How to Dry Mushrooms

Dried mushrooms are good in that they keep theiruseful properties and aroma (the aroma of white mushrooms, for example, even after drying, is even stronger). Their nutritional value is higher than that of salted, marinated and canned mushrooms, and they are more easily absorbed by the body. When drying, mushrooms lose about 90% of their weight (out of 10 kg of fresh mushrooms, an average of 1 kg of dried mushrooms is obtained), but only water leaves, and nutrients do not disappear anywhere.

Which mushrooms can be dried

Not all mushrooms are suitable for drying. Dried plate mushrooms (ryzhiki, chanterelles, mushrooms, russula) can be bitter. Therefore, if you decide to dry mushrooms, give preference to tubular mushrooms - boletus, poderezinozikov and, of course, the king of all fungi - white fungus. Before drying mushrooms, you need to clean them. Gently remove the ground, stuck leaves and needles, another litter. However, mushrooms can not be washed before drying - they will darken, lose flavor and will dry longer. After cleaning the mushrooms, sort them out, throwing out the spoiled ones. In white mushrooms cut the bottom of the leg, and in the boletus and podberezovikov - the entire leg to the very cap. To ensure that the fungus does not darken on the cut, use a stainless steel knife.

Before drying, very large mushrooms are cut intoseveral parts, and the small ones are dried entirely. You can grind the mushrooms, chopping them with "noodles." At the same time, they dry faster and are more convenient to use (for example, to add to the soup). To mushrooms dry evenly, small and large mushrooms are dried separately.

Where, in what ways and how to dry mushrooms

Mushrooms can be dried in the oven, in the sun or in thespecial dryers. About drying in a Russian oven, we will not tell: it is unlikely that someone in the apartment will find such an oven. When drying in the oven, the prepared mushrooms are laid out on a baking sheet in one layer. First you need to bind them at a temperature of about 45 ° C, and when the mushrooms dry and stop being sticky, raise the temperature to 75-80 ° C. How long it takes to dry the mushrooms, it is necessary to find out by experience. If mushrooms of different sizes and dry out unevenly - remove them, and the rest of the way is dried. To prevent mushrooms from evaporating, do not cover the door until the end when drying in the oven, and also periodically remove the baking tray with mushrooms and ventilate them - they will retain their color and not burn.

You can also dry mushrooms in the sun. To do this, string them on strings and hang them in a well-ventilated place. It must be protected from dust, direct sunlight and rain. You can also arrange the mushrooms in one layer on thick paper, a dry board, cloth or a tray (but do not use an iron baking tray - this will help to avoid fungi sintering and blackening). Mushrooms dry for a few days. If you are not sure about their readiness, you can dry the mushrooms in the oven.

How to determine the readiness of dried mushrooms? Correctly dried mushrooms bend, but do not break. They are not fragile, flex slightly springy. If the fungus is easily bent and seems moist - it is not sufficiently dried, and can be molded and stored during storage. Overdried mushrooms are too hard and fragile, can decay into parts. They have a worse taste, so it's best to grind them into a mushroom powder.

To make a mushroom powder, mixDried mushrooms with a coffee grinder. You can add to them 5-10% of small salt for better storage or various spices and dried herbs. Organism is easier to assimilate mushroom powder than just pieces of mushrooms. It is also convenient to use, and when stored, it takes up less space. The mushroom powder is stored in a metal or glass jar, sealing it tightly.

How to store dried mushrooms

Dried mushrooms are stored in boxeshaving laid out them with clean wrapping paper), paper bags, linen bags and cans (glass or metal). Dried mushrooms perfectly absorb water and foreign smells. Therefore, the room in which you store dried mushrooms should be well ventilated, and the relative humidity of the air should not be more than 75%. The optimum temperature for storage of dried mushrooms is 7 ° С. Do not store dried mushrooms with strong-smelling products. Periodically, pick up the dried mushrooms, throwing out stale and moldy ones.

In addition to fungi by drying, you can prepare and other products, for example, fish.