The best tips on how to dry chanterelle mushrooms at home for the winter in an electric dryer and without

Many delicious dishes are prepared from chanterelles. But this type of mushroom is very different from most of its other “relatives”. Scientists have discovered a lot of beneficial properties in chanterelles. These bright gifts of the forest contain substances that help fight hepatitis C, diabetes and some cancers. They are also effective in the fight against worms. The list of useful properties goes on and on. But the purpose of this article is to describe in detail how to dry chanterelle mushrooms at home for the winter in order to prepare medicines from them.

The fact is that mushroom picking is possible for 3-4 months a year. After heat treatment, many compounds that are used for medicinal purposes decompose. This means that they cannot be locked in banks. It remains to be seen whether chanterelles can be dried. As practice shows, they respond well to the drying process. There are several ways to do this. Below you can find out how to dry chanterelles correctly so that they can be used for treatment.

Collection and preparation

Important: for drying, it is not recommended to collect chanterelles immediately after rain, as they will contain too much moisture.

First, it’s worth telling you how to properly collect chanterelles. Before putting the collected mushrooms in a bucket or basket, cut off the lower part with the soil, remove the leaves, pine needles and twigs. In this case, there will be less work at home to clean the mushrooms from dirt, which easily penetrates between its plates.

Under no circumstances should you wash mushrooms. They will absorb water and become unsuitable for drying. Use a small knife and a baby toothbrush to remove any stuck debris from the fruit's plates. The cap and the lower part of the leg can be wiped with a napkin or a slightly damp sponge.

Examine the mushrooms. It is better to throw away specimens spoiled or damaged by forest inhabitants. After cleaning, place the chanterelles on a piece of natural fabric or paper towel. They should dry within half an hour.

How to dry naturally

This method is the most preferred among all. But it also has one significant drawback - it can be dried only if the weather is warm and sunny. And autumn is most often rainy and cloudy in Russia.

Dry in this way for no more than two weeks. First, the chanterelles should be slightly dried on newspaper in the sun in a ventilated place. Mushrooms are strung on strong threads and hung in the sun. They should not fit tightly to each other.

For threading, use a thick needle. As a rule, thread drying takes from 6 to 9 days.

Special gratings are also suitable for this purpose. The chanterelles should be laid out in one layer and covered with gauze to prevent flies from landing on them. They should be turned over regularly.

It is important to understand in time when they are completely ready. Dried mushrooms should be elastic, slightly springy, but under no circumstances break. If you don’t dry them completely, they will quickly become moldy, and if you overdry them, they will lose their taste and smell.

The natural way

It is best to dry chanterelles in the cool autumn sun or in a room where low humidity is maintained. The mushrooms are carefully strung on a fishing line or strong thread, leaving a distance of several millimeters. They should not be exposed to rain, fog or steam. If this happens, further drying will not be successful.

You can use another method. Cover a table or cabinet surface with parchment. Place mushrooms in one layer. You can cover them with gauze or mosquito net on top to prevent insects from landing on the product.

Drying at room temperature will take about a week, or a little longer. You can check readiness by breaking the chanterelle. If moisture is released, then leave them for a few more days. When the mushroom bends and the middle is dry, the process is over. Overdried fruits break.

How to cook chanterelles

To properly prepare dried chanterelles at home, you need not only to observe the processing temperature, but also learn to determine the degree of readiness of the fruiting bodies.

To do this, they try to break the mushroom. A properly dried chanterelle will not crumble in your hand. At the same time, they bend, but in order to break the stem or cap, force must be applied. The fracture site must remain completely dry.

Reference! If the mushrooms were weighed before drying, you can determine their degree of readiness by weight. Properly prepared raw materials will be 9-10 times lighter than raw ones.

If by chance the mushrooms were dried for too long and began to crumble, they can also be used. Using a coffee grinder, the chanterelles are crushed, and then the mushroom powder is stored in glass containers with airtight lids.

In the oven

Typically, an electric oven is used to prepare dried products, since it allows the temperature to be most accurately controlled. Line a baking sheet or wire rack with clean sheets of paper or parchment. Large mushrooms are cut in half so that everything dries at approximately the same time.

It's good if the oven has convection. In this case, the chanterelles can be dried on several levels at the same time, because the fan will evenly distribute the hot air. The temperature is set to 45-50°C. It is impossible to turn on a higher temperature, because after 60 degrees useful substances begin to be destroyed.

The mushrooms need to be turned over every hour. After 4-5 hours, smaller fruits may be ready. You should check it in the same way as with the natural drying method. Chanterelles should be completely dried after 6-8 hours.

Important: the oven door cannot be completely closed, otherwise the evaporated moisture will again get into the mushrooms and spoil them.

Methods for drying chanterelles at home

It's time to figure out how best to dry chanterelles at home. Three methods are actively practiced. They differ in duration. The output is almost identical workpieces.

Classic sun drying

An ancient method. The process will take from a week to 12 days. Requires a sunny location. Allowed to be left under a canopy.

Instructions:

1. Arrange the mushrooms on nets or grates. Large specimens can be cut lengthwise.
2. Place in a suitable location.
3. Periodically turn over to the other side.

You can string chanterelles on a thread for drying, as they did in the old days. Mushroom “beads” look interesting in kitchen decor. Just pay attention to strength.

Preparing mushrooms in the oven

It is important not to overexpose and monitor the temperature. We recommend laying down parchment. Then nothing will stick.

Instructions:

1. Arrange the mushrooms in one layer.
2. Cook for 2 hours at 60 degrees with the door slightly open.
3. Next, reduce the temperature to 40 degrees and dry.

Do not pack it right away - leave it in a dry place for a day. After this, you need to check the workpiece. It should bend easily and take the shape of an arc. The mushroom cracks and breaks only with strong compression.

Features of harvesting chanterelles for the winter

Quick drying in the microwave

Option for small quantity only. It has many disadvantages - high energy costs, overheating destroys useful substances. The essence of the method is simple - put it on a plate and put it in the microwave for 20 minutes. Take out every 5 minutes and ventilate.

Chanterelles from an electric dryer

The electric dryer produces perfect chanterelles. The product is prepared relatively quickly and does not require close attention. Dried mushrooms remain clean, no dust or dirt settles. The method is suitable for drying zucchini, cherries, other vegetables, berries and fruits.

Instructions:

1. Place the chanterelles on special trays.
2. Turn on heating 50-55 degrees.
3. Leave for 14-18 hours.

To ensure uniform airflow, we periodically change the location of the tiers in the dryer. We recommend sometimes turning the mushrooms over to the other side.

An unusual method of drying in the refrigerator

An interesting way to dry chanterelles. You need to spread the paper, spread out the chopped mushrooms, and leave for a couple of weeks. The effectiveness of the method directly depends on the humidity inside the chamber.

In an electric dryer

Today, you can buy a variety of food dryer models in electronics supermarkets. They are also convenient to use for preparing chanterelles. These devices are designed to dry food as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Prepare the mushrooms in the same way as for the previous processing methods. Place the devices on the grilles so that air passes between them. Programs may differ for different dryer models. Therefore, you need to check the instructions which one will provide a temperature of 50°C (a deviation of 5° in one direction or the other is possible). It will take 3-3.5 hours to be ready. But you still need to check the condition of the mushrooms, since all devices dry food with different intensities.

Is it possible to dry chanterelles for the winter?

Every person knows that a mushroom is a product containing many toxic substances. So is it possible to dry them and not be afraid for your own health? Professional mushroom pickers know that this is one of the best ways to prepare this product. It is a heat treatment, so human life is not in danger. It is important to follow the process and not disrupt it.

Over the years, people have learned to prepare mushrooms in different ways. These include pickling, salting, freezing and drying. The last option is considered the most ancient, as it is still used today. As a result of the release of moisture, the product remains usable for a long time. It does not lose its rich aroma.

Storage

Dried chanterelles can be stored in two ways.

1. Glass jar. Before adding dried mushrooms, it must be thoroughly washed and completely dried. Then pour in the chanterelles and close with a nylon lid.
2. Paper bag. It allows air to pass through well, so there is no risk of mold. But it is worth keeping in mind that the bags can only be kept in a dry place so that the product does not become damp. The packaging must be carefully closed to prevent food moths from settling in the mushrooms.

Tip: you can pour mushrooms that have already been ground into powder into jars.

Chanterelles, which are dried and stored in the correct way, do not lose their medicinal properties throughout the year. In addition to being used for medicinal purposes, dried mushrooms can be added to soup in a soaked form to add flavor to the dish.

Where to buy dried chanterelles

If you can’t cook dried mushrooms at home, but want to enjoy healthy chanterelles, you can buy them ready-made.

It is recommended to buy dried raw materials either from trusted and familiar mushroom pickers, or in large stores, where all products are tested and certified. The price for dried chanterelles depends on the weight of the package.

If mushrooms are used for treatment, it is better to buy them in pharmacies. For example, you can find medicinal drops based on chanterelles on the open market. A course of taking this medicine strengthens the immune system and generally benefits the body.

It is not recommended to order dried chanterelles or any medicinal products based on them online, even if the price looks attractive. In this case, there is a high risk of getting a harmful product with a high content of radionuclides. Naturally, eating such mushrooms will not have any healing effect.

How to prepare mushrooms for drying?

Experienced mushroom pickers know very well that chanterelles do not have wormholes. Pests are not interested in them, because mushrooms contain a lot of quinomannose. This phenomenon explains the absence of any damage in the chanterelles.

How to properly prepare mushrooms for the winter? There are several basic rules:

1. The first step is to clean the raw materials from leaves, debris and grass.
2. Clean with a dry towel or brush without using water.
3. The work should be done very carefully so as not to damage the chanterelles.
4. If you do not use the option of drying chanterelles on a string, then the mushrooms should be cut into several parts.
5. Be sure to weigh the purified raw materials.

In the case when you need to dry the chanterelles on the street, they are strung on a thick thread. It is worth considering that the drying time must be at least 7 days, otherwise the mushrooms will spoil.

Subtleties of mushroom business

The legs are oily, honey mushrooms, and chanterelles are not suitable for harvesting. The hats are being prepared. Helpful Tips:

How to dry chanterelle mushrooms?

The peculiarity of these products is their medicinal qualities and the fact that they are not affected by pests. Two drying rules:

Observe temperature conditions. Overdried mushrooms become very hard.

Maintain cooking temperature up to 65 degrees. In this interval, chanterelles retain medicinal properties, help get rid of parasites in the gastrointestinal tract, restore vision and treat hepatitis.

How to dry honey mushrooms?

Honey mushrooms are dried in any way. Before cooking, separate the legs. Pre-cut into slices 5 mm thick.

How to dry boletus?

The oil preparation is carried out in any way. Before the process, remove the film from the cap. When cooked, mushrooms are dried to the size of paper, so they are often stored in powder form, but this does not reduce their taste.

How to store dried mushrooms

Store dried mushrooms in cloth or paper bags. Glass jars with leaky lids are suitable for storage. Choose a dry place; mushrooms may become moldy in a humid environment.

Do not store in plastic containers, bags, or buckets. Shelf life is no more than one and a half years. Don't joke with this, these are mushrooms!

All the secrets of how to dry mushrooms at home have been revealed. You can easily cope with the preparation of any forest products for the winter, you can please your family members with delicious delicacies, add high-calorie soups and aromatic caviar to the winter menu. Mushroom delicacies will be highly appreciated by friends and relatives.

What to cook from dried mushrooms

Dried chanterelle mushrooms are beneficial and harmful to the body. They are useful if the fruiting bodies were collected in an environmentally friendly area. Harm to health is possible if mushrooms contain a lot of radionuclides. But, if the fruiting bodies were collected with your own hands, you can prepare many delicious dishes based on them and be confident in their beneficial properties.

Instant beetroot soup

Beetroot soup is a simple and familiar soup, but if you cook it with chanterelles, the taste of vegetables will reveal itself in a completely new way.

Products you will need:

• 8 medium potatoes;
• 0.5 fork white cabbage;
• 400 g chanterelles (raw or dried);
• 1 medium-sized carrot and 1 beet each;
• 1 small onion;
• salt, sugar and spices to taste;
• broth or water - to taste.

Step-by-step preparation:

1. Pour broth into the pan and bring it to a boil.
2. Wash and peel vegetables. Potatoes are cut into arbitrary pieces, and cabbage is chopped into strips.
3. After the broth boils, potatoes and cabbage are added to it.
4. Chanterelles are cooked separately. If dried mushrooms are used, they are usually pre-soaked and washed in water. Fresh fruiting bodies are simply cleaned and washed.
5. The prepared chanterelles are placed in a heated frying pan and fried in vegetable oil until half cooked. Then add them to the pan with vegetables.
6. Place onion half rings, grated carrots and beets into the oil in which the chanterelles were fried. They are fried until cooked. During the cooking process, taste the dressing. If it is bitter or lacks sourness, add lemon juice.
7. Fried vegetables are added to the pan. All that remains is to season the dish with salt, ground pepper and sugar and leave to simmer until the potatoes are ready.

To make the beetroot soup even tastier, let it simmer for a few minutes under the lid with the heat off. When serving, add a spoonful of sour cream to the plate.

Gravy with sour cream

For many, the favorite dish made from dried chanterelle mushrooms is a sour cream-based gravy. It is prepared simply and quickly, and the taste will pleasantly please even the most avid gourmets.

First prepare the products:

• 0.5 kg of fresh chanterelles (dried ones can also be used);
• 2 medium onions;
• 250 g high fat sour cream;
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• 1 tbsp. l. butter;
• some fresh herbs;
• salt and pepper to taste.

The dish is prepared like this:

1. Fresh mushrooms are washed and cleaned, dried mushrooms are soaked in water before use. Small specimens are left whole, while large ones are cut into several pieces.
2. Add mushrooms to a frying pan with vegetable oil, lightly sprinkle with salt and simmer over high heat until the liquid evaporates.
3. Peel and cut the onion into small cubes.
4. To make the taste of the chanterelles even more tender, as soon as half of the liquid has evaporated from the frying pan, add butter, and then onion. Reduce the heat to medium and continue simmering for another 7 minutes.
5. After this time, pour sour cream into the frying pan, mix everything thoroughly and simmer under a closed lid over low heat for 10 minutes.

It is recommended to season the finished gravy with salt and pepper after completion of cooking or immediately upon serving. This will preserve the delicate creamy mushroom taste and aroma.

Quick cheese soup recipe

Chanterelles go well with cheese, so you can make a delicious soup based on these ingredients.

It requires:

• 1 liter jar of chanterelles;
• 2 tsp. butter;
• 1 onion and carrot;
• 1 liter of chicken broth;
• 4 potatoes;
• 1 clove of garlic;
• salt and pepper to taste;
• 150 g processed cheese;
• greens for decoration when serving.

Cooking instructions:

1. Peeled chanterelles are fried in a frying pan without oil until the liquid has completely evaporated. Then add butter and simmer for 3 minutes.
2. Onions and garlic are peeled and finely chopped, carrots are grated on a coarse grater.
3. Place fried mushrooms and vegetables in a pan and heat slightly. Then pour out the water and cook for 5 minutes after boiling.
4. The potatoes are added last, after which the soup is boiled for another 15 minutes.
5. A glass of broth is drained from the pan and grated cheese is dissolved in it. The liquid should have a uniform consistency. It is poured into a pan, salted, peppered and cooked for another 5 minutes.

After this, remove the pan from the heat, add chopped dill if desired and serve.

When are the chanterelles completely ready?

In order to determine the readiness of the raw materials, you just need to try to break them. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the mushroom should not crumble, flake or contain bitterness. Properly processed raw materials bend between the fingers and break only when a person has made some effort.

In addition, the dried mushroom can simply be weighed: it should be much lighter than initially. If it hasn’t become 10 times lighter, then it’s worth understanding in more detail how to dry chanterelle mushrooms, the medicinal properties of which are completely preserved.

Health benefits and harms of dried chanterelles

It is no secret to many that when collecting chanterelles in the forest, the harvest will not contain fruits damaged by worms. These mushrooms contain a unique substance - chitinmannose, which repels them. It also helps a person fight parasites inside the body, paralyzing their nerve receptors and literally dissolving worm eggs.

Chanterelles attract people not only for their taste, but also for their beneficial properties:

1. In terms of vitamin D content, chanterelles occupy a leading position, since already 100 g of this mushroom contains more than the daily requirement for humans. Without it, bone tissue development and growth are impossible, and it is also responsible for blood clotting. Calcium is not absorbed in the body if there is a lack of calcium. Doctors note that it acts both as a vitamin and as a hormone, and its deficiency increases the risk of skin, cancer and heart diseases.

2. Vitamin B6, pyridoxine, contributes to the proper functioning of the liver and nervous system. It helps lower blood cholesterol and helps absorb fat. It acts as a natural diuretic.
3. Vitamin C, in addition to improving immunity, is involved in the process of blood clotting and helps remove toxins from the body. With its deficiency, teeth and bones begin to crumble.
4. Niacin is simply essential for the nervous system. It helps get rid of stress, anxiety and distracted attention.

5. Folic acid is involved in the process of cell regeneration and development, the production of red cells in the blood, and also improves digestion.
6. Riboflavin is necessary to protect the nervous system and preserve vision.
7. Chromium is a mineral that monitors the metabolism of carbohydrates, regulating their concentration in the blood. It also, together with acetylene fatty acids, helps break down fats.

8. Ergosterol is a phytosterol that is important for the liver, fighting its diseases, and together with trametonolinic acid kills the hepatitis C virus.

Important! The beneficial properties of chanterelles can be crossed out if the mushrooms were collected in environmentally hazardous places: near industrial enterprises, highways.

Doctors do not recommend eating dried chanterelles for children under three years of age, pregnant women and

Chemical composition of dried chanterelles

If fresh chanterelles have a low calorie content (38 kcal), then after losing more than 80% of the moisture it is already 261 kcal per 100 g of dried product. At the same time, the composition contains 24.5 g of carbohydrates, 22.5 g of protein and 7.5 g of fat for the same weight.

But it is the chemical composition that determines the beneficial properties of these mushrooms. They contain:

• vitamins (D, group B, C, beta-carotene);
• chitinmannose;
• trametolinic acid;
• purines;
• niacin;
• phytosterols (ergosterol);
• mineral elements;
• acetylene fatty acids.

This list only contains elements that are found in large quantities, but the composition of chanterelles is huge.

How to dry chanterelles correctly, is it possible to preserve the beneficial properties after this process? This question is often asked by beginning mushroom pickers. The answers are in this article.

Other beneficial properties of chanterelles

Chanterelles not only destroy helminths, which is confirmed by reviews on the Internet, but also have a positive effect on the body in the following way:

The most effective and convenient remedy is dried chanterelle powder. Therapy can be carried out not only in its raw form, but also in the form of tinctures and infusions. If an infected person has no desire to harvest chanterelle mushrooms on his own, he may well purchase a ready-to-use dry, highly concentrated extract of quinomannose from chanterelle mushrooms, or anthelmintic capsules based on it. Complex treatment of chanterelle powder with naturopathic anthelmintic herbs shows high effectiveness.