commercial grade dehydrator with multiple shelves is great. very very low heat (myths about heat and mushrooms abound - they actually withstand heat pretty well before degradation....ever make tea with boiling water? doesn't hurt a thing!)

after they come out of the dehydrator, let them sit in open air for 24hrs or so - any last bit of moisture is easily evaporated then.

invest in a vacuum sealer as well - that's where desiccant is useful. put one of the small sacs of desiccant in the vacuum seal bag. they'll last for years if kept cool and dark.

I got a different experience. I dehydrate a lot of wild mushrooms. They come out of the dehydrator dry cryspy. But if i forgot them there, even just overnight, they reabsorb moisture from the air and become soft again!
So i would say to put them directly in the bag after dehydrating, especially if the weather is wet.

a very good point, actually - thanks for adding this. i live in a very dry climate where humidity is rare. in more humid environments, one might undo the dehydration process by letting the fruits sit out in more moist atmosphere.

as you mentioned - "cracker-dry" is what we want. they should lightly "snap" when broken. then they're good for long storage.

I would typically dry in/on the (fan, lightbulb & wire mesh) dehydrator and then place in the dessicator (calcium chloride) tub for a few months. Then they're optimal for powdering once they're that dry.

Really appreciate all of these replies and insights.

Is there a particular dehydrator you guys would recommend (under$100) that's especially good for drying cubes?

Anything with low heat or adjustable heat that can be turned down. Heat is your enemy.

At first sight this might not make so much sense but the best way to dehydrate your shrooms is in dehydrator at high temp for 24 hours, and it will not lose potentcy, you can find this info all over the shroomery advised and done by the professional people there, not only that it works greatly for everyone they also have a reasoning for it, i will try to summarize the info i've read bcz i am approaching this stage in my first grow a doing my research on how to do things right. I had the first pins today

The actives are degraded by two ways oxidation(which is accelerated by heat) and enzymes
But when you apply heat there will be less oxygen in the air and shrooms will dry much faster so probably less oxidation also heat above 40C will denature the enzymes making them useless

Unfortunately i don't have money to get the dehydrator now so i will fan dry for 24 hours then use a dessicant(pure silica gel=kitty litter) for another 24 hours to cracker dry my shrooms to come

Please check some posts there to feel more confident about this, they say the 2 best investments you can make in this hobby is a Pressure cooker and a dehydrator

Too right Sakkadelic, you've got the understanding of the drying/oxidization process with cubensis perfect.

And the best 2 investments being a pressure cooker and a dehydrator, invaluable.

I run my dehydrator on the highest setting (I think it's 65c) for about 10-12 hours to get mine fully cracker dry. I checked this out in some depth when I first started cultivating. Psilocybin is really resistant to heat (185-195°c melting point), but not so resistant to light or air as it oxidizes quickly, mixed with the enzyme variable. The quicker you can get them snap dry the better.

Build your own dehydrator for pennies (or less) using an old computer fan, an incandescent light bulb and holder, a bucket and some metal gauze (e.g., frying pan splatter guard).

Mine cost a bit more because I used a mains voltage fan. I could do with adding a dimmer for temperature control although swapping between light bulb wattages achieves this after a fashion.

Wow! Many thanks i think I will buy a fan today in the money i saved hitchhiking
and a cheap thermometer adjusting the distance of the bulb could adjust the heat too
I there a way to block the light from entering the bucket? I will think of the design and build it

Any heat-resistant, opaque object of a suitable shape could be used to obstruct the light but tbh it's never really bothered me.

The light bulb is fixed inside the bucket, the fan underneath. I put short legs on the bottom of the bucket to assist airflow. The gauze rests atop the bucket, of course, and if I need to stack more gauzes I've used cardboard rings or, better, borrowed some cake tins with removable bases.

Really, a pictorial seems in order, especially if I've just found a dimmer switch to add to the device... I just cobbled it together with what I had and let necessity be the mother of invention.

Nice! Simple and easy to construct, i imagined it a little differently at first, a short but large diameter tube where the bulb and fan fit inside, connected to the bottom of the bucket sitting on legs... but yeah i imagine the air flow would be terrible this way lol. So yeah fan fixed directly to bottom and bulb above it
Yeah probably light is not a problem, magic bucket filled with super shiny gold
I'm sure i'm gonna use it to dry mushrooms and many other foods, i love dried mangoes

That's a great tip for a DIY dehydrator, if i cant get my dehydrator in time i will most def give it a try, i think imma buy this one for drying my cubies though Presto 06301 Dehydro Digital Electric Food Dehydrator AMAZON

One more thing, I used a plastic bucket. If for whatever reason you use a metal bucket, obviously it needs to be correctly earthed (grounded).

I still need to dig out a dimmer switch from my mountain of junk, then there'll be grounds for a pictorial.

Plastic bucket it is, got a main voltage 9x9 50hz fan for 5$ today, 100W bulb would be good?