Mushrooms are a very valuable product, rich inprotein, vitamins and microelements. They are not only healthy, but also very aromatic, tasty, you can cook a lot of different dishes from them for all seasons. They are so nutritious that they can even replace meat (for example, they are one of the main dishes in the diet of vegetarians). In the process of preparing for the autumn-winter season, it is best to dry mushrooms at home - this way they will preserve the maximum amount of nutrients. From such preparations, you can then cook a lot of delicious dishes with high nutritional value: soups, solyanka, cabbage soup, stews and even salads. Mushrooms significantly diversify the winter diet. We often see dried mushrooms strung on threads sold at the market. But when we buy them, you can’t say for sure whether they will be tasty or not. Therefore, it is best to learn how to make such preparations yourself, fortunately, drying mushrooms at home is not that tricky. The main thing is know which mushrooms are best dried, how to prepare them for the drying process and, in fact, how to dry them best. Then you can be sure that the mushrooms will be tasty, and the dishes made from them will also be healthy.

Which mushrooms it is better to dry

If you pick mushrooms yourself, you should neverCollect those that grow near the roadway, near production facilities, etc. - they have probably absorbed all the roadside dust. In addition, they should be fresh and simply perfect in appearance: not spoiled by worms, without rot or other defects. And of course, you must be absolutely sure that your collection is 100% edible mushrooms. If you have any doubts, it is better not to risk it. The best place for collection is ecologically clean forests located far from any industry. Choose a sunny and dry day. It is also important to know which mushrooms are most suitable for drying. These include only tubular ones: porcini, goat mushrooms, aspen mushroom, birch bolete, butter mushrooms, flywheel mushrooms. Some lamellar ones are less suitable: honey mushrooms (autumn ones are best), chanterelles, champignons. This is explained by the fact that when dried, tubular mushrooms retain their beneficial, nutritious and tasty properties and smell amazing. It is very important to remember that you cannot dry old mushrooms, as they may contain toxins, which are dangerous to health. Now that you have collected the mushrooms, sorted them by type and brought them home, you need to prepare them for the drying process. This is a very important point, which should not be neglected if you want the mushrooms to turn out well. First of all, they need to be cleaned. However, under no circumstances rinse them under water, otherwise you will wash away most of the beneficial substances along with the dirt. If the mushrooms are dusty, you can brush the dirt off them with a dry cloth or brush. And you can rinse the already dried mushrooms immediately before cooking. Next, the mushrooms need to be cut. If they are small, they can be dried whole, and large ones are better cut into small pieces. Moreover, the smaller you cut them, the faster and better they will dry later. Porcini mushrooms can be cut lengthwise (stem and cap) into pieces no more than 15 mm thick. The stems need to be prepared separately: the stems of aspen and birch boletes need to be cut into 2 cm thick circles; boletus, chanterelles, honey mushrooms and butter mushrooms are dried without stems. To prevent the mushrooms from darkening, it is better to use horn or bone knives at this stage.

Drying mushrooms in a rustic way

First, you need to decide what kindthe drying method that suits you best. The choice of one or another method depends on several factors: the area in which you live; the availability of one or another device for drying, etc. But whatever method you choose, remember: it is very important to follow all the rules for drying mushrooms. The most important thing is to ensure constant access of air to them for better drying. Village drying methods

• Drying in a Russian oven

This is a great way for rural residentsterrain. The main thing in this case is to clear the stove of ash and coals after heating it and wait for some time. Then lay a thin layer of straw on the bottom and place the mushrooms on it, be sure to place the caps down. You can put them not on the bottom, but on iron baking sheets. In this case, you also need to lay the sheet with straw. You can string them through the caps on thin knitting needles. If you decide to use this method, be sure to choose stainless steel knitting needles - otherwise, poor quality material will affect the taste of the product. Wooden planks must be stuck into the knitting needles on both sides - then the knitting needles with mushrooms will lie on them with their edges. Thus, they will dry, like on skewers, without touching the bottom. The advantage of the "on knitting needles" method is that the mushrooms do not burn, do not get dirty, etc. There are some important nuances when drying using this method: make sure that the mushrooms do not touch with their caps and maintain the correct temperature in the oven (from 40 to 60 °C). At this temperature, they first dry out on the first day, and on the second - they are already dried out.

• Drying in the sun

You can dry mushrooms in a more “natural” way,if the weather is favorable: only hot days without precipitation are suitable for this purpose. You need to take strong thick threads and string mushrooms on them. You can string 50 or more pieces, starting from the largest and ending with the smallest. You need to hang the mushrooms in the sunniest place. If there are several threads, it is important to keep a distance between them and not hang them close to each other, the mushrooms should not touch. In addition, the mushrooms must be covered with gauze so that dust does not settle on them, flies do not sit on them, etc. It is important to wait until the mushrooms are completely dry. Mushrooms should hang in the sun for no more than 1 week. After the mushrooms have dried or if the weather suddenly starts to deteriorate, they must be removed to a dry room. Then the mushrooms must be dried in an oven or stove.

Methods of drying in a city

• Drying mushrooms in the oven

This method is suitable for residents of cities that havethere is no traditional Russian stove in the apartment. For this, you need a stove with an oven, metal baking sheets and wooden sticks (or twigs). The baking sheet must be lined with a sheet of thick paper, and twigs must be laid on top. They must be clean, they must be laid out in not very close rows. On top of these twigs, you need to lay out the mushrooms with the caps down. They must be laid out in one layer. It is important to maintain the same temperature: from 40 to 60 ° C. In this case, the oven door must be kept slightly open. Otherwise, drying in the oven occurs in the same way as in a Russian stove.

• Drying over the stove

Instead of an oven, a heated stove is used.To do this, the mushrooms need to be strung on threads and hung over the stove. You can use this method if you have a Dutch or Russian stove - in this case, the threads are hung near the hot wall of the stove.

• Drying in carousel dryers

The dryer can also be used to dry mushrooms.To do this, you need to pour them onto galvanized nets, place them in a chamber and rotate them on a carousel. In this way, they are dried in several stages. At the first stage, the dryer must be heated to a temperature of 37 to 50 ° C - so that they dry out; then increase the temperature to 60-80 ° C - so that they dry out completely. Typically, the duration of this process in the dryer is from 4 to 6 hours.

How to determine the readiness of mushrooms and how to store them

It is very important to catch the right moment whenthe mushrooms are ready, that is, completely dried. A lot depends on this: taste, aroma, how well they will be stored and whether they will crumble during cooking. Completely dried mushrooms have the following qualities: they are dry and light, bend and break easily, but do not crumble, their aroma and taste resemble fresh mushrooms. It is important to remember that they dry unevenly: smaller ones will cook faster than their larger counterparts, so when drying, do not forget to check the readiness of small mushrooms first. It is also important to store mushrooms correctly, since they quickly absorb moisture and foreign odors, they are hygroscopic, quickly become moldy and damp. They like dry rooms with constant air circulation and a temperature of 10 to 15 ° C. It is also important what to store them in. Clean and dry canvas bags or bags made of thick and durable paper are perfect for this. You can store supplies for a long time, but not longer than 1 year. Usually, they make a stock for one season.

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