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A bunch of fragrant, delicious dried mushrooms still remains the most pleasant and delicious village present. A lot of city dwellers have a question - is it really only the village that knows the correct process of picking and drying mushrooms? In reality, this kind of art can be enjoyed by any person, it is only important to follow some simple recommendations. But before studying the main points of drying mushrooms, it is desirable to find out in general what useful qualities and value the ready food from mushrooms has.
Dried mushroom is a great guest on any table, not only because of its properties, which are fully preserved during drying - such a product is also much more useful than canned mushrooms. During pickling, the fungus loses the bulk of its valuable qualities — more than half of the substances evaporate, and in the process of drying this vegetable loses only water from its composition.
The dried product has a very high calorie content, which can reach 250 kcal and more, but there is hardly any doubt that its energy value is very high. At the same time, with all the seeming simplicity of the process of drying mushrooms, it requires certain skills, experience and following a series of tips. Only this determines how valuable the prepared food will be.
Packing by type
Any mushroom picker prefers to pick mushrooms so that in the basket as a result there is a real assorted mushroom of aspen, porcini, boletus and other varieties suitable for human consumption, which only came into view. With all this set you need to do something in order to somehow further prepare the product. And the easiest method is to dry them, but the problem is that not every mushroom is as useful as possible. Among the variety of edible mushrooms, some are suitable for frying, others for canning, and still others are well suited for drying.
What mushrooms to choose for further drying?
The most suitable and versatile option is the white mushroom, it is beautiful in any finished form. In addition to it, each tubular mushroom can be dried: boletus, aspen mushrooms, and boletus mushrooms. In addition, the tubular variety is also considered noble - it is referred to as the “elite” among mushrooms.
Absolutely not suitable for drying mushrooms that have a plate cap. After drying, they begin to taste more bitter. Chanterelles, russules, and wild mushrooms were included in the list of these mushrooms.
Drying process: preparation
The first problem faced by a person who wants to dry mushrooms is the following: it is necessary to make the forest mushroom, being initially dirty, become clean. The fact is that wet cleaning is undesirable to expose the mushrooms, because it will prolong the drying process for some time due to the fact that the product absorbs excess water. Therefore, the main method of cleaning mushrooms is an ordinary knife. Using it, it is necessary to carefully remove the needles, fragments of leaves and plants from the cap. It is not recommended to touch the skin, because most often the mushroom is dried with it.
The sand on the feet and caps can be removed with a soft brush that cannot be wetted.The sand remains are washed away in the winter, because the dried mushroom is always soaked in water before it is cooked.
Important! Even small mushrooms should be cut into pieces before drying, because various parasites can be found in their body. It often happens that a worm lives in an elastic and holistic outwardly vegetable. If you plan to dry boletus, mokhoviki or tubular mushrooms, then they must be cut lengthwise, pre-separating the cap from the mushroom stem.
Boletus is cut in half with a cut across. If a worm or a whole set of different parasites are found inside, then the fungus is forbidden to dry, no matter how beautiful it looks.
It is advisable to use a knife made of plastic. Despite the inconvenience of handling it, just such a knife does not lead to the fact that the pulp of the fungus is oxidized. And the oxidation of the legs or caps causes enormous damage to the taste properties of the dried mushroom.
Recommendations for drying
In order for the mushrooms to have a pronounced smell and a pleasant taste after drying, it is necessary to follow the following drying rules:
- A large cap of mushrooms must be cut into several identical fragments.
- The large legs of some mushrooms are recommended to be cut in the form of washers, the thickness of which does not exceed 2 cm.
- It is necessary to start drying in natural conditions - under sunlight, and the final stage should be carried out in any device that is in the house: an oven, a stove, a microwave.
- Regardless of the chosen method of drying, it is necessary to interrupt the drying about 2-3 times to ventilate the mushrooms.
After the end of the drying process, it is necessary to decide on the container for storing the product. It can be cans made of glass, which can be firmly closed, bags of paper or woven cloth, but in no case should not use cellophane.
Dried mushrooms can be stored for as long as you want, but it is recommended to use mushrooms for one year after drying. Store in a well ventilated area.
Methods of drying mushrooms
In the open area
The most commonly used drying method is natural drying. But this is feasible under certain conditions, if such a possibility exists, and weather conditions allow it.Drying mushrooms in a small village or on the balcony of an apartment in a large city is completely different things.
When drying mushrooms in the air, they must be pierced with a strong thread, keeping a small distance between the individual fragments. Then this bundle is placed on the most illuminated area. Using gauze or thin fabric, you can protect the bundle from dust particles and insect exposure.
In the oven
This option is most convenient to use in the city. The oven must be heated to about 45 degrees. Mushrooms are arranged on the grid, in even rows. Then the raw material is placed in the oven. It is not necessary to close the door tightly oven, otherwise the moisture settles on the walls of the container and mushrooms can even boil.
After the mushrooms become slightly dried, which happens in about an hour, you can increase the temperature to 70 degrees and dry the mushrooms again for 4-5 hours. Rotate them regularly for even drying.
In the microwave
For such a drying oven temperature should be set at about 100 degrees, and put the mushrooms inside for no more than 20 minutes. After that, you need to open the door of the oven so that the moisture evaporates, and after 5-10 minutes to dry again for twenty minutes.A batch of mushrooms can be dried in this way in about an hour.
Above the gas stove
This is not the most suitable method, but it is also suitable for lack of other possibilities. It is also suitable only if you do not plan to use the stove for cooking in the next few days, otherwise the mushrooms will be able to absorb the flavor of the products.
Mushrooms must be hung almost under the ceiling, then the plates are lighted. If you dry them without turning off the gas stove at all throughout the day, the batch of mushrooms will dry in about 2-3 days.
In the Russian stove
Many people sometimes ask if there is a difference between drying mushrooms in an oven or a Russian stove. The furnace as a separate method of cooking products is fundamentally different from the oven not only by the method of air supply, but also by the quality of the final result.
After preparation, the mushrooms can be strung on refined skewers or knitting needles, it is also well suited if the mushrooms are placed with the cap down on the grate. According to an old tradition, they can be laid out on straw. Raw materials should be decomposed in the oven, when the degree drops to 60. But if you place the mushrooms in the oven at a higher temperature, it is fraught with the fact that they deteriorate.
In order to be able to discharge moisture protruding from the mushrooms, the damper needs to be opened slightly, otherwise the air in the oven will not circulate. Also, a specific feature of drying mushrooms in a Russian stove is that it is necessary to open the pipe. At the first stages of drying, the pipe should be opened by about three-quarters, and then it should be closed in stages.
Given that mushrooms can have different sized caps, they can dry out unevenly, which leads to the need to remove mushrooms that have already dried out from the oven, and the remnants of the batch to continue to dry. In the opposite case, the raw material that was overdried is poorly processed, and the undersized may soon deteriorate.
Electric dryer for drying mushrooms
This method is considered the most "lazy." The most important thing here - do not overdo it with the thickness when cutting mushrooms. The thickness of the strips or washers should not exceed 1 cm, but some mushroom pickers prefer to dry the mushrooms whole. After the time and temperature have been set, it remains only to wait until the mushrooms are completely dried and ready.
One of the options for how to dry boletus.If you have collected one kilogram of fleshy boletus, in a short time they can be dried, nakromsav their "noodles". The resulting thin strips should be placed at the same distance from each other on a baking sheet or large dish, then put in a shaded place that is ventilated and regularly turned over. After that, they must be strung on a wood or thread, hanged in a draft (in a place inaccessible to direct sunlight) - preferably under a shed or roof.
Boletus can be dried if sliced their pieces spread out on a horizontal surface. If the weather is warm enough and the sun constantly affects the mushrooms, they will dry out in a few days. Anyway, the moisture remaining in the mushrooms will not play a significant role - under-dried mushrooms can always be brought to readiness using the oven.
The selected method of drying white mushrooms directly determines what will be their taste properties after cooking. The most effective way is to dry the mushrooms in a dedicated dryer.
How to determine readiness
In the case when the fungus can be easily broken, it is not yet ready.Any mushroom that is completely and qualitatively dried can be easily bent, but it is almost impossible to break it because of its high elasticity and lack of moisture.
Also, the dried mushroom has a light color, there are no various spots. The aroma is pleasant, and the mushroom does not look burnt.
Video: fast and proven way to dry mushrooms
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