Drying and storage of dried mushrooms. How to properly dry mushrooms for the winter at home in the oven, in an electric dryer, on a thread, in an air grill, in a microwave
Each experienced mushroom picker has his own secrets of harvesting mushrooms. It’s not enough just to pick mushrooms, you need to know which ones are worth drying, and which ones are suitable only for salting or are cooked fresh. There is general rules drying mushrooms, we will talk about them. I hope that the newly-made mushroom picker will be able to learn a lot of new things, and the experienced one, perhaps, will also learn something interesting for himself.
To begin with, we will decide whether it is necessary to wash the mushrooms before drying. There are different opinions on this matter, but I will say that my grandmother (mushroom picker with more than 20 years of experience) never washed mushrooms for drying, unlike those that were intended for pickling, salting and cooking. She cleaned them of dirt with a soft, slightly damp cloth. Although some recommend not to moisten the mushrooms at all.
Next, you need to select only strong, elastic mushrooms without massive damage, overripe, soft and wormy are not suitable for drying. In honey agaric, chanterelles, oil usually cut off the legs.
2. In the oven
Spread the mushrooms in a thin layer on the grill. I have it often, so I don’t have to come up with devices so that the mushrooms do not fall out of the grate. Drying on a baking sheet is dangerous because the mushrooms can burn or burn badly, but if there are no grids, then put baking paper on the baking sheet and arrange the mushrooms so that they do not touch each other.
Drying should begin at a temperature of 45 ° C, in order to avoid darkening, when the mushrooms wither, raise to 60-70 ° C. The door should be slightly opened to the width of the palm for the best air circulation. During the drying process, the grates are interchanged in order to evenly dry the raw materials.
3. In the microwave
We clean the mushrooms, cut them into thin slices about 5 mm thick, lay them out on a plate or grill and set the power to 100 W, start for 20 minutes, then open the door and ventilate for about 7 minutes, then repeat the operation 4-5 times. It is quite possible to get a ready-made raw material or a semi-finished product for further processing right away, but it is quite troublesome and long.
4. In a Russian stove
Many people wonder what is the fundamental difference between an oven and an oven. Those who have both will understand me immediately. The oven is like a separate "state". Everything seems to be the same, but the air supply technology and the quality of drying, in my opinion, are somewhat higher than other methods.
My grandmother always dried mushrooms in the oven. She put bricks under the bars. This was necessary so that the mushrooms were at some distance from the red-hot hearth of the furnace.
Prepared mushrooms can be strung on knitting needles (or thin skewers) or placed head down on a wire rack. You can put them on straw, the old fashioned way. Raw materials are laid out when the temperature in the oven drops to 60 ° C. Drying at a higher temperature threatens to damage the mushrooms (they can burn, blacken, steam). But even at temperatures below 50 ° C, they begin to turn sour, which also leads to their deterioration.
In order for moisture to be well removed, the damper is slightly opened to allow air to circulate. Another feature is the opening of the chimney: at the very beginning of drying, the pipe is opened a little more than 0.75 valves, during the drying process the pipe is gradually covered, and by the end of drying it is closed.
Due to the different size of the cap, the mushrooms dry unevenly, so it is necessary to remove ready-made, dried mushrooms and dry the remaining ones. Over-dried raw materials are poorly processed, under-dried quickly deteriorate.
When are dried mushrooms ready?
Dried mushrooms should bend, but not break, be elastic, dense, but not wet. Well-dried mushrooms are monophonic, light, without burnt and overheated pieces.
How to store dried mushrooms?
Drying the mushrooms is half the battle, the main thing is to keep your efforts on long time. To do this, stock up on well-twisted banks and containers. Mushrooms easily absorb odors and moisture, very quickly become moldy. Many housewives immediately place well-dried mushrooms in a sterilized glass container and tightly close or twist. If you treat the edges of the jar with alcohol, set it on fire and immediately close the lid, a slight vacuum is formed in the jar, which helps to preserve dry mushrooms.
So we figured out how to dry your mushroom harvest. Choose the right mushrooms and the right way. I hope your mushroom stocks will delight you all year with their unique smell.
The content of the article:
Drying mushrooms is one of the ways to harvest them for future use. But unlike salting or pickling, it preserves everything beneficial features product, its deep flavor in dishes and promotes better absorption by the body. However, not all varieties are suitable for drying, some of them contain bitterness and therefore are cooked fresh or salted. Appropriate processing removes an unpleasant aftertaste from them. About those mushrooms that can be dried, today we will talk.
What mushrooms to take for drying
Mushrooms are lamellar, marsupial and tubular. In addition to them, there are two more species - these are tinder fungi and chanterelles. At home, you can dry:
- tubular mushrooms. Aspen mushrooms, goats, butterflies of all kinds, birch boletus, oak trees, polish mushroom, mossiness mushrooms and white mushrooms. All of them have a spongy layer under the caps, consisting of the smallest tubes.
- lamellar. Champignons, variegated umbrella mushroom, autumn, winter and summer mushrooms, deer mushrooms, flakes are fleecy and podshenniki. Under the cap of these mushrooms, thin plates are densely arranged in the radial direction. It is not recommended to dry volnushki, milk mushrooms and russula, their milky juice contains a lot of bitterness.
- marsupials. These are morels and white truffles. They have a shapeless wrinkled body and spores located in special bags. white truffle is an expensive delicacy and quite a rarity, so it is hardly possible to harvest it by an ordinary summer resident. Morels are conditionally edible mushrooms and require drying in the open air for at least two months. During this time, the toxins from the product disappear, and it becomes safe for consumption.
- Polypores. These are branched and variegated tinder mushrooms, as well as ram mushrooms.
- Chanterelles. This mushroom belongs to a separate family. At first glance, chanterelles look like agaric mushrooms, however, instead of plates, they have folds of pulp. The dried product has a slight bitterness.
How to prepare mushrooms for drying
There are different opinions about whether it is necessary to wash them before drying. But mushroom pickers with solid experience wash only those mushrooms that are used for cooking, pickling or pickling. It is quite enough to clean them from sand, earth, moss, leaves, needles and wipe them with a slightly damp nylon cloth.
For drying, you need to select elastic, healthy and strong mushrooms that are not damaged. In butter, chanterelles and honey mushrooms, the legs are usually cut off.
Mushrooms can be dried whole or sliced. In the first case, they should be sorted by size, then they will dry evenly. In the second, the mushrooms are cut into thick slices or quarters as desired. The legs of boletus, boletus and porcini mushrooms can be cut into 3-4 cm long columns or 2 cm thick cylinders.
In chanterelles, oil, honey mushrooms and mossiness mushrooms, only hats are usually used for drying. Morels are dried as a whole.
Advice! Drying of chopped mushrooms should be started immediately, in this case the product will retain its quality and color.
How to dry mushrooms at home
Mushrooms can be considered dry if they appear light in weight, bend slightly, and break with little effort. Dried mushrooms should resemble fresh ones in taste and aroma. From 10 kg of fresh mushrooms, 1-1.5 kg of dried product usually comes out. You can dry the mushrooms different ways, the main ones are described below.
How to dry mushrooms in the sun
Such drying is possible on sunny, clear days in an open, windy place, protected from dust and rain. In the air, mushrooms can be completely dried or only dried, then brought to a dry state in the oven or stove.
If the weather deteriorates and becomes cloudy, the process should be temporarily suspended, as the product may pick up moisture, which it does not need. To dry in the sun, mushrooms should be strung on a fishing line, twine or a harsh strong thread so that they do not touch each other, and then hung up, covered with gauze from flies and dust.
For such "beads" you can make special convenient stands from wooden blocks or boards.
Natural drying in sunny weather lasts 5-7 days. Mushrooms cut into slices should be dried for no more than two days. In this case, their natural color will be preserved.
How to dry mushrooms in the oven
For this purpose, instead of a baking sheet, a “regular” or specially made grill is used, which is installed in its place. Mushrooms need to be laid on it in a thin layer and begin drying from an oven temperature of 45 ° C. In this case, they will not darken.
When the mushrooms are a little dried up, the temperature can be raised to 60-70 ° C, the oven door should be kept slightly ajar to ensure air exchange. If there are several gratings, they should be interchanged from time to time for uniform drying of the product.
If there are no grates, and it is also reluctant to make them, the drying procedure can be carried out on a baking sheet, having previously covered it with baking paper. Mushrooms should be selected in size and laid out so that they do not touch. The rest of the drying process is similar to the method described above.
If the plates and mushroom caps are the same size, they dry same time. Ready dried mushrooms should be removed from the oven, and the rest should be brought to the desired state, turning them over from time to time.
How to dry mushrooms in a dryer
You can make a mushroom dryer yourself using homemade boxes, a draft or forced airflow.
The boxes are made of plywood and boards 50 mm wide. As a bottom, they use a mesh with a cell of no more than 15 mm. The bottom drawer runs a little bigger size than the rest, since guides are attached to it, along which the upper drawers slide.
Their number usually does not exceed 10 pieces, and the whole structure is located at the level of 30-40 cm. top part is supplied with a plywood roof providing shade. The gap between the roof and the top drawer is 10 cm.
The assembled structure must be placed in a draft. To speed up the drying of mushrooms, it can be equipped with an air collector. It is made from two sheets of plywood attached to the structure under different angles. After that, the dryer can be installed with a facade to the wind.
Mushrooms laid in a thin layer on the grids of all boxes must be sorted by size. Thanks to the air circulation in the design, they are dried.
How to dry mushrooms in an electric dryer
The thoughtful design of this device allows you to save a lot of time when drying mushrooms and does not require constant monitoring and presence. The electric dryer has several tiers in the form of pallets, each of which is filled with chopped gifts of nature.
Pieces of mushrooms should be stacked in one even layer on each tier of the dryer. After setting the temperature to 55 ° C and a time of two to six hours, you can do other things while the device is working.
The duration of drying mushrooms in this way depends on the thickness of their cutting. Thin plates dry faster, a small amount of them too. Therefore, when installing not five or six pallets in the electric dryer, but two or three, the readiness of the product should be checked after a couple of hours, otherwise it can be dried out.
If the mushroom plates are slightly springy when bent and look dry, the device can be turned off.
How to dry mushrooms in the microwave
To dry mushrooms in this way, they must be peeled and cut into plates 5 mm thick, then laid out on a grill or plate and set the microwave regulator with the product to a power of 100-180 W for 20 minutes.
When the time is up, the stove door should be opened for 5-10 minutes to ventilate. During this time, intensive evaporation of excess moisture released by mushrooms will occur. This procedure must be repeated 3-4 more times.
The result of the work can be dry mushrooms or their semi-finished product, subject to further drying. It depends on the type of mushroom. The process of such drying is rather long and tedious, especially if the oven has a small volume.
How to dry mushrooms in a Russian oven
Before drying the mushrooms, sweep under the stove to remove the ashes and remove from the hearth any container with water or food, if any. Mushrooms during drying should not come into contact with the bottom of the oven. Therefore, if the braids or gratings do not have legs, then under them it is necessary to place bricks in the “on edge” position.
Mushrooms prepared for drying should be placed on the grate with their hats down or strung on knitting needles. When the temperature in the oven drops to 70°C after firing, the stacked or strung product can be loaded into it. More heat not recommended in the oven - mushrooms can burn, and at temperatures below 50 ° C they dry out slowly, can turn sour and deteriorate.
An important factor in the process of drying mushrooms in an oven is the removal of moisture, which is evaporated from the raw material. In order to ensure this process, the furnace damper must be placed on two bricks, between which there must be a gap for air flow.
At the beginning of drying, the chimney must be opened to? valves. In the process of drying mushrooms, it should be gradually closed.
The drying of the product is uneven. Large mushroom caps dry more slowly, small mushroom caps dry faster. Therefore, dried mushrooms must be removed in time, otherwise they may lose their aroma and taste, and under-dried mushrooms begin to mold from the slightest dampness.
How to make mushroom powder
Dried mushrooms can be used to prepare this product. They should be broken into pieces and ground in a coffee grinder. In the process of crushing, the films of mushroom fibers are destroyed, and the product acquires new properties: it is easier to digest in the body and has a better aroma and taste. Cep mushrooms are especially good in crushed form.
For preservation, when grinding, fine salt is added to the mushroom powder in an amount of 5-10% of its total weight. To emphasize and improve the taste of the product, you can add various ground spices to it: cumin, allspice, dried parsley leaves, celery, etc.
Mushroom powder is added to hot food at the end of its preparation no more than one minute before the stove is turned off. In addition, it is used as a common seasoning for salads, main courses and soups.
To prepare fragrant omelettes, mushroom powder is added when beating eggs. The product should be stored in a tightly closed glass container, placed in a dark place. Without reducing its quality, mushroom powder under such conditions can be stored for up to 1 year.
Rules for storing dried mushrooms
Dried mushrooms, especially in powder form, are highly hygroscopic. They easily pick up moisture from the air and various foreign odors. Therefore, this product should be stored in well-ventilated areas. As a container, you can use moisture-proof bags and metal or glass jars with lids.
Linen and gauze bags are also suitable for this purpose, but in this case, the mushrooms must be separated from products that have strong odors. If, for any reason, the mushrooms have absorbed moisture, they should be quickly sorted out and dried again.
For long-term storage of the product, while the mushrooms retain their heat and fragility after drying, they can immediately be placed in sterile and sealed glass jars. The container is sterilized at T=90°С: liter cans- within 50 minutes, half-liter - 40 minutes.
You can remove air from a jar in this way: pour a little alcohol into its lid, set it on fire, and immediately close the jar. In this case, all the oxygen in the container is consumed for the combustion of fuel, so an airless space is formed in the container. Thanks to him, the mushrooms will not become moldy even if they have some residual moisture.
How to dry mushrooms - look at the video:
Before cooking, dry mushrooms should be washed and then left in water for several hours to swell. The product is cooked in the resulting infusion. Bon appetit everyone!
Mushroom harvest is highly dependent on the weather. It happens that "quiet hunters" barely gain prey for the soup. And it happens - full baskets and buckets are dragged home, and even they are poured almost into the hem.
And what pleasure they experience if in this abundance the vast majority are mushrooms! However, while in full height the question of processing arises, because fresh mushrooms are stored for a very short time. This is where the happy gatherers begin to remember all the ways they know how to dry porcini mushrooms. After all, this is the least time-consuming method of harvesting them, and your mushrooms will be stored for a long time. And how many dishes with their participation you can cook!
Basics of drying in any way
For those who have recently become interested in mushroom "catching", we recall the main rules. They will ensure that you do not spoil your finds.
No matter how you harvest mushrooms, too large specimens are cut into one and a half centimeter plates. If you came across only small mushrooms, you can dry them whole.
Electric dryer - the most practical way
AT modern conditions it is an ideal choice, as it is the fastest way to dry porcini mushrooms in it. Unlike other methods, those who used this device advise washing mushrooms thoroughly before drying. On average, in such devices, a set of pallets is 4-5 pieces. The mushrooms laid out in them are completely dried in two to two and a half hours (depending on the brand and manufacturer). So experienced users are advised to increase the number of pallets to 7-8. Let the operating time of the electric dryer increase slightly, but at the same energy cost, twice as many mushrooms will be dried.
old method
If you don’t go mushroom hunting so often and don’t have the appropriate equipment for harvesting them, remember the “grandmother’s” way of drying porcini mushrooms. Especially if the weather is sunny and warm. Prepared mushrooms are strung on a harsh thread or thick fishing line (the thread will still the best choice). Then it is stretched between branches or supports in a sunny, ventilated place and covered with gauze so that insects do not get to the mushrooms. It is necessary to take out such low ones on the street in the morning, when the air is well warmed up, and in the evening, as soon as it gets colder, bring it into the house. If the weather is consistently warm, it doesn’t rain and the sun doesn’t hide, the mushrooms will dry out in a couple of weeks. And if it started to rain, it was cloudy or suddenly colder, they would have to be dried in other ways.
Oven - gas or electric
This is the most common way to dry any mushrooms in a city apartment. It is, of course, slower than when using a special dryer, but much faster than when the mushrooms are dried in the sun. However, some rules must be observed. First of all, you can not put mushrooms directly on a baking sheet - they will just fry. The bottom must be lined with parchment. Second: pieces of mushrooms (or whole specimens) should be located at some distance from each other. Third: do not forget to open the oven door for ventilation. And fourth: you need to know exactly at what temperature to dry the mushrooms and for how long. At the first stage, the oven must be heated to 50 degrees; at this temperature, mushrooms should be in it for 3 hours. Then they are removed and cooled. Next, the oven heats up to 70 degrees, and put the mushrooms in it for 2 hours, after which they lower the temperature again to 50 and dry the mushrooms for another 2 hours. They need to be checked periodically: both plates and whole mushrooms have different sizes. Smaller ones, of course, will dry faster, so you need to get ready-made ones in a timely manner.
Microwave can be helpful too.
It remains to tell how to dry mushrooms in the microwave. We admit that this is not the best way. First of all, it is quite long in time, and you will have to constantly monitor the process. In addition, microwave ovens are usually small in size, so a significant crop will have to be dried in batches. Moreover, mushrooms usually cannot be dried to the desired condition, they have to be “brought to mind” in the oven. And if you didn’t watch it, dried out your mushrooms - they can flare up right in it!
The process itself looks like this. Mushrooms are laid out on a grate, a power of 130 W is set, the microwave is turned on for 20 minutes. After the expiration of the period, the mushrooms are ventilated for 5 minutes, and all actions are repeated 2 to 4 times.
Storage rules
When you have dried your prey, you need to correctly identify it for savings. Dry mushrooms actively absorb moisture from the air, from which they subsequently dampen, and subsequently may become moldy. Yes, and different smells, including unpleasant, drying absorbs quickly. So the main storage condition is the ventilation of the storage and the low temperature in it. It is better to pack dry mushrooms in burlap or food paper bags. Polyethylene bags are strictly prohibited! Advice to use closed jars made of glass or metal is doubtful - extraneous "residents" can get into them.
good luck to you mushroom hunting, harvesting "prey" and successful storage.
Drying is the easiest and most popular way to preserve mushrooms. Dried mushrooms have a special aroma, and their taste properties do not deteriorate over time.
In the process of drying, mushrooms evaporate most of the water they contain (out of 10 kg of fresh mushrooms, 1-1.5 kg of dried mushrooms are obtained). Therefore, the development of microorganisms in dried mushrooms is impossible, and the result is products with a high concentration of nutrients.
Almost all types of mushrooms can be dried, but it is still better to dry tubular ones. It is not recommended to dry agaric mushrooms with bitter milky juice. White mushrooms, boletus, boletus, boletus, mossiness mushrooms are especially good for drying, goats, autumn mushrooms, mushrooms, puffballs and chanterelles are also dried.
Drying is also the main way to process morels, ensuring the safety of their use and improving taste qualities, since the toxin gyrometrin contained in the lines disappears during the drying process. Morels, due to their similarity with lines, are also recommended to be dried.
Drying morels should be done in a well-ventilated, preferably non-residential area, because the released toxin is harmful to health.
Mushrooms intended for drying are not washed after cleaning, but wiped with a dry or damp cloth.
Mushrooms can be dried in the sun, in the air, in drying cabinets and ovens, etc.
When drying in the air and in the sun, mushrooms are placed on wooden grates, coasters, thick paper or cloth. It is better not to use iron coasters, as mushrooms can turn black from metal. Until the mushrooms are dry, they must be turned over often so that they do not stick to the stand. Large mushrooms are cut into pieces up to 1 cm thick. Mushrooms can also be strung on wooden sticks or thick threads, the ends of which are fixed on racks or nails.
The drying place must be sheltered from rain. To protect against dust and flies, it is better to cover the mushrooms with gauze. Thus, mushrooms can be dried for 2-3 days, and then, if necessary, they are dried in an oven.
When drying in a Russian oven, iron pans are used. They are covered with clean straw, mushrooms are placed on top in one layer with caps down, so that they do not touch. The baking sheets are placed in the oven overnight, the temperature should be in the range of 50-75 ° C, for air flow, the damper is kept ajar.
In the same way, mushrooms are dried in the oven. To speed up drying, metal sieves can be used instead of trays in drying cabinets and ovens. They are installed one above the other, and for uniform drying of the mushrooms they must be periodically interchanged.
For high-quality drying, mushrooms are sorted by size: large ones are dried separately; you can also cut large mushrooms lengthwise into several parts.
The drying temperature should not exceed 75 ° C, otherwise the mushrooms lose their taste, color and aroma, and may burn. At temperatures below 50 ° C, mushrooms can dry out and deteriorate. Morels are dried at a temperature not exceeding 50 ° C, as they burn very easily.
After drying, the mushrooms are sorted, removing spoiled and burnt ones. Ready-made dried mushrooms, when pressed with a finger, do not emit moisture, bend slightly, break easily, but do not crumble.
Dried mushrooms easily absorb moisture, so they should be stored in a dry place in closed glass jars. You can use paper or rag bags, but then it is advisable to store them separately from other products, since mushrooms are easily saturated with strong foreign odors.
Dried mushrooms must be washed well before use.
AT recent times powder from dried mushrooms has become popular, since the process of preparing soups, sauces, gravy, etc. from powder is much simpler and faster, and the digestibility of such a product is better.
To prepare the powder, clean dried mushrooms are taken, without dirt, coal and sand, overdried ones can also be used. They are broken into pieces and passed through a coffee grinder or pepper mill. The ground mushrooms are sieved and the resulting residue is ground again. Dishes from the powder are tastier if it contains different mushrooms.
Ready mushroom powder is stored in a dry place in tightly closed glass or metal jars. Before cooking, the powder should be poured with warm water for half an hour.
Bon appetit!
Avid mushroom pickers usually know how to dry mushrooms in the oven for the winter, because they do this every year. And for those who are going to do it for the first time, we have prepared a series of useful tips. Don't ignore them and you'll end up with some great dried mushrooms!
Collecting and bringing mushrooms from the forest is only half the battle, it is important to properly dispose of them. Some of their forest “trophies” can be pickled and salted for the winter, some can be boiled and stored in a freezer, and the most beautiful ones can be sent for drying. Why now almost everyone is trying to dry mushrooms in a gas or electric oven? Because it is convenient and relatively fast. The process of such drying lasts only 7-8 hours, while natural way- in the open air, mushrooms dry for a long time, for several days.
Drying mushrooms in the oven: all the details
Remember, the collected fresh mushrooms deteriorate very quickly, therefore, when you come from the forest, literally immediately start sorting and processing them. Start drying them in the oven the very same day.
Usually from forest mushrooms most often mushrooms are dried for the winter, although you can take boletus, and boletus, and even chanterelles. And from a whole bucket, as you thought, good mushrooms only a few pieces can be set aside for drying. Because you need to take whole, strong, not spoiled and not wormy specimens. It is unlikely that you will like it when you find a worm in a soup cooked with dried mushrooms. To prevent such incidents from happening, carefully sort the brought mushrooms.
When this work is done, the next step is to clean them from forest debris. Since mushrooms cannot be washed before drying in the oven, they must be cleaned manually. If you see that there is a lot of dust and fine sand on them that does not shake off, put on cloth gloves or take a piece of cloth and wipe the mushrooms. Cut long legs with a knife. Large mushrooms are best cut into several small pieces. Leave the medium and small ones as they are.
In theory, it is best to dry these gifts of the forest in an oven or on the street. But, firstly, not even every third house has a stove, and secondly, in middle lane there are not so many fine autumn days, so an ordinary oven will come to the rescue.
Before putting the mushrooms to dry in the oven, we string them on metal or wooden rods, making something like a mushroom kebab. Put them on the oven rack. If you do not have any rods or skewers, you can put the mushrooms on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, or simply on the wire rack with the leg down. But in this case, you need to put something on the bottom of the oven (a metal sheet, a small baking sheet, a bowl), because moisture will be released from the mushrooms during the drying process, which will pollute your oven.
At what temperature to dry mushrooms
When the mushrooms are all laid out, turn on the oven for a slight heating with a temperature of 40-45 degrees and let them dry for several hours. You don’t need to make the temperature higher, otherwise you will simply burn the mushrooms without drying them. You can add it only when they are almost ready - so to speak, to help the mushrooms dry completely. The oven door must always be kept open. This will allow moisture to evaporate better. It usually takes 7-9 hours to dry, but exact time it's hard to say, because mushrooms of different sizes will dry at different speeds. If your mushrooms are light in weight, break and bend well, they are ready. Let them cool completely, pack them in canvas bags, containers or glass jars, close tightly and store in a dry place. Dried mushrooms can be put into the soup when cooking, or you can boil them and make a salad out of them. Bon appetit and successful "quiet" hunting!