Mushrooms
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Kira Stoletova
For mushroom lovers, it is important to preserve the mushroom harvest for the winter. The solution is to dry them. Dried honey mushrooms perfectly retain their nutritional value and taste. There are several ways to dry mushrooms at home.
Methods for preparing dried honey mushrooms
Preparing for drying
Regardless of the chosen technology for drying mushrooms for the winter at home, you should initially prepare them correctly. In preparation:
- they are selected according to their degree of maturity, choosing small and strong ones, since young mushrooms contain more useful substances than overgrown ones;
- discard, separating rotten and worm-ridden specimens;
- trimmed, because usually only mushroom caps are used for drying, removing the stems, stepping back 2 cm from the cap, the smallest ones are dried entirely.
During the drying process, mushrooms lose about 90% of their weight. From 10 kg of raw mushrooms, the yield of dried mushrooms is about 1.5 kg.
To avoid the accumulation of excess moisture, specimens selected for drying are not soaked; dirt is carefully removed with a damp cloth. There is no need to pre-soak the mushrooms.
When and how to pick mushrooms
Do you have an electric dryer?
Not really
As soon as the warm, wet season sets in, honey mushrooms grow rapidly in the forest from about mid-August to October. Whether or not they can be used for drying is a question to which experienced mushroom pickers and cooks say: of course, yes!
When choosing a collection method, it is necessary to give preference to those that protect the mycelium from damage. It is unacceptable to pull out mushrooms, as this can lead not only to damage to the mycelium, but to its death, and therefore the growth of honey mushrooms in this area will stop.
In order not to damage the mycelium, it is recommended to carefully cut off the stem with a knife, leaving no more than 2 cm; if you do not have a knife on hand, you need to unscrew the mushroom from the mycelium. When unscrewing the mushroom, you need to carefully turn it around its axis until it separates. The hole that will remain after these actions is best dug in or lightly trampled. The second method is more gentle, as it prevents infection from entering the mycelium through an incised wound on the leg.
To collect the mushroom harvest, you must have a basket made of birch bark or twigs, then the mushrooms will not wrinkle or lose their shape. It is necessary to carefully examine the mushrooms, as there is a possibility of finding false mushrooms.
For drying, only strong, young, worm-eaten honey mushrooms that do not have obvious damage are suitable for you.
Old and defective mushrooms should be discarded.
Thread drying
To dry honey mushrooms on a thread, you need to select twine or a strong thread, which can also be used as a fishing line. The process includes simple manipulations:
- prepared mushrooms are threaded onto a thread cut to the required length, leaving a distance of 0.5-1 cm between them to ensure sufficient air circulation and uniform drying;
- threads with strung mushrooms are pulled in a place with sufficient sunlight and good ventilation: on the balcony loggia, behind the window, above the kitchen stove;
- To prevent dust and insects from entering, cover the top with a dry gauze cloth.
Mushrooms are removed for subsequent storage after 7 days. Drying honey mushrooms on a thread is only permissible in established warm and sunny weather.
Oven drying
It is also possible to dry honey mushrooms at home in the oven, laying them out on a wire rack or baking sheet. The disadvantage of this method of preparing dried mushrooms for the winter is the need to periodically stir the mushrooms so that they do not burn and thus ensure uniform drying. With this method:
- the mushrooms are laid out in an even layer and placed in the oven for 2-3 hours at a temperature of +40...+50°C, at a lower temperature the mushrooms will be cooked, at a higher temperature they will be baked;
- when the sticky layer on the mushroom caps dries, the temperature in the oven is increased to +75°C; in ovens with a convection function, this mode is turned on to ensure constant circulation of air flow; in the absence of such a function, air circulation is ensured by slightly opening the oven door;
- Turn the mushrooms over periodically to prevent them from frying.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
The temperature is not raised above +75…+80℃, because... This may affect the taste of honey mushrooms. In addition, the exact drying time cannot be given. It depends on the size of the mushrooms and the amount of moisture in them. To determine whether honey mushrooms are ready for storage or not, simply check by touch and remove the already dried ones from the baking sheet. Place the rest back in the oven to dry.
Depending on the thickness of the layer and the number of mushrooms, the drying time in the oven varies from 7 to 12 hours. Readiness is determined by slight brittleness without crumbling.
Microwave drying
Drying mushrooms is easy
The microwave drying method is used when you need to dry a small amount of mushrooms:
- put the mushrooms on a flat plate and place in the microwave, setting the power to 100-180 W and setting the timer for 20 minutes,
- after the time has elapsed, drain the resulting liquid, ventilate the microwave oven to remove any moisture that has appeared,
- The number of approaches is repeated until each portion of mushrooms is completely dry.
By the way. When preparing to dry mushrooms in the microwave, in addition to sorting them by size, be sure to dry them slightly or at least dry them in the sun or under a powerful lamp.
Mushrooms ready for storage become flexible, without characteristic traces of moisture on the mushroom cap.
Drying process
An electric dryer is the best option for harvesting forest products. Thanks to a well-thought-out design, drying mushrooms takes little time and does not require constant presence and control. Having set the required temperature and time, you can go about your business while the equipment is working. So, each tier of the electric dryer is filled with chopped mushrooms in one layer, the pieces are straightened and leveled. Set the temperature to 55°C, time - from 2 to 6 hours.
It is not difficult to determine the degree of readiness of the forest products: if the pieces spring slightly when bent, do not break, and look completely dry, the electric dryer can be turned off. If the plates bend very easily and look a little damp, they still need to be dried. Mushrooms that are overcooked become very hard, darken, and may fall apart.
First you need to sort through the mushrooms collected in the forest: throw away the wormy ones and sort them by size. Next, you need to clean the oil from dirt and grass residues. A simple way: take a kitchen sponge, wet it a little and wipe each mushroom. You can’t soak butternuts before drying, as they instantly begin to absorb water and become heavy. Boletus soaked in water is not suitable for drying.
It must be said that drying boletus mushrooms does not harm the vitamins contained in them. They have an even more pronounced aroma than freshly picked ones. At the same time, the boletus does not lose its taste. A variety of dishes are prepared from them, since butternuts are combined with many foods: any type of meat, cheese, cereals, vegetables, fruits and eggs.
Drying in an electric dryer
An electric dryer is the best device for drying mushrooms for the winter at home. Modern equipment is equipped with tiers with grates that provide optimal conditions for high-quality drying and maintain the required thermal conditions and air circulation.
The optimal temperature at which small honey mushrooms can be dried in an electric dryer is +55°C.
Drying duration – 2 hours.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
In addition to the above methods, drying mushrooms (including honey mushrooms) in a convection oven is becoming increasingly popular among housewives. True, this option is suitable for a small amount of mushrooms. Prepared honey mushrooms
- lay out on wire racks and select the drying mode. It is important not to forget that you need:
- as when drying in the oven, it is imperative to leave a gap between the lid and the air fryer container;
- Remove the racks with mushrooms several times to cool, and then place them back into the work container.
If you dried honey mushrooms not only in the air, but also in an oven or electric dryer, you can also send them for storage without removing them from the strings.
Dried mushroom fragments can be used to make mushroom powder, which is perfect for soups, sauces or stews.
Who should refuse dried honey mushrooms?
A conversation about the harmfulness of the mushroom should begin with the fact that it is better for an ignorant person to refuse to go to the forest. There are false mushrooms that are very similar in appearance. If such a representative ends up in the basket, you can be seriously poisoned.
As for edible mushrooms, they are difficult to digest, like any other mushroom. Poor absorption is observed in older people. People with gastrointestinal problems should avoid eating mushrooms or limit them to a minimum.
Advice! For better absorption, dried honey mushrooms must be subjected to enhanced heat treatment. In any case, you should not overeat mushrooms.
Honey mushrooms are used in folk medicine as a laxative. People suffering from indigestion should take this point into account. You should not eat dried honey mushrooms while taking laxatives.
Another feature of the mushroom is the structure of its pulp. During cooking, it absorbs a lot of salt and oil like a sponge. Overeating can cause swelling. For a person who is losing weight, a mushroom filled with oil will cause more harm due to its increased calorie content. It is better to simply cook honey mushrooms for a diet salad or throw them into soup.
Additional drying
The need for additional drying often arises during storage. In order for the mushrooms to remain suitable for consumption throughout the winter, they are dried and stored away from ethers, vegetables and fruits, since mushrooms have hygroscopic properties and accumulate moisture and foreign odors.
During storage, the product is inspected and spoiled specimens are selected. The preserved ones are sent to the oven for 30 minutes, heated to +60°C.
The shelf life of dried mushrooms is 1 year.
To avoid the need to dry honey mushrooms again, suitable storage containers are tightly closed containers made of glass, ceramics and tin. In rare cases, paper or fabric bags are used, since such containers are often a breeding ground for food moths and bugs.
Storage Features
Start by choosing a room. This should be a fairly dry area. At high humidity, dried honey mushrooms will begin to quickly absorb moisture and will soon deteriorate. Also remember that mushrooms also actively absorb odors.
There are several basic storage options.
- Banks and containers . We are talking about glass jars with screw-on lids and sealed plastic food containers. Some people are wary of these methods. In practice, they are the most optimal. It is only important to sterilize the jars and remove air before storing. This is done simply. Pour some alcohol into the bottom and light it, then quickly put the lid on. Properly dried mushrooms in jars and containers are stored for a very long time. But if you violate the rules for preparing the container, microorganisms will quickly form inside. The shelf life can reach 1.5 years.
- Plastic sealed bags . They can be stored at room temperature, or even placed in the freezer. Only choose special bags for food products.
- Fabric bags . They are made of gauze or linen and have ties. The fabric allows moisture and odors to pass through well, so you need to choose a place that is dry and without strong aromas. The shelf life in this case is no more than 1 year.
It is best to use dried mushrooms 6-12 months before making fresh batches.
In addition to whole dried mushrooms, you can also make mushroom powder by grinding the stems and caps in a coffee grinder. Requirements for storage conditions remain the same.
