Real porcini mushroom how to process it correctly. How to properly process raw mushrooms

An article on how to properly process raw mushrooms without spoiling them and without harming your health.

Fresh is a perishable product. Mushrooms collected in rainy times do not tolerate even very short storage at all. Therefore, immediately upon returning from the forest, it is necessary to immediately begin to process them. First of all, the mushrooms are sorted, cleaned of debris, earth, sand and sorted. Wormy, overripe, flabby mushrooms, as well as inedible and poisonous mushrooms are rejected and thrown away. Parts of the pulp damaged by rodents, animals, insects, slugs and softened are cut out with a knife, and the skin, if it is easily separated, is removed. Mushrooms prepared for salting or pickling (but not for drying) are thoroughly washed and transferred to a sieve or colander to drain the water. Only then do they start processing.

At white mushrooms, boletus, boletus the legs are cleaned from the ground, the skin is thinly cut off from them, and the caps are separated. Then these mushrooms are washed and scalded with boiling water.

At butter the skin is removed from the caps. It can be easily removed if you hold the oil in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then discard it on a sieve or colander and rinse with cold water.

From hats mushrooms after cleaning the legs from the ground, remove a thin film, put the mushrooms in cold water, to which a little citric acid is added to avoid darkening of the pulp. After some time, the champignons are transferred to an enamel bowl, poured with hot water, also with citric acid, and boiled for 20 minutes.

WITH russula it is easy to remove the skin if you first pour boiling water over them.

Fresh milk mushrooms, russula, chanterelles, volnushki contain bitter juice. Therefore, after cleaning and washing them, they are soaked for several hours in cold water or for 15-20 minutes in salted or acidified with vinegar, which will get rid of bitterness, and at the same time from various insects and worms. After soaking, it is advisable to boil the mushrooms with boiling water, but it is better to subject them to a short boil.

Only after such thorough pre-treatment, necessary to protect against possible poisoning, mushrooms are suitable for cooking. Overgrown, old mushrooms and even young ones, collected long before use, become flabby, soft, and begin to emit an unpleasant odor. It is clear that such mushrooms are not suitable for eating, as they can cause diseases. Collected and prepared fresh mushrooms are stored for no more than one day on ice, in cellars or freezers. If longer storage of mushrooms is required, then they are washed again with cold water, placed in a sieve or colander and, poured with boiling water, placed in rows in glass or enameled dishes, sprinkled with salt and kept on ice. At the same time, mushrooms do not deteriorate for 6-8 days.

At home, when salting, pickling, pickling, preserving mushrooms and preparing an extract from them the following rule must be strictly observed: do not seal them hermetically. Otherwise, cases of poisoning, and even death, are not ruled out.

If the mushrooms are still stored in hermetically sealed containers (jars rolled up with iron lids, etc.), then they should be subjected to heat treatment before use.

After the "quiet hunt", we hope it is productive, we will visit one more section of the mushroom workshop. It is not as extensive as the previous one, and is in every house, in every apartment. This site is an ordinary kitchen, where you also need to show some skill in handling mushrooms. Unfortunately, fresh mushrooms do not lie for a long time, they deteriorate. Within a few hours after collection, especially in summer in warm or rainy weather, they may become unusable. The only way to save forest gifts is to quickly cook a dish or start processing them. If this is not possible, the mushrooms should be put in a sieve, colander or enamel pan (do not cover with a lid) and refrigerate, but not more than a day or two. In any case, regardless of what the collection is intended for, mushrooms cannot be felled at random. The fact is that, in addition to the difference in categories, those species that will be eaten are also divided into edible and conditionally edible. Moreover, these groups include mushrooms of various categories.

Edible mushrooms are those in which the cap and stem do not contain bitterness, harmful substances or an unpleasant odor. They can be boiled, fried and served immediately after being harvested, processed and properly prepared. Edible mushrooms include the following types: porcini, saffron milk mushrooms, duboviki, chestnut mushroom, boletus, boletus, bruise, champignons, yellow chanterelle, mossiness mushrooms, winter, summer, autumn, boletus mushrooms, Polish mushroom, russula (with the exception of the burning, beautiful, brittle , inconspicuous, which belong to conditionally edible mushrooms), ram mushroom, oyster mushrooms, talkers, golovachs, umbrella mushrooms, raincoats, blackberries, greenfinch, goat, lacquer, yellowing chanterelle, marsh butterdish, red fly agaric, gray-pink fly agaric , dung beetles, rows, golden scales.

Conditionally edible are mushrooms containing bitter or harmful substances that have an unpleasant odor (not always, though). They can be eaten only after soaking, boiling and removing the broth or after salting and fermentation. The group of conditionally edible mushrooms includes all mushrooms, white podgrudok, valui, volushki, morels, smooth, bitter, rubella, spruce mokruha, serushka, violinist and some others. As a rule, mushrooms of the second group are suitable mainly for salting and pickling, sometimes they are boiled and only then fried. Thus, it is advisable to arrange the mushrooms from the basket by type, since their taste and cooking methods are different. In one bowl, for example, white ones are taken separately for drying, in another - large boletus, boletus, oil, etc., which are not suitable in size or appearance for salting, pickling, roasting, for the so-called black drying. For salting lay milk mushrooms, volushki, valui, podgruzdki. In the pan - chanterelles, honey mushrooms, small butterflies, boletus, boletus, etc., here you can add a few white ones for a bouquet.

After dividing the mushrooms by type, they begin to process them. First of all, they should be cleaned of needles, leaves, moss and other adhering forest vegetation. Garbage is removed with a wide brush, cotton swab or soft cloth, if the hat is smooth, scraped off with a knife, preferably stainless steel. All darkened, softened and damaged places damaged by forest rodents, animals, insects, slugs are also cut out with a knife. Finally, no matter how carefully we select mushrooms during the "quiet hunt", the worms still end up in the basket and must be removed. After cleaning from debris, the mushrooms are washed in cold water, with the exception of those intended for drying. Then they recline on a sieve, sieve or colander. Morels, brambles, and other rough-surfaced mushrooms need to be rinsed longer to loosen the sand. Sometimes they do it differently. Mushrooms are placed in a large pot, basin or bucket, poured with water. A wooden circle with a small load is placed on top, thereby preventing the mushrooms from floating up. After a few minutes, all dry leaves and grass stuck to them will get wet and will lag behind when cleaning. You should not keep the mushrooms in water for a long time, as it is absorbed by the caps, especially if the mushrooms are not young. After that, start cleaning. When cleaning, if the mushrooms were not yet divided into caps and legs in the forest, the legs are cut off, the soaked leaves and grass are scraped off the caps with a knife, and the places affected by pests are cut off. At the legs, the lower part with the remains of the root is removed. If there is dirt on the sides of any leg, then they are cut off or cleaned with a knife. Usually, mushrooms prepared for salting or pickling are treated in this way. Many mushrooms contain easily oxidized substances that darken almost instantly upon contact with air (saffron mushrooms, boletus, boletus, fly mushrooms, champignons). Darkened mushrooms look rather unattractive. To prevent this from happening, when cleaning and cutting these species, everything must be done quickly and the peeled mushrooms should not be allowed to be in the air. You need to immediately lower them into water, to which a little salt or vinegar is added in advance. Large caps of washed mushrooms should be divided into four, six or more parts. Cut the legs into thin slices. Butters bring a lot of trouble. It is not so easy to remove the sticky skin from the hats, which is bitter if left. However, it is quickly peeled off, one has only to hold the mushrooms for 1-2 minutes in boiling water, then discard in a colander, sieve and rinse in cold water. The bitter taste in some mushrooms can be reduced or completely eliminated by heat treatment. But it will harm whites, saffron milk caps, chanterelles, champignons, umbrella mushrooms, summer mushrooms: after cooking, these species become viscous. Heat treatment, as a rule, is subjected to conditionally edible mushrooms, and the broth is then drained, since it is rather bitter and poisonous. For heat treatment and general cooking of mushrooms, enameled or aluminum dishes are needed. In no case should you use copper, cast iron or pewter utensils, since the metal of such utensils reacts with mushrooms. They soon darken (for example, light mushrooms, having been in a cast iron, become dark), lose vitamins and can even become poisonous. The most well-known are two types of heat treatment. In the first case, bring the water to a boil, add salt (0.5 tablespoons per 1 liter of water). Dip the mushrooms into the pan and keep in boiling water for 5 to 15 minutes. Then they are transferred to cold water to cool faster. In the second, the mushrooms are dipped in cold salted water and brought to a boil. Then the dishes with mushrooms are immediately removed from the heat, allowed to cool. The water is drained, and the mushrooms are transferred to a colander or sieve to make the water glass. You can get rid of the bitter taste in mushrooms in another way. After cleaning and washing, they are soaked for 15-20 minutes, and sometimes more (2-6 hours) in cold water salted or acidified with vinegar. After such a "bathing", it is recommended to pour over the mushrooms with boiling water, or even better, boil them. So, although it is a difficult, monotonous task, mushrooms are processed. Thus, you have protected yourself from possible poisoning and unpleasant taste sensations. But now forest gifts can be fearlessly eaten or harvested in various ways for the future.

Since ancient times, they have firmly entered Russian cuisine. Our ancestors not only prepared dishes based on them, but also stocked up on mushrooms for future use. In other cuisines, mushrooms have also always been given pride of place. French julienne, fragrant European chanterelles with vegetables, expensive truffles - a huge variety of options, among which you can find something of your own.

A little about the benefits and disadvantages of mushrooms

As for vitamins, there are more of them in mushrooms than in cereals - for example, vitamins PP, D, A. Mushrooms have a lot of sulfur and polysaccharides, so they are useful for preventing cancer. It is believed that a reliable cancer prevention is dried porcini mushrooms. Oils also contain a substance that alleviates the symptoms of gout.

Any mushrooms are rich in extractive substances, they make the most fragrant and rich in flavor broths, sauces, gravies. Their taste allows you to combine mushrooms with many other products - meat, fish, vegetables, seafood.

Dry mushrooms ground into flour are best absorbed. That is, if you are a big lover of mushrooms and cannot live without them, then you can use them a little more often in the form of pancakes.

In dried mushrooms there is a substance fungin, which gives an additional load on the liver. Nutritionists advise eating mushrooms no more than 2 times a week. Pediatricians recommend giving mushrooms to children no earlier than from the age of 7.

Mushrooms accumulate nitrates and harmful substances of the area in which they grow. Therefore, it is important to collect them in ecologically clean areas and, when buying from the market, ask what locality they are from.

People with chronic gastritis, ulcers, diseases of the liver, duodenum and kidneys should better consult with their doctor about the systematic use of mushrooms. Do not eat overripe, old and softened mushrooms.

Each dish has its own mushroom

Broths, sauces are prepared from white mushrooms, they are fried, pickled and salted. Boletus and boletus are never used to make soups and broths. They are best fried, stewed, marinated.

Butter can be dried, boiled, marinated. They should not be fried and stewed, as they secrete a slippery specific juice. Chanterelles are great for frying. They can also be pickled, although they are not very elastic. They are also used for open pies, quiches. But we do not recommend drying or boiling chanterelles. They are bitter, and dried are generally almost tasteless.

Mushrooms and oyster mushrooms can be cooked as you like. Grilled champignon caps lightly sprinkled with olive oil and salt are very tasty.

Black and white milk mushrooms are ideal for salting, they are prepared only in this way. These are noble and very tasty mushrooms used exclusively in Russian cuisine.

For juliennes, porcini mushrooms and mushrooms are a good choice. Mushrooms are also used in julienne, but their taste is quite neutral. Dried mushrooms make very fragrant soups and broths, gravies for meat and vegetables.

mushroom preparation

In old mushrooms, it is recommended to cut off the tubular layer under the cap, as spores form there. It is important to cook peeled mushrooms immediately, as mushroom fibers absorb excess odors very quickly.

Mushrooms are not recommended to be washed before drying, it is enough to clean them of litter, cut off the roots, separate the caps from the legs and cut too large parts in half.

The preparation of dried mushrooms is that they are washed, doused with boiling water and soaked in cold water for 4 hours. Such mushrooms are subsequently boiled in this very water in which they lay.

General rules cooking

Mushrooms change their taste and smell very easily, so we do not recommend adding spicy-smelling spices to them. Salted or pickled mushrooms should be rinsed in cold water before being added to a salad to remove excess salt and acid.

You can freeze any mushrooms. In this form, they are stored for a long time and are easy to prepare. Moreover, they do not need to be defrosted, it is enough to put them in the dish being prepared at the right time.

You can cook a hot dish from salted and pickled mushrooms or use them in salads if you boil them in water for 5-7 minutes to remove excess salt and acid. If you use salted mushrooms, then they can be soaked in cold water for about 5 hours.

Sour cream, onions, garlic, dill, parsley, and apples are most often used to season mushroom dishes. In minimal quantities, we recommend adding nutmeg, cloves, allspice. Especially few spices are required for mushrooms, milk mushrooms, chanterelles and whites.

We advise you not to use vinegar when cooking, but to replace it with lemon juice. It is not recommended to mix different types of mushrooms when cooking; it is better to cook each type separately. The exception is heat.

Roasting and stewing mushrooms

It is very tasty to stew mushrooms in sour cream, rabbit broth or white wine. Such stewed mushrooms can be used as an independent side dish, or as part of a complex dish.

Boiling mushrooms and broths

Any mushrooms are cooked no more than 20 minutes after boiling. Milk mushrooms and russula are boiled for 5 minutes, boletus - 7 minutes, white and boletus - 10 minutes. Morels are boiled in salted water for 15 minutes. Chanterelles and Valui - 20 minutes. After boiling the mushrooms, rinse with cold boiled water. Large mushrooms cook faster than small ones.

Dried chanterelles will boil better if you add a pinch of baking soda to the water. The peeled legs of the boletus will not darken during cooking if they are cooked without cutting. So that the mushrooms do not lose their taste and aroma during cooking, we advise you to cook them only on medium heat. When cooking mushrooms and mushrooms, try adding bay leaves to boiling water, the aroma will become more pleasant.

It is easy to check the readiness of mushrooms - raw mushrooms float, and ready ones settle to the bottom.

Salting and pickling mushrooms

If you salt or pickle mushrooms yourself, do not use metal lids. It is best to cover the jar with several layers of wax paper, tie it tightly with twine and put it in a cool place. When marinating, try adding a little cloves, star anise and cinnamon to the marinade - this will give a spicy original flavor.

White mushroom has an exceptional taste and smell, so it is actively used in cooking. It retains its original appearance during cooking, it is often preserved and added to various dishes.

This species has a fleshy hat and at the same time has a low calorie content. It contains vitamins such as A, B1, D, C. It should be borne in mind that mushrooms that have grown near busy roads should not be eaten.

Whites absorb toxic substances well, so eating them can be dangerous to health. Almost all people try to find as many white mushrooms as possible. Collecting them is interesting and easy, however, after that you have to move on to cleaning, and this is no longer so exciting.

Cleaning whites is a must and should be taken seriously.

Firstly, the taste of mushrooms depends on this - if leaves, needles or dirt remain on them, that is, the dish will be unpleasant.

Secondly, if the white mushroom is not cleaned well enough, then a person can get poisoned, since not only poisonous varieties are dangerous to health.

If desired, you can clean the white mushroom right in the forest to save time. This is done in two stages, but only the first of them can be carried out outside the home. This is a kind of pre-processing, and one cannot do without it.

You will have to clean the porcini mushrooms with your hands and a knife, which should always be with you when going to the forest. As soon as the porcini mushroom has been plucked, coniferous twigs, leaves, adhering dirt, stones, sand and any foreign objects should be shaken off from it.

The leg can be trimmed a little before shipping the basket. However, if the mushroom is wormy, then the damaged part should be cut off. In the event that the worms have eaten almost the entire hat, it is better to throw out the porcini mushroom.

This completes the preparation before the second stage of cleaning, since it will be difficult to carry out washing and other procedures in the forest.

Cleaning porcini mushrooms at home

As you know, porcini mushrooms grow on dry and practically uncontaminated surfaces, so many people wonder if they really need to be cleaned before cooking or just rinsing is enough.

Experts say that the porcini mushroom must be cleaned, as its stem may contain a dangerous bacterium that can cause botulism. Even heat treatment will not help to destroy it.

Before you start cleaning mushrooms, you need to decide what they will be used for later. There are different options: drying, marinating, frying, salting. If they need to be dried or fried, then washing is not necessary.

Many experienced people strongly advise you to buy a special brush (sold in every household goods store) and go over the entire surface of the ingredient with it.

You can even use a simple medium-hard toothbrush if you can't get a special one.

A knife is also useful, however, they can only eliminate wormholes and cut off darkened places.

After that, you can start rinsing the ingredients. For this, it is recommended to use cool tap water.

There is one caveat here - it is necessary to rinse quickly, because if the mushroom is in contact with water for a long time, it will lose many useful properties and may even lose its excellent taste. Then cooking it will not be so pleasant.

When washing, it is necessary to carefully inspect the hat from above and below. You can even cut it in half to make sure that there are no darkening inside. The hat can even be torn off from the stem, as these parts are in most cases prepared separately.

After washing, they should be laid out on a sieve or sieve so that the remaining water can drain. You need to keep them until they are completely dry.

Hard specimens can be found in the forest, which raise doubts about the quality. In this case, you can put them to boil for about 10 minutes in salt water, if they need to be frozen after that.

If in the plans, then you just need to scald with boiling water. It should be remembered that mushrooms should be cleaned immediately upon arrival home.

It is highly desirable that they be cooked 5 hours after collection. If it happens that it is not possible to clean the mushrooms right away, then you can soak them in cold water, adding citric acid and a little salt. However, it is impossible to leave them in this state for a long time, for a maximum of one night.

Slicing mushrooms and heat treatment

Since porcini mushrooms can be eaten with a leg, they need to be cut completely, and it is recommended to cook the legs separately. To begin with, the hat is cut into approximately the same pieces - into 4 or 6 parts, depending on the size. Then they move on to the leg - it is recommended to cut it into thin circles.

Whites do not need heat treatment before cooking, as they are not poisonous and do not have a bitter taste. As a rule, boiled russula, milk mushrooms and volnushki.

However, if you want to play it safe, then you can carry out this procedure. However, it should be borne in mind that processing will affect the quality of the product, and whites may lose some of their beneficial properties, become less tasty and fragrant.

In addition, it is not necessary to prepare the product for heat treatment, it is enough just to cut them. Boil should be in plenty of salted water from 5 to 15 minutes, no more. If you increase the time to 30 minutes, then the pleasant taste may completely disappear, and then the mushrooms can simply be thrown away.

When cooking is over, the broth can be poured out or frozen for the future.

Cooking options for porcini mushrooms

There are many ways to cook porcini mushrooms, as they are great for canning, frying, drying, and soups. They are almost universal, however, according to some recipes, whites turn out better and tastier.

Perhaps drying is the easiest option, since almost nothing is required of a person to do. It is only necessary to cut each white mushroom before cooking, put it on a sieve and put it in a sunny, well-ventilated place.

Also available for winter. Before cooking, you will need to wash all the ingredients, put in a saucepan and cook for about half an hour. Salting them at this time is not recommended. After cooking, you need to put the mushrooms in a colander so that all the liquid is glass.

Then you need to pour water into the pan, add sea salt or ordinary salt, vinegar, pepper, cloves, a little sugar, cinnamon and a few bay leaves. The contents must be brought to a boil, then put the mushrooms into it. They will take about 5 minutes to cook.

After that, the mushrooms should be put in sterilized jars and pour the broth. You also need to add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Nothing else needs to be cooked, and all you need to do is roll up the jars and leave them in a cool room for at least 2 months.

If everything is done correctly, then the canned food will turn out incredibly tasty.

Experienced mushroom pickers treat a walk in the forest as a certain ritual. With their families, they can walk and pick mushrooms for hours, and at home they clean them carefully and lovingly. They pay special attention to each and wash thoroughly. But not everyone knows how to process mushrooms correctly. If there is any doubt about the quality, in no case should the product be used, it is more expedient to throw it away immediately.

Cleaning mushrooms from debris

Mushrooms spoil very quickly, so you need to prepare them for storage quickly. Walking through the forest is a tiring task, after returning home you want to lie down and relax. How to process mushrooms in the forest? To save time, it is worth starting processing immediately after they are torn off. To do this, you need to clean each mushroom from debris and leaves, and if the skin on the cap is easily removed, then it can be removed. The mucosal apex must be cleaned and the film removed. Naturally, in the forest you need to spend more time for a walk, but at home you can relax a bit.

mushroom preparation

After coming home, you should immediately distribute them by type, so that it is easier to figure out how to process mushrooms and what to cook from them. Then you need to take a sharp knife and cut out all the dark places, and also check the product for insects or worms. Hats must be gently wiped with a brush or brush, and then cut off the tip of the leg.

When all mushrooms are cleaned, they should be thoroughly washed. But this should be done with extreme caution, since a long stay in the water will not have the best effect on the quality, and their taste will change a little. Mushrooms must be put in a colander and rinsed a little with cold water, and then let it drain.

If you know how to properly process mushrooms, then the juice that remains should not be thrown away. It can be used to prepare other dishes.

If the mushrooms have a small amount of wormholes, the product must be soaked in cold water, after adding salt there. Then the worms will come out and stay in a container of water. In the case when the mushroom is very difficult to wash, as it is excessively contaminated, it can be placed in water and left for a while.

It is more convenient to wash in a basin or in a large saucepan. It is important that the mushrooms are covered with water. To prevent them from floating up, you can put plywood or a board with a small load on top. When the leaves and other debris are wet, it will be very easy to separate them.

Those mushrooms that are intended for salting must be soaked. For mushrooms, it is worth scraping off the upper black layer with a knife, and for oiled mushrooms, remove the films from the hats. When thinking about how to process volushki mushrooms, you should remember that they are soaked raw and then salted.

Those species that contain milky bitter juice should be soaked for 2-3 days, changing the water at least three times a day. It is better to put the container in a cool place so that the mushrooms do not sour.

Experienced mushroom pickers assure that soaking is not as useful as it is commonly believed. This is due to the fact that along with the bitterness, nutrients and protein substances leave, the nutritional value of the product decreases, and the mushroom becomes soft and flabby. Therefore, experts do not recommend soaking for more than 2 days. If you figure out how to process mushrooms, then after cooking they will always turn out delicious.

When sorting through, you need to pay special attention to whether there are any poisonous species in the basket. Some grebes are very similar to russula. You can distinguish them by the stem: if the russula is real, its stem is straight to the very base, while in a false mushroom it expands downwards. It will also be useful for beginners to know that in a toadstool the skin is removed from the cap from the edge to the center. If there is any doubt about the quality, it is impossible to use them in any case, it is more expedient to immediately throw them away. You should not pick those mushrooms that grow near highways or landfills: they can cause severe poisoning.

Preparing for salting

Inexperienced cooks are often concerned about how to properly process mushrooms for pickling. After cleaning, they must be put in a container for soaking, large ones - cut into pieces. Russula with a red leg can come across very hot, so it is better to place them in boiling water for a few minutes. Yellow ones do not need soaking, it is enough to peel them, boil them and put them in the refrigerator. Old and flabby mushrooms should be thrown away immediately.

Pickling

Most often pickled tubular species that do not contain bitterness. Small mushrooms are pickled separately, and large ones should be cut into pieces. The legs must be separated from the caps, and they can be marinated both together and separately. Mushroom pickers are advised to select hats, and use the legs for cooking other dishes.

If the butterflies are young, the bottom film must also be removed. It is more convenient to do this with the tip of a thin knife. The leg should be left a couple of centimeters from the hat.

Those mushrooms that will be pickled cannot be washed, as they will absorb water, which is highly undesirable. It is better to wipe them with a damp cloth.

How to dry mushrooms?

To dry the product, you need to know how to process fresh mushrooms. An improperly prepared product for storage will quickly deteriorate. For drying, tubular species (white, oily, boletus) or lamellar (russula, mushrooms or chanterelles) are most suitable.

It is better to dry strong, old mushrooms without damage. They should never be soaked or washed. Use a damp cloth to remove dirt and debris. Mushrooms are dried separately for each species, if necessary, cut into pieces. Hats can also be divided into parts. In order for the mushrooms to dry faster, their thickness should be 3-5 mm. Cut comfortably with a sharp knife, laying the spongy side up.

Preparing porcini mushrooms

They are very tasty, nutritious and highly respected by chefs. But not everyone knows how to process. First of all, with a small knife, it is necessary to cut off the tip of the leg, grabbing a little on the sides to remove foreign particles.

Wipe the mushroom with a paper towel and remove small particles of debris. If drying is expected, the product must not be wetted.

To check if the mushroom is wormy, you need to cut the leg. If the caps are very large, you can cut into pieces. In the case when the contamination is very strong, it is necessary to boil the product for some time or soak in salt water.

When thinking about how to process a white mushroom, you should use a toothbrush. It picks up debris well and does not damage the hat.