Bitter mushroom: +25 photos and description, edible or not?

September is the richest month for mushrooms. At this time, mushroom pickers go into the forest “to hunt”, and then happily prepare mushrooms for the winter. Many people collect porcini mushrooms, honey mushrooms, chanterelles and others, but some also prefer bitter mushrooms (milk mushrooms). Even though they have a pungent taste. Few people know that it is edible, so they have no idea how to salt bitters. Salting is one of the best ways to preserve food. It is very effective and safe if all rules and recommendations are followed. Today we will look at this issue.

Characteristic

Bittersweet (Latin name Lactarius rufus) is recognized as the most bitter among the representatives of the genus Mlechnik from the Russula family.

Despite this, many people love it and collect it with great pleasure to implement various preparations for the winter. This species is classified as conditionally edible mushrooms of category 4.

Irina Selyutina (Biologist):

In representatives of the genus Mlechnik, the pulp of the fruiting bodies contains thick-walled hyphae (thread-like formations designed to perform certain functions; can be either multicellular or multinuclear, but unicellular) with milky juice of different colors. So, in bitter mushroom and black milk mushroom it is white, and in saffron milk cap it is orange-yellow.

The description includes the following parameters:

at the beginning of growth, the cap resembles a bell, later it takes on a funnel-shaped or flat shape, growing up to 11 cm in diameter;
the edges are thin, rolled inward, the center is in the form of a sharp tubercle surrounded by an indentation - this is one of the important signs;
on top, the cap of the fruiting body is brownish-red, smooth, with slight pubescence;
in damp and rainy weather the skin becomes sticky;
in cross section the mushroom is elastic and brittle, young specimens are dirty white, adults are chestnut or brown in color;
when cut, a bitter milky juice is released;
the pulp is rarely damaged by worms and emits, in the opinion of many, an unpleasant odor. At first it is white, then red-brown, dense;
the leg is cylindrical, erect, 7-8 cm long, light, the flesh at the base is red. Also at the base, the hyphae of the mycelium are clearly visible, resembling whitish felt;
the plates are often located, light, in old mushrooms they acquire a reddish-brown tint with a whitish coating of spores;
milky juice is white or colorless, very caustic.

Let's marinate

When sorting through the mushrooms you brought home, put the small mushrooms in a separate bowl - you can use them to make pickled bitters. The legs will have to be cut off completely, and the caps will need to be soaked in the traditional or accelerated way before marinating.

The norm of spices and other products for preparing 0.5 liters of marinade, calculated for 1 kg of raw materials:

Vinegar - 0.06 l.
Sugar - 2 tbsp. l.
Salt - 2 tbsp. l.
Pepper - 10 peas.
Laurel - 3 leaves.
Cloves - 5 pcs.
Onion - 2 heads.
Carrots - 1 piece.

Peel the carrots and chop into thin strips. Cut the peeled onion into small half rings. Pour all the ingredients prepared in advance, except vinegar, into the water.

Cooking after boiling does not take long, just boil for a couple of minutes. At the very end, pour vinegar into the marinade. Prepared mushrooms that have been soaked for a week should be boiled for half an hour. When everything is ready, drain the water.

Place the bitters tightly into prepared jars and pour in the hot marinade. In winter, bitters prepared according to this recipe will be a good addition to any vegetable or meat dish.

All the recipes suggested above do not require great culinary skills. The quality of salted and pickled mushrooms depends on the preparation of the raw materials. Well-washed and soaked bitters in any type of pickling will delight you with their original taste.

The bitter mushroom is a lamellar mushroom that has a reddish-brown cap, a slightly bitter taste, and is considered conditionally edible. The bitter mushroom belongs to the fourth category of nutritional value, and it is the most common of the lactiferous species. This mushroom grows everywhere in pine, spruce and birch forests, as well as in deciduous forests.

How to salt bitters?

It is best to eat bitter mushroom in its salted form. Therefore, we present to your attention a recipe for salty bitters. So, how to salt bitters? You need to spend a little time and effort on this.

In order to pickle bitters you will need:

bitter mushrooms;
salt;
garlic;
caraway;
horseradish;
black currant leaves.

How to pickle bitters cold - recipe

Cold pickling is excellent for bitters. This is the easiest way to pickle bitters. The cold method does not require much effort at all and does not require preliminary boiling.
Bitter mushrooms are cleaned, washed well, the stems are cut off, leaving only one centimeter, and then soaked.
In order to salt bitters in a cold way, for one kilogram of mushrooms take two tablespoons of salt, a couple of cloves of garlic, horseradish and a little cumin, you can also put a blackcurrant leaf.
In order to pickle bitters, put salt in a sterilized jar. Then add a layer of mushrooms and sprinkle with salt and spices, repeat the procedure until the jar is full.
Pressure is placed in a jar filled with bitters, and after two to three days they must be placed in a cool place.
After seven days, you need to check the amount of brine for the bitters that you will pickle. If there is not enough brine in the jar, then you need to increase the load or add saline solution. Cold-salted bitter mushrooms are considered ready after two months.

How to pickle bitters using a hot method - recipe

To pickle bitter mushrooms, you need to take an enamel pan, pour water (a little) into it, add twenty grams and place a kilogram of mushrooms. Boil for 20-30 minutes. When the mushrooms settle, this means they are ready. Next, the mushrooms need to be cooled.
Meanwhile, in order to salt the bitters, put six black peppercorns and three bay leaves on the bottom of a sterilized jar. Then add a layer of mushrooms, a clove of garlic, more mushrooms, dill. Repeat the layers until the jar is full.
After the jar is completely filled, in order to pickle the bitters, put a bay leaf there and pour in vegetable oil (0.5 centimeters). The jar must be closed with a plastic lid. Salted mushrooms must be stored in the refrigerator.

It is difficult to count all the types of mushrooms that exist on our planet. They differ in color, size, taste and much more. Some mushrooms can be eaten, while others cannot. But there are also mushrooms about which opinions are divided. One of them is bitter. It is often called bitter milk mushroom, bitter milk mushroom or bitter milk mushroom. Many mushroom pickers consider bittersweet to be poisonous, so they leave it in the forest. However, it is actually an edible mushroom. How and what can be prepared from it?

Bitters can be easily recognized by their appearance:

The diameter of the cap usually does not exceed 8 cm, although sometimes it reaches 11. If the mushroom is young, it is convex. The edges are turned inward. There is a tubercle in the center of the cap, which is considered the main distinguishing feature. Color varies from red-brown to chestnut-brown. Mushroom plates have a reddish-yellow tint.
The flesh of this type of mushroom is grayish-white. Just under the skin it has the same color as the cap. As the mushroom matures, the flesh darkens and becomes reddish-brown. It contains white juice inside, which gives the bitter taste an unpleasant aftertaste.
The leg reaches a length of 10 cm. It is slightly lighter in color than the cap. As the mushroom grows, its stem changes and becomes hollow.

This type of mushroom is considered universal. They can grow in any forest, but are most often found where there are pine trees, moss and lichen. Bitterweed grows actively between June and October. Growth slows down, but does not stop completely even after the first frost.

The mushroom is considered conditionally edible: it has an unpleasant, burning aftertaste. To get rid of this taste, the collected mushrooms must be thoroughly soaked.

Where does it grow and when to collect

There is no specific place where these mushrooms grow, since they are distributed almost everywhere - in forests of any type.

The greatest accumulation of fruiting bodies is observed under pine and birch trees in the northern half of the forest zone, in wet pine forests, where mycorrhiza forms with these trees.

Collection is also carried out near lichens and mosses, where the soil is acidic and moist. Found singly or in groups.

Fruiting bodies can occasionally be found in parks or near isolated trees, if the mycelium is brought in with soil from the forest.

Mushroom picking begins in July. Fruiting lasts until mid-autumn - October. In some regions they bear fruit until the first autumn frosts.

You should not harvest near roads, industrial and gas-polluted areas, because... they are capable of accumulating toxic substances and becoming dangerous to human health and life.

Difference from false doubles

Edible bitters have several twin species. Some of which are inedible, and some can be eaten.

In order not to confuse the desired mushroom with a “copy”, which is often unsuitable for food, you should be guided by two signs: the white milky juice secreted by the pulp when cut, and the protruding tubercle in the center of the cap. But when collecting edible doubles, you can rejoice in the fact that you can introduce your family to a new “participant” of the feast and continue collecting the fruiting bodies of these mushrooms in the future.

To be sure, you can read a more detailed description of species similar to bittersweet.

Milky liver. An inedible mushroom (due to its extremely pungent taste), from which, when broken, flows a milky juice that turns yellow in the air. The flesh is cream or brownish-yellow. The leg is erect and the same shade as the cap.
The milkweed is stunted (milk milk is tender). A cap with a light surface, in the center there is a tubercle surrounded by a depression. When cut, it produces a white milky sap that turns yellow in air. The species is classified as a conditionally edible mushroom.
Swamp milk mushroom. Prefers to grow in wetlands in coniferous forests. The hat is brick-colored, the leg and plates are a lighter tone. The milky juice is whitish, in air it is gray with a yellowish tint. Refers to edible mushrooms.
Camphor milkweed (camphor milk mushroom). This double is edible, but due to its specific smell it is not in demand among mushroom pickers. Produces abundantly acrid white milky juice. The pulp is loose and fresh. A cap with a small tubercle and ribbed edges.
Common milkweed (smooth). An edible mushroom with a glossy cap concave inward in the center. The color of the cap ranges from brown to lilac. The leg is erect, short. There is practically no smell. The milky juice is white, acrid, not very abundant, and turns slightly green in the air.
Milky reddish. An edible mushroom with the taste and smell of maple syrup. The cap is bright brown-red, up to 10 cm in diameter, the leg is up to 12 cm long and up to 3 cm thick. The hymenophore plates are closely spaced, the color is pinkish-yellow.

Fkusnofacts

— To make the bitters milder in taste

, it is recommended to soak them in cold water for 1-3 days, changing the water every 6 hours. To check if mushrooms are bitter, cook a small amount of them. After cooking, taste will determine whether you should continue soaking. You can boil the bitter mushrooms by boiling them for an hour - however, keep in mind that in this case it will most likely not be possible to completely get rid of the bitterness, and all the taste and beneficial properties will be “boiled” from the mushrooms.

— Bittersweet has a distinctive appearance

- slightly raised margins of the cap (in young mushrooms, the margins first rise and bend inward at the edges), in the center there is an oily pit with a tubercle, the color is red and beige, the cap has plates. The bitterling has no toadstools similar to it, this is a significant plus for beginners in quiet hunting.

— Growing

bitter from May until late frosts in almost any place in the forest, from arid places to swamps and mosses. Bitters grow in groups of 30-50 mushrooms or more. From 1 good clearing you can collect a full basket of bitters.

— Bittersweet belongs to the fourth, “weakest” class of mushrooms

. When boiled or fried, bitters will release their bitterness into the final dish. In some countries, bitter mushrooms are recognized as an inedible mushroom, but in our country, pickling and pickling of bitter mushrooms is recognized without a doubt.

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Beneficial features

Mushrooms boost immunity

This low-calorie product (22 kcal per 100 g) contains a whole range of nutrients and is of great value to the body.

The pulp contains:

vitamins C, A, E, PP and group B;
microelements - phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, selenium;
cellulose;
alimentary fiber;
organic acids - nicotinic, pantothenic, folic.

Thanks to this rich composition, when eaten regularly, fruiting bodies saturate the body with nutrients, increase resistance to many diseases, tone and improve general condition.

Contraindications

In some cases, bitters can aggravate the condition of a sick person. Contraindications include:

gastritis, increased and decreased acidity of the stomach;
peptic ulcer;
pancreatitis;
various liver diseases - hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver failure.

It is also prohibited to consume mushrooms for children under 7 years of age, pregnant and nursing mothers. There is a contraindication in case of individual intolerance.

If you have at least one of these problems, you should consult your doctor about the desire and possibility of eating even occasionally bitters, like other mushrooms.

Cooking rules

Despite the bitter taste and not very high nutritional value, bitters are readily used in cooking - they are pickled, salted, fried and frozen for the winter.

Before preparing any dish, mushrooms must be properly processed to get rid of the pungent smell and tart taste.

After collection, the fruiting bodies are freed from forest debris, washed in clean water, most of the stem is cut off, leaving a small fragment 1 cm long under the cap.

Next, they are placed in a capacious container and filled with water. Soak for 3 days, changing the water at least twice (or better yet, do this at least 2-3 times a day). To prevent them from becoming moldy, you can add 1 tsp to the water. citric acid and 1 tbsp. l. salt. This long soaking will remove all the bitterness. Afterwards you can start preparing them.

Soaking for 3 days is usually used with the hot salting method. If a cold salting method is intended, then soaking should take place for at least 6 days. With any salting method, the water should be changed as often as possible during soaking.

There are many recipes with bitters, let's look at the most popular ones.

Recipe 1. Fried mushrooms with potatoes

Many gourmets believe that these components combine perfectly in one dish.

To prepare you will need:

potatoes - 10 pcs.;
mushrooms - 0.5 kg;
black peppercorns - 5-6 pcs.;
salt - to taste;
spices (bay leaf, etc.) - optional;
chopped greens (dill, parsley) - for serving.

First, soaked mushrooms need to be boiled. Pour water into a saucepan, add a couple of black peppercorns, salt, and other spices (optional). The mushroom mass is transferred to a metal bowl, brought to a boil, and simmered for half an hour over low heat to maintain their shape. During cooking, it is necessary to periodically remove the foam.

The boiled fruiting bodies are placed in a colander to get rid of excess liquid. Then peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes, and boil them in salted water.

You can make a delicious dish from bitters

Mushrooms are fried in vegetable oil until golden brown, boiled potatoes are added, salt and pepper are added, poured with 200 ml of sour cream, and put in the oven for 20 minutes at 180°C.

The dish is served in portions, sprinkled with chopped parsley or dill.

Recipe 2. Pickled mustards

Pickled bitters are a classic way to prepare these mushrooms. For 2 kg of young mushrooms you will need:

table salt - 2 tbsp. l.;

allspice peas - 5 pcs.;

cloves (buds) - 5 pcs.;

bay leaf - 4 pcs.;

The washed (soaked) mushrooms are placed in a saucepan, filled with water and all the ingredients of the marinade are added without vinegar.

Boil over medium heat until boiling, then pour in vinegar (take the amount of vinegar based on personal experience) and cook for another 20 minutes.

While cooking is happening, prepare the container - sterilize the jars along with the lids. Fill each container with mushrooms and marinade so that it completely covers them, roll up, wrap and leave to cool completely.

Irina Selyutina (Biologist):

Pickled bitters are a fairly popular dish in various regions of Russia. And its taste largely depends on the quality of the prepared marinade. There are several tricks that can give it new flavor notes:

If you want a “forest” taste for mushrooms, add currant and cherry branches and leaves. By the way, they will change not only the taste, but even the color of the marinade.
A sweetish marinade can be obtained by adding granulated sugar and cinnamon (cloves).
For an acidic marinade, increase the original portion of vinegar or citric acid.
Adding salt and bay leaves will give a salty taste.
Pepper (red, allspice, black or chili) will add spiciness to the marinade.

Once cooled, store in a cool place. You can try this preparation in 3-4 weeks.

Recipe 3. Frozen mushrooms

Mushrooms soaked for 3 days are boiled in clean water for 7-10 minutes.

Then the water is drained and the mushrooms are filtered. Pour water again, add salt, black peppercorns and allspice.

After boiling, add the bitters and cook over low heat for half an hour, remembering to remove the foam with a slotted spoon or spoon. Place in a colander, allow the water to drain, cool completely and place portions into plastic bags or plastic containers. Sent to the freezer.

In the future, such a preparation can be used for making soups, filling for pies, salads, frying and stewing.

It is not necessary to defrost mushrooms before cooking.

Recipe 4. Salted mustards

To prepare a tasty and aromatic pickle you will need several ingredients:

mushrooms - 2 kg;
onions 1-2 heads per 0.5 liter container;
coarse salt - 4 tbsp. l.;
bay leaf - 1-2 pcs.;
sunflower oil - 3-4 tbsp. l.
black pepper - 8-9 pcs.;
dried dill;
garlic;
cloves - 2-3 buds;

Clear fruit bodies from forest debris, separate small ones from large ones. It is better to marinate the first ones.

Place them in a saucepan, add water, and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Then drain in a colander; when the liquid has drained, return it to the metal container, fill it with water, and leave to soak for 12 hours.

After this time, strain, add new liquid, cook for 20 minutes, strain again. While the mushrooms are cooling, you can peel the garlic and cut the cloves into slices.

Sterilize pickling jars.

Sprinkle a thin layer of salt on the bottom of each sterile jar, add bay leaf and pepper. The mushrooms are placed with their stems up, each layer is sprinkled with salt, chopped dill (scalded with boiling water to make its smell softer) and garlic.

The top (last layer) is sprinkled with salt, then poured with boiling water and added 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil in each jar. The blanks are rolled up with tin lids and, after cooling, taken out for storage in a cellar or basement.

Hot salting: recipe No. 1

Hot pickling of bitter fruits according to the first recipe involves thoroughly soaking the bitter fruits. They are first washed, damaged parts and stalks are cut off, and then filled with water. In this position, you need to soak the bitters for about 5 days.

A prerequisite is that the water must be changed twice, and if possible, it is better three times. During the soaking process, the burning juice will be removed, which means that the fruiting bodies will become completely suitable for consumption.

After the fruits have been soaked, they are washed, placed in a pan and boiled in lightly salted water for no more than half an hour. To prevent the mushrooms from burning, they must be stirred periodically. After half an hour, they are removed from the heat and allowed to cool directly in the water, and then thrown into a colander.

Place the boiled bitters in a container, sprinkle with salt and add spices to taste. It is necessary to add garlic. A weight is placed on top to prevent the fruits from floating. They must be constantly in brine.

Hot pickling will be ready for use within a week. It can be used as an appetizer for a holiday table or as an independent dish.

Application in medicine

The mushroom helps in the treatment of many diseases

Due to the rich composition of useful components, bitters are in great demand in folk medicine and help get rid of many ailments and problems.

An excellent antiseptic that disinfects any wound on the surface of the skin.
Has antibacterial effects. The forest product is capable of destroying bacteria harmful to the body - staphylococcus, E. coli.
Due to the high content of vitamin C, it improves immunity.
Useful nutrients (biologically significant chemical elements for the human body) in the pulp normalize blood pressure and stimulate the process of hematopoiesis.
When applied externally, the milky juice improves the condition of the skin. This remedy prevents the development of skin diseases and helps to quickly cure them.
It has a powerful antioxidant effect and normalizes protein-carbohydrate metabolism.
Lowers blood sugar levels.
The dietary product helps reduce excess weight and stabilizes the digestive system.
Reduces the risk of developing infectious diseases.

Edible mushroom look-alikes

Since the description of bitterling is difficult to distinguish from the true porcini mushroom, boletus and boletus, it was nicknamed false. A mistake during harvesting can be costly, because if it gets into a dish, it will deteriorate irrevocably. At the same time, high temperatures intensify the bitterness. The only way to dull the bitter taste is with vinegar.

The main distinguishing features of the gall fungus from its counterparts:

If you lick bittersweet, you will immediately notice a very bitter taste similar to bile, followed by a burning sensation.
The cut area of the false specimen darkens, becoming pinkish-brown. Edible specimens usually do not change color. Only the boletus at the break acquires a pinkish color.
On the surface of the bitterling leg there is a brown mesh, which the porcini mushroom does not have. The boletus, like a birch trunk, is covered with dark scales. The leg of the boletus also has a mesh, but different from its false double.
A false representative of the culture is characterized by the presence of a white or pinkish tubular layer. The boletus mushroom or true porcini mushroom has a yellowish or grayish color of the tubular layer.

Experienced mushroom pickers recommend carefully inspecting mushrooms during picking, since inedible mushrooms can be harmful to health if consumed. After using various spices and vinegar in canning, the bitterness may be masked. As a result, when entering the body with food, the toxins contained in mushrooms destroy the liver. Symptoms of poisoning may appear weeks after consuming bittersweet. This may cause dizziness, weakness, impaired bile secretion, and with large doses, cirrhosis of the liver.

Growing

There are three ways to grow bitterlings at home.

In the garden

To do this, you need to purchase ready-made mycelium in a specialized store or prepare planting material yourself from freshly picked mushrooms.

Take the caps of the fruiting bodies (8-10 pieces), separate them from the stems, fill them with water and leave them to infuse for a day. The next day, knead them with your hands into a paste (you can rub them through a fine sieve), and mix the mushroom solution thoroughly.

In the garden, select a suitable place near birch, pine or oak trees, where bitters usually grow in nature - near the trees with which they form mycorrhizae. Remove the top layer of soil up to 20-25-30 cm thick. Purchased or homemade mycelium is mixed with a pre-prepared substrate, which includes straw, deciduous tree bark or compost.

Lay it in a thick layer - 4-5 cm, sprinkle it with garden soil on top and water it.

Further care consists of periodically moistening the soil and, if necessary, sheltering from sunlight to avoid drying out of the mycelium.

The bed is insulated for the winter a month before the onset of cold weather - fallen leaves or sawdust are used.

If everything is done correctly, you will receive the first harvest next year in July. The lifespan of the mycelium directly depends on the lifespan of the tree chosen for its planting.

In room

You can grow bitters not only outdoors, but also indoors - a barn or basement.

To do this, it is necessary to provide certain growth conditions:

stable temperature within 20-21°C;
humidity at 70-75%;
good ventilation;
daylight.

How to salt bitters so that they turn out not only edible, but also tasty is a question that interests many housewives. Due to their bitter taste, these mushrooms are not very common in cooking, but if cooked correctly, they turn out very appetizing.

With added vinegar

For pickling with vinegar (pickling) for the winter, it is correct to use small-sized fruits without legs. First you should start preparing the marinade. For this you will need:

salt (2 tbsp);
onions (2 pcs.);
peppercorns (10 pcs.);
granulated sugar (2 tbsp);
bay leaf (3 pcs.);
cloves (5 pcs.);
carrot (1 pc.);
vinegar (0.06 l).

The amount of ingredients for the marinade required to pickle bitter mushrooms is indicated based on 1 kg of mushrooms.

All components of the marinade are placed in a large saucepan, where 0.5 liters of water are added (it is worth paying attention once again that all ingredients are indicated based on the presence of 1 kg of mushrooms) and cook for several minutes after boiling. First, the carrots are chopped and the onions are finely chopped.

The mushrooms are washed and boiled in a separate bowl for 30 minutes after boiling. Then the water is drained, the fruits are transferred to jars and filled with the resulting marinade.

You can serve pickled mushrooms with baked potatoes and vegetables. It’s very tasty to add mushrooms to salads with potatoes and meat. They can be used as an alternative to pickles.

Bitters - benefits and harms

Bitter mushrooms, the benefits and harms of which will be discussed further, are among those mushrooms that many do not collect, because some do not like their taste, while others consider them poisonous. Meanwhile, when properly prepared, these mushrooms can be very tasty.

Bitters contain large amounts of vitamin C and potassium.
Consuming bitters in reasonable quantities has a beneficial effect on the skin, lowers blood pressure and normalizes blood sugar levels.
Bitters have high nutritional properties and low calorie content.

Like any product, and mushrooms in particular, bitter mushrooms, have a number of contraindications. If you do not know this information, neglect it and do not put it into practice, consuming these mushrooms can cause serious harm to the body.

The consumption of mushrooms is contraindicated for gastritis, liver diseases, pancreatitis and peptic ulcers.
Bitters are contraindicated for use by children under 6 years of age.
Mushrooms absorb harmful substances, and therefore it is important to collect them in environmentally friendly areas.

Recycling

As mentioned above, bitters have a rather unpleasant aftertaste. To get rid of it, they must be thoroughly soaked. This process usually takes two to three days. It is recommended to change the water at least once a day. To speed up the process, you can add a little salt and citric acid to the water.

Before soaking, the mushrooms must be cleared of debris, grass and leaves. The easiest way to do this is with a soft brush or dish sponge (hard side).

After all the bitterness has gone, you can start preparing mushroom dishes.

How to cook?

Many dishes involve the use of already boiled bitters. Let's look at how to cook them correctly.

Add a little salt, a few peas of black and allspice, and a bay leaf to the mushrooms in the pan. Fill it all with cold water. Cook over medium heat for approximately 30 minutes. Boiled bitters can be used to prepare any mushroom dishes. It is also good to store them in the refrigerator, first packing them in plastic bags.

How to cook fried mushrooms?

These mushrooms can not only be boiled, but also fried. Fried bitters go best with potatoes. Here is one of the recipes.

Ingredients:

500 g of main ingredient;
3 tbsp. flour;
10 potatoes;
1 glass of sour cream (210 g);
5 tbsp. olive or sunflower oil;
salt and spices to taste.

This recipe is quite simple to prepare:

The bitters must first be soaked in cold water as described above and cooked.
Peel the potatoes and also boil them in lightly salted water.
Sprinkle the mushrooms with flour and place in a frying pan in hot sunflower oil. Fry until golden brown.
Take a baking dish (preferably rectangular). Place potatoes, previously cut into slices, and fried bitters.
Pour sour cream over everything and place in the oven, preheated to 180°C. Leave for a quarter of an hour.

In the marinade

Pickled bitters are a fairly popular dish. In the process of their preparation, marinade plays an important role. It determines what the finished dish will be like: spicy, salty, sweet and sour, etc. You can add such shades of taste to the marinade using additional ingredients:

To make the marinade sour, you need to add a little more vinegar or citric acid.
To obtain a sweet taste you will need granulated sugar, cinnamon or cloves.
The salty taste is a result of the addition of salt and bay leaves.
The marinade will become spicy if you add red, allspice or chili to it.
To make the mushrooms have an unusual “forest” flavor, you can add cherry and currant leaves and branches. They will change not only the taste, but also the color of the marinade.

Classic

The classic recipe for pickling bitters involves the use of the following ingredients:

4 kg of main product;
2 liters of clean cold water;
4 tbsp. salt;
10 peas of black allspice;
10 cloves;
7 bay leaves;
2 tbsp. vinegar.

The cooking process looks something like this:

Cover mushrooms with water in a large saucepan. Add all ingredients except vinegar.
Put on fire and let it boil.
Pour in the prepared vinegar.
Cook for 20 minutes.
Transfer to pre-sterilized jars. Close tightly with nylon lids.
Let cool at room temperature.

You can eat them after about five days. Serve as a salad with garlic and onions. You can season it with sunflower oil.

Simple recipe

There is another recipe for only 1 kg of bitters. For the marinade you will need 1 liter of water, 6 tbsp. 9% vinegar, 2 tbsp. sugar and 2 tbsp. salt. All these ingredients must be combined and put on fire. After boiling, add mushrooms and cook for a quarter of an hour. Then transfer to sterile jars and close with lids. Such preparations must be stored in a cool place.

In Polish

Poles love to marinate these mushrooms with garlic. The recipe is also designed for 1 kg of the main product.

So, for the marinade you need to prepare:

20 cloves of garlic;
salt in the amount of 2 tbsp;
about one and a half tbsp. Sahara;
5 peas of allspice;
one and a half tsp. vinegar (9%);
several currant, cherry and bay leaves;
5 cloves.

Pickling bitters according to this recipe is not at all difficult:

First you need to prepare the marinade. To do this, add all the ingredients to the water except vinegar, garlic and leaves.
When the water with spices boils, add soaked and pre-boiled mushrooms into it. Cook them for 15 minutes.
Banks need to be sterilized. Place garlic and leaves on their bottom, pour in vinegar.
Fill the jars with mushrooms. Pour the marinade there.
Roll up the lids and wrap. Leave it like this until it cools completely.
If there is no intention of storing the dish until winter, the jars can be closed with plastic lids. They need to be stored in the refrigerator.
To prevent the bitters from becoming moldy, you can sprinkle dry mustard on top. Another option is to cover with a horseradish leaf.

How to clean bitters?

Preparing bitter mushrooms includes preliminary cleaning and soaking of mushrooms. Only with proper preparation will mushrooms acquire a normal taste and become suitable for consumption. Then they can be salted, pickled, boiled or fried.

First, soak the mushrooms in water for half an hour, then it will be easier to clean them.
The bitter plants are sorted out, damaged areas and dirt are cut out.
The stems of the bitters are cut off, leaving 1 cm at the cap.
The sorted raw materials are placed in containers and filled with water.

Stages and nuances of salting

The entire process of pickling mushrooms can be divided into several stages:

Preparation of products. At this stage, the mushrooms are sorted.
Cleaning. This stage is characterized by cleaning the mushrooms from dirt using cold water. Then they are soaked for three days, changing the water periodically. In this case, the dishes must be placed in a cold place. If the mushrooms are very dirty, add salt to the water.
Slicing. Here the soaked mushrooms are washed and chopped, removing the stems. Large fruits are cut into several parts.
Salting involves using one of the methods: cold or hot.

How to pickle bitters at home?

Pickling bitters at home is not at all difficult, but you need to know the specifics of their preparation. To eliminate bitterness, mushrooms need to be soaked in water for 5 days, changing the water every day. You need to store bitters while they are salting in a cool place - a basement or cellar.

salt – 2 tbsp. spoons;
bitters - 1 kg;
garlic, spices - to taste.

The soaked bitters are washed and squeezed.
Place in a container, season with salt, spices and garlic.
Cover the mushrooms with water, place a weight on top and leave for a month.

Marinade for bitters

Pickling bitters for the winter varies. Sometimes a saline solution is used exclusively. And sometimes mushrooms are marinated with vinegar. Then they turn out marinated and will have an interesting, slightly sour taste. After cooking, the mushrooms are doused with cold water so that they have a denser structure.

bitter mushrooms – 1 kg;
water – 2 glasses;
vinegar – 60 ml;
salt – 1 tbsp. spoon;
sugar – 1 teaspoon;
black pepper – 10 peas;
clove buds – 5 pcs.;
bay leaves – 2 pcs.;
onions – 2 pcs.;
carrots – 1 pc.

Boil bitters for 20 minutes and squeeze.
Pour water into a pan, add sugar, salt, vegetables, spices and boil until the vegetables are ready.
Pour in vinegar, add mushrooms and boil for 10 minutes.
Place the mushrooms in jars, fill them with marinade and cover with lids.

How to pickle bitters quickly?

Pickled bitters, a quick preparation method for which will be discussed below, turn out very appetizing with a light aroma of the spices used. It is not necessary to use the entire set of spices indicated in the recipe. If you don’t like any of them, you can do without it.

bitters – 2 kg;
onion – 1 kg;
vinegar essence – 3 teaspoons;
black peppercorns – 9 pcs.;
cloves – 3 pcs.;
bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
sugar, salt - 2 tbsp. spoons;
water – 1 liter.

The washed mushrooms are placed in a saucepan, filled with water, boiled for 10 minutes, and drained in a colander.
The onion is chopped.
A marinade is made from water, salt, sugar, cloves, pepper and vinegar.
Place mushrooms in it and boil for 5 minutes.
Mushrooms are placed in jars, layered with onions.
Pour boiling marinade and add 10 ml of oil and seal.

How to pickle bitters with soaking?

How to salt the collected bitters so that the taste of the finished product is pleasant worries every housewife who is doing this for the first time. First of all, you need to soak the mushrooms thoroughly, changing the water several times. The process may take up to 5 days, but the resulting mushrooms will taste great.

bitters - 1 kg;
garlic – 4 cloves;
salt – 1 tbsp. spoon;
black and allspice pepper, dill, currant leaf.

Mushrooms are filled with water, changing it 1-2 times a day.
Soaking bitters lasts 4-5 days.
The bitter mushrooms are boiled for 20 minutes, the water is drained, and the mushrooms are cooled.
Place the mushrooms with garlic, salt and spices in a container, apply pressure and leave for 3-4 days.
The mushrooms are placed in jars, oil is poured in and refrigerated.

Adviсe

Since bitters are champions in bitterness, they are soaked for five to ten days before salting, constantly changing the water so that the bitterness disappears. After this, it is recommended to boil them. Then they will not have a burning bitterness, but a piquant bitterness. Many people try to collect only large mushrooms, but only small mushrooms, about three centimeters in diameter of the cap, retain their elasticity in the marinade. Therefore, it is recommended to collect only the youngest bitters. If the mushrooms turn out to be large, cut them into pieces, so the bitterness will go away faster. If hot salting is used, they are soaked for no more than two days. An interesting fact is that recently bitters have begun to be dried and washed into powder, which is used as a seasoning for many dishes.

Thus, mushrooms are a favorite product of many people; they are included in various dishes and are also used as an independent delicacy. Mushrooms are not only dried for the winter, but also pickled. They do this in several ways, adding various ingredients, spices and seasonings. Such products are stored only in a cool place. Following all the subtleties and recommendations for preparing bitters will allow you to obtain a safe product, the use of which will not affect human health.

Salted mushrooms recipe

Growing in fairly large families, bitterlings appear to be mushrooms with a dark brown color. Collecting them is simply a pleasure, because you can carry a whole bucket from one clearing.

True, preference should be given to small or very small specimens - these have a denser structure and look great in the workpiece.

This recipe is also suitable for salting redfish. If necessary, they can be combined in one container.

Mushrooms 1 kg
Table salt 35 g
Blackcurrant leaf 4 pcs.
Dill with umbrellas and stems 4 pcs.
Black pepper 5 pcs.
Sunflower oil 20 ml
Allspice 5 peas
Garlic 4 cloves

Important: while bitterlings do not need special cleaning, the situation is different with hornworts. They have a terry edge along the cap, which must be removed by prying it off with the tip of a knife.

Solim

We've dealt with soaking, and now we'll find out how to pickle bitters. Let's consider both options:

Hot ambassador.
The pickling is cold.

Hot salt

The mushrooms are soaked, they no longer contain bitterness. We begin salting the bitters using the hot method. Take an enamel pan and place the mushrooms, caps down. Add some salt to the water and pour it into the pan. Cook for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent it from burning.

You need to salt the mushrooms with dill and garlic. Before storing, place the dill in a basin, add cold water, rinse and rinse. Peel the garlic. It can be sliced or used as whole cloves.

Suitable containers for salted mushrooms would be:

Enameled pan.
Enameled bucket.
Glass jars with a wide neck.

Place the boiled mushrooms tightly in a prepared container, sprinkling them with salt and garlic. 2 tablespoons of salt per 1 kg. You need to put dill and a load on top.

The brine should completely cover the corned beef. If it is not enough, add salt water.

At home, mushrooms are salted for 7 days. It turns out very tasty if the bitters are cooked hot. It’s good to eat them on weekdays, and such a snack will decorate the holiday table.

Cold pickling

Now let's try to prepare salted bitters according to the cold pickling recipe. Salt, as with the hot method, we will take 2 tbsp per 1 kg. l. Seasonings you will need:

garlic;
dill;
cherry leaves;
peppercorns (black);
caraway.

The mushrooms are already soaked, the jars (pan) are washed clean with soda and rinsed with water. The greens are sorted, washed in running water, cut into pieces of a convenient size. The garlic is peeled.

Place the mushrooms caps down. Sprinkle the layers with salt and spices. Place a weight on top so that the mushrooms are all covered with brine and do not darken. Cold-salted bitters will be ready only after two months.

Salted bitters: cold salting method

An easier and faster way to get crispy pickles. True, you need to wait at least 30 days for its results if you have a cold cellar.

Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Number of servings: 20

Energy value

calorie content – 22.1 kcal;
proteins – 3.05 g;
fats – 0.6 g;
carbohydrates – 3.4 g.

Ingredients

bitterlings – 1 kg;
coarse salt – 2 tbsp;
spices - to taste;
garlic cloves – 5 pcs.

Step-by-step preparation

Soak the peeled mushrooms for about five days in raw, cool water. Then squeeze out excess moisture. Remove the stems from large bitters.
Place the product along with garlic slices, spices and salt in layers in a wooden or plastic container. Fill the surface with water and install pressure. You can try again in a month.

Tip: to store the product for a long time, use the most common coarse rock salt. Spice with iodine additives is not suitable for any preparation, because it contains an anti-caking component.

Why do you need to soak mushrooms and how to do it

Let's look at the simple soaking method first. Put the bitter mushrooms brought home into a basin, add water and let them stand for a while. After pre-soaking, it is easier to clean the caps and legs from dirt and debris.

Prepare a container for soaking from a non-oxidizing material. Sort out the mushrooms. Cut out wormholes, remove damaged parts and dirt. Trim the legs, leaving a stump no more than 1 cm long.

Pour the selected and purified raw materials into prepared containers and add water.

Mushrooms should remain in water for at least 5 days. Bitter substances will be released into the water, so you will have to drain the water three times and add fresh water. By the end of the week, the milk mushrooms can be salted.
Modern housewives are always experimenting. To speed up the soaking process, they began to use citric acid and salt. Take 1 kg of cleanly washed, trimmed milk mushrooms. In 1 liter of water, dilute 1 tbsp salt. l. and citric acid - ⅓ tsp is enough. Pour the salted and acidified solution over the mushrooms. There will be no bitterness after 3 days. The water will have to be changed 3 times every day. Each time you need to add salt and citric acid.

Recipe for canned bitters

The mushrooms are crispy, with a slight piquant taste achieved by adding vinegar. Fans of extraordinary preparations can supplement the marinade ingredients with spicy sprigs of their preferred aromatic herbs.

Number of servings: 20

Cooking time: 1 hour

Energy value

calorie content – 26.9 kcal;
proteins – 3.12 g;
fats – 0.34 g;
carbohydrates – 4.26 g.

Ingredients

bitters - 1 kg;
carnation buds – 5 pcs.;
laurel leaf – 2 pcs.;
carrots – 1 pc.;
table vinegar (9%) – 60 ml;
granulated sugar – 1 tsp;
rock salt – 1 tbsp;
pepper – 10 peas;
onions – 2 pcs.

Step-by-step preparation

After the mushrooms have been pre-treated, boil them for 20 minutes. Transfer to a sieve.
Prepare a marinade from 450 ml of water, dry ingredients and spices. Add mustard and cook on the stove for 10 minutes, then pour in vinegar.
During this time, prepare sterilized containers. Place onion rings and carrots in relatively thick pieces. Add mushrooms, pour over marinade. Roll up with a special twist.

This is interesting: russula will be an excellent addition to wolenka and mustard. It is also recommended to put currant, cherry and laurel leaves in this composition. You can salt according to any of the above recipes.

Now that you have learned how to pickle bitter mushrooms at home, and having tried these forest gifts at least once, you will prepare them year after year. Happy preparations!

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Hot salting: recipe No. 2

This pickling recipe is slightly different from the previous version of hot pickling of mushrooms. The harvest is placed in cool water, adding citric acid and salt. The mushrooms are kept in this position for several days. During this time, all the bitterness will come out of them. The water is changed no more than twice a day.

When the forest gifts are soaked, they are placed in an enamel pan and brought to a boil, adding a tablespoon of salt, after which they are cooked for another 30 minutes.

The mushrooms are removed from the water and placed in layers in a jar. Top each layer with seasonings of your choice. The constant ingredients are salt and garlic. The latter can be placed either in its entirety or chopped into small pieces. Currant or cherry leaves are placed on top. You should also definitely add dill.

They put pressure on the bitters, after placing a plate or a wooden circle. Store in the pantry. Alternatively, it can be refrigerated.

This completes the hot pickling of bitters. All you have to do is wait 8 days.