Drying porcini mushrooms at home. Storage of dried mushrooms, preservation of dried mushrooms
In season, you have the opportunity to collect a large amount, however, this product is stored very little fresh, so you need it either or. Today we will discuss the second option, as well as talk about the main drying options and how to store dried mushrooms.
Which mushrooms are suitable for drying
Before understanding all the intricacies of drying, it is worth initially talking about which ones can be dried.
It is tubular mushrooms that are worth drying, since, unlike lamellar ones, they do not acquire bitterness during the drying process.
The best types for drying:
- boletus;
In case you are not afraid of bitterness or know how to deal with it, then you can dry it, and pods. The list of suitable species does not include very small ones, such as mouse mushrooms. The thing is that during the drying process, the raw material loses up to 90% of its mass. And if the raw material already weighs less than 20-30 g, then practically nothing will remain of it - it is better to preserve such species.
mushroom preparation
Before being taken for drying, the collected must be prepared.
Let's make a small digression and talk about the required quality of raw materials. The fact is that if you have collected oldish or rotten mushrooms, then it is best to cut them off and immediately put them into cooking, and not try to dry them. Only young mushrooms are suitable for drying, which are of good quality and are not damaged in any way. 
We return to preparation: immediately after collection, the raw materials must be cleaned of debris and earth, but in no case should they be washed. If moisture gets on the product, then it will dry many times longer, and the taste will deteriorate significantly.
Immediately after cleaning, the mushrooms are sorted out, removing the rotten ones and cutting off the damaged ones.
Important! To prevent the cuts on the products from darkening, pruning should be done with a stainless steel knife.
Drying methods
Outdoors
The easiest drying option that does not require the use of any technique.
It should be understood that it is worth carrying out in the summer or in late spring - early autumn, so that you can dry the products in a fairly short time. 
- Before drying, all mushrooms are cut into plates. You can separate the leg to dry faster.
- The plates are strung on a fishing line so that they do not touch each other, otherwise the raw materials will not dry out well at the points of contact and will not be stored. You can also use wooden trays or paper, but in this case you will need a large enough area for laying out the raw materials.
- All prepared mushrooms are placed in a place where dust and rain will not fall on them. At the same time, the place should be well warmed up by the sun and well ventilated so that drying takes place faster.
- After laying out or hanging the products, cover everything with a mesh with small cells so that flies do not land.
Did you know? Since the mushroom is considered to be something between animals and plants, we can say that this living organism is the largest creature on earth. This proves that it was found in Oregon. Its area was 900 hectares.
In the oven
Drying mushrooms in the oven differs in that in this case it depends on you more than when drying in the fresh air, so you should understand that improvisation in this case can ruin a large amount of raw materials.
An oven is best suited for drying, in which there is an additional airflow function, since without it you will have to open the door so that there is at least some air circulation. In the absence of airflow, the drying process will slow down significantly.
- We need to take the iron grates that are usually used for grilling, spread the mushrooms on them in one layer and put them in the oven.
- Set the temperature in the region of 60-70 ° C and, if necessary, slightly open the oven door.
- Every 15-20 minutes, the grates need to be swapped so that all the mushrooms dry equally well.
You need to dry until the moment until they decrease several times. At the same time, they should not be oily to the touch, but dry.
Important! Do not raise the temperature, otherwise you will bake the mushrooms, and not dry.
In an electric dryer
Perhaps the highest quality product you get if you dry it in. Of course, the technique will not replace all the delights of natural drying, but you certainly cannot spoil the products.
- The raw material is cleaned and cut into thin plates. Choose the thickness yourself, but take into account the fact that if the product is small, then cutting it into too thin slices does not make sense.
- Everything is laid out in one layer on each tier of the dryer, the temperature is set to 55 ° C.
- We wait from 2 to 6 hours until our mushrooms are completely dry.
As a rule, absolutely all mushrooms can be dried in this way - both tubular () and lamellar, especially in such home conditions that do not make it possible to dry products in the open air.
in the microwave
Consider also the option of how to dry mushrooms in the microwave.
This is not to say that this is the optimal technique for drying, but in the absence of other options, it can also be used for our purposes.
- We clean and cut the raw material.
- We take a plate or a baking sheet that is suitable for a microwave oven. Ideally, of course, you need to use a wire rack, but in the absence of one, you can take any non-metal utensils.
- We lay out everything in a thin layer, set 100-180 W, and “dry” for about 20 minutes.
- After the specified time, the microwave must be opened for 15 minutes so that all the moisture comes out. Then close and repeat again.
- The optimal number of repetitions is 2-3 times, however, if the mushrooms are cut into thick plates, then it can be increased up to 4-5 times.
How to determine readiness
It is very difficult to determine readiness, therefore, in this case, only practice and experience are important.
White mushroom is the king of mushrooms, it has not only a unique aroma and taste, but is also very useful. No wonder it is called "forest meat". And that is why you so want to keep mushrooms for a long time, in order to feast on them also in the middle of winter, and not only in the season of its fruiting. Learn how to dry porcini mushrooms at home, because this is how you can preserve their aroma, taste and nutritional properties.
When collecting porcini mushrooms, try not to take too large specimens for drying, as it is not very convenient to work with them. It is also better to collect mushrooms in dry sunny weather so that they are not too damp.
Dry mushrooms should be immediately after harvest. Under no circumstances should they be washed. Boletus is a tubular fungus that easily absorbs water, and excess moisture will have a detrimental effect on the drying process.
Before drying the fruiting bodies of mushrooms, they should be prepared. Sorting is carried out according to size and quality - spoiled or wormy ones should be thrown away immediately, and small ones should be separated from large ones.
All mushrooms should be wiped with a soft cloth. The fabric can be slightly moistened, but you should not be zealous with this. All needles and sand, moss and other debris are carefully removed from the skin.
Large fruiting bodies are cut into several parts in the form of plates or into two halves along, depending on the size, small ones can be dried entirely. It is also recommended to cut especially large hats into slices, and the legs into slices about 2 cm thick. Sometimes mushrooms are completely dried in the form of “noodles” - they are cut into a mass of thin slices. Thus, mushrooms are dried much faster and better and stored better.
In dried mushrooms, more protein is stored than with any other method of harvesting for the winter.
How to dry on a thread
Usually mushrooms are dried in the traditional and one of the oldest ways - they are strung on threads, fishing line or thin knitting needles so that the fruiting bodies do not touch each other.
A canvas or nylon thread is threaded into a thick needle and each fruiting body is pierced with it. In large mushrooms, the leg is cut off by 2/3 and cut into circles, which are also strung on a thread.
"Garlands" of mushrooms are hung on the street or in the house where there is good ventilation and warm enough (for example, over a hot stove). If the fruiting bodies are dried outside, this method can only be used in dry, hot weather.
If whites are dried on knitting needles, then they are placed on wooden stands. To protect the mushrooms from flies and dust, they are covered with gauze. The period of natural drying is about 5-7 days.
Dry whites in the oven
You can easily dry mushrooms in the oven. To do this, they are cut into plates and laid out in even rows in one layer on baking sheets covered with parchment. You can also dry mushrooms on a stainless steel grate - then there will be better air circulation. Whole small fruit bodies are placed on hats.
The oven warms up to 55-60 ⁰С, prepared mushrooms are placed in it. The door does not need to be closed tightly so that there is free access of air. When the mushrooms begin to stick to the parchment (several hours will pass), the heating temperature is increased to 70 ⁰С. At the end of drying, the temperature is reduced.
In general, the drying of whites in the oven lasts at least 24 hours - the baking sheets with them are periodically removed, the mushrooms are mixed, ventilated and cooled (the procedure is carried out at least once). Thanks to these manipulations, it will be possible to preserve the beautiful color of the fruiting bodies and avoid overdrying or burning them.
Under-dried mushrooms at the slightest dampness begin to mold.
Drying in the microwave
Drying porcini mushrooms can also be done in the microwave. To do this, cut into identical slices (it is important that they dry out evenly), mushrooms are laid out on a glass plate and kept in a device turned on at a power of 100-200 W for about 18-20 minutes. During this procedure, mushroom juice will stand out, which should be drained, and let the whites cool by opening the microwave door. Then the cycle is repeated 3-4 times until the fruit bodies are completely dry. You can dry them both in the oven and in the air.
How to dry porcini mushrooms in an electric dryer
For harvesting dry mushrooms, you can also use an electric dryer. This device greatly facilitates the life of avid mushroom pickers. It does not heat the air (the temperature inside the device is set at only 55 ⁰С), during its use, electricity costs do not increase much, and the process of harvesting mushrooms takes place without human intervention.
To use an electric dryer, it is only important to know how to properly dry mushrooms. They are cut into slices and laid out in special trays, the lid is closed and the system is programmed depending on the type of mushrooms. Drying time takes from 3 to 8 hours. If not all pallets are installed in the dryer, then the mushrooms dry faster.
Rules and terms of storage of dry mushrooms
It is easy to determine the readiness of mushrooms - the dried boletus is moderately elastic, it bends hard, but it does not become covered with cracks. A poorly dried mushroom is excessively soft - it will become moldy during storage, while an overdried one, on the contrary, is fragile and breaks easily.
It does not matter if, due to inexperience, you overdried mushrooms - you can make a fragrant seasoning from them by grinding with a blender and adding salt.
Dried porcini mushrooms are stored wrapped in clean paper and placed in wooden boxes. If their number is small, then you can simply pour them into a paper or linen bag. You can also leave them suspended on a fishing line.
Freshly dried mushrooms are sometimes placed in sterilized glass jars, which are hermetically sealed, which will not allow the mushrooms to deteriorate. To do this, the edges of the jar are smeared with alcohol or water, set on fire and immediately twisted with a lid. By carrying out these manipulations, a small vacuum is created in the bank. The shelf life of dried mushrooms is from 12 to 18 months.
The place where dried mushrooms are stored should be dry, without foreign odors, and well ventilated. You can put a salt shaker near the fruiting bodies - the salt will absorb excess moisture. It is also important to periodically check the condition of the mushrooms - whether there are insects, whether they are moldy or damp. In the latter case, they can be dried in any way described above.
By the way, during drying, mushrooms lose a lot in mass - out of 10 kg of fresh mushrooms, only 1.5 kg of the workpiece will be obtained. Dried whites should smell like fresh ones. Before further use, they should be soaked in water, except when they are used to make mushroom powder.
The skill of drying porcini mushrooms will come only with experience, do not worry if the first batches are spoiled. Choose the method that suits you best from the above.
Step 1: Prepare the mushrooms for drying.
So, we need to carefully evaluate what we have as a result of a trip to the forest. For drying, we need only strong and young mushrooms with a light cap color, without signs of wormholes. To clean the mushrooms before drying, you need to scrape off adhering moss, needles and other debris with a sharp knife. Wash the mushrooms Not follows! Otherwise, the mushrooms will darken during drying, and will dry much more slowly.Step 2: Cut and select mushrooms.
We put the prepared mushrooms on a cutting board and cut off the lowest part of the leg from each mushroom. If the mushrooms are not large (up to 4-5 centimeters height), you can dry them whole, but if the mushrooms are very strong and large, then cut them into plates with a thickness of 1-1.5 centimeters along with the leg. At this stage, you need to select the mushrooms again, because it often happens that the mushroom looks strong and clean, but the hat inside is all eaten away. In this case, if the leg is clean, dry only it. Step 3: Dry the mushrooms in different ways.
Method 1: Outdoors. If there are sunny and warm summer days in the yard, then it’s a sin not to take advantage of this. In this case, we string the prepared mushrooms on a dense thick thread or fishing line and hang them in a well-lit, warm place. So that mushrooms are not spoiled by insects, of which there are a lot in summer, we will cover the mushrooms with gauze. Mushrooms are dried in this way only during the day, but at night they are removed into the house. Drying mushrooms in this way will take about 2 weeks. Method 2: In the oven.
If fruits and vegetables are dried in the oven, then why not do the same with mushrooms? We cover the baking sheet with parchment for baking, and on top of it we lay out the prepared mushrooms, in one layer. We will dry the mushrooms in 2 steps. First, heat the oven to 50 degrees, remove the baking sheet with mushrooms inside, slightly open the oven door, and dry the mushrooms in this way 3 hours. Then let them cool, and put them back in the oven, heated to 65-70 degrees. The oven door must also be open. Dry mushrooms 2 hours, then lower the temperature to 50 degrees, and keep the mushrooms still 2 hours. Let the mushrooms cool down. Step 4: We remove the finished dried mushrooms for storage.
Ready dried mushroom can be easily broken - it should Not crumble, but be light and bend a little. Check the results of your work in this way. To keep mushrooms until winter, put them in thick linen bags or in sterilized glass jars, and then cover them with lids. Remove the container with dried mushrooms in dry, dark and cool place. Step 5: Use dried mushrooms for further cooking.
Ready-made dried porcini mushrooms will become your assistant in the preparation of soups, main courses, sauces and more!. Most importantly, during the drying process, they do not lose their useful and nutritional properties, as well as taste. Bon appetit! If you started drying porcini mushrooms outside, but the weather suddenly turned bad, you can dry them in the oven at a temperature of 50 degrees. Be sure to open the oven door a little - this is necessary for constant air circulation.
Other ways to process mushrooms are freezing, pickling.
You can dry mushrooms over a stove, in a Russian oven, and also in a compact electric dryer. I have given the two most accessible to each method.
Dried porcini mushrooms can be stored for years. However, periodically check their condition, if the mushrooms are damp and moldy, sort them out and dry the selected ones.
Good day to all!
Autumn has come and, in addition to summer harvests, many rush to the forest for mushrooms. Fresh mushroom roast is a wonderful thing. However, preparing them for the winter, so that later you can enjoy a delicious delicacy in the snowy season, is also not bad.
Mushrooms are a perishable product. And if you have collected quite a lot of them, then the question may arise, where to put them? You can't overcook everything...
This is where drying comes in. When the weather is warm, sunny, it's best to dry. I strung it on a string, hung it up and let it dry.
And what to do when the sun is low? Then we use household kitchen appliances. With their help, you can dry the mushrooms quickly enough, regardless of the weather.
For drying, only fresh, strong mushrooms without spots and wormholes are needed.
Unlike fruits, mushrooms are not washed before drying. They absorb moisture very well. They only need to be cleaned, removing all dirt and foliage with a knife or a soft cloth.
Roots are cut off completely. In terms of size, mushrooms no more than 10 cm are best suited for drying. If they are larger, then they can be frozen, pre-cut and heated in a frying pan without oil. This will allow excess moisture to evaporate.
An electric oven is very well suited for drying mushrooms. And if it has a timer and a temperature controller, then the process will go quickly.
Mushrooms cleaned of dirt and leaves are cut into slices. Hats and legs are cut separately. If they are small, then you can cut them lengthwise.
Arrange the mushrooms ready for drying on a baking sheet or wire rack in one row, so they will dry much better.
We start by preheating the oven to 50 degrees, after which we put baking sheets with mushrooms in it. At this temperature, mushrooms stand for 1.5 hours. During this time, they will slightly wilt.
Then we raise the temperature to 80 degrees and hold it for 2 hours.
After that, the temperature is again lowered to 55 degrees and dried for another 4 hours.
In total, the mushrooms are dried in the oven for up to 8 hours. If they are very damp, drying may take up to 24 hours.
During drying, baking sheets in the oven must be interchanged, and the fruits themselves should be mixed.
By the end of drying, mushrooms usually lose up to 90% of their mass. For example, with 10 kg of fresh, you can get about a kilogram of dried.
How to dry porcini mushrooms in the microwave
Drying mushrooms in the microwave is somewhat faster than in the oven. However, since there is less space in it, it will have to be dried in portions.
Mushrooms are prepared similarly, peeled and cut into slices or plates.
They are laid out on a special dish that is designed for microwaves. Further, the microwave is set to a power of 100 watts.
Time to install 20 minutes.
After that, we take out the mushrooms and drain the liquid.
Then the mushrooms stand with the door open for 10 minutes and the drying procedure is repeated. Dry again for 20 minutes. The number of drying steps depends on the thickness of the sliced fruit.
It is better not to set the microwave to high power, otherwise the mushrooms may bake!))
When drying is over, the finished product is best stored in linen bags.
Video how to dry mushrooms in the oven
It takes longer to dry mushrooms in the oven, but it includes a lot of them. Yes, and you can place not only on grates and baking sheets, but even hang on strings.
Watch the video below for how to dry mushrooms in the oven.
Drying porcini mushrooms in a dryer for vegetables and fruits
An electric dryer is most convenient for drying mushrooms. The result is much better than with other methods.
After cleaning the mushrooms, cut them into plates. In principle, you can cut into any slices, the main thing is that they are not thick.
Then, chopped mushrooms are laid out on pallets and inserted into the dryer.
We turn on the dryer and no longer follow it. This is her beauty. If you have to sit at the oven and monitor the temperature, here the dryer works independently.
At the end of drying, we lay out the finished product in fabric or paper bags and store in a dry place.
Some advise storing mushrooms in a glass or ceramic tightly sealed container.
Drying mushrooms, as you can see, does not take much work, even when drying in the oven. Even if you spend a lot of time, you can enjoy them later when they can't be found fresh.
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, at the same time, the question of processing arises in full growth, 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
In modern conditions, it is an ideal choice, since 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 to mushroom fishing so often and have not acquired the appropriate unit for harvesting them, remember the “grandmother’s” way of how to dry porcini mushrooms. Especially if the weather is sunny and warm. Prepared mushrooms are strung on a harsh thread or thick fishing line (a thread will still be 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 followed. 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 mushroom hunting, harvesting "prey" and successful storage.
Loading...
