How to dry mushrooms at home?

One of the safest, most gentle, simple and useful ways of harvesting mushrooms is drying. After it, the product retains its nutritional value, nutrition, digestibility much better than after pickling or salting. And the aroma of many mushrooms becomes simply breathtaking. But how to dry the mushrooms correctly?

What does the hostess need to know?

There are many ways to dry this valuable product. For example:

• on the street under the sun;
• in an electric or gas oven;
• using a microwave oven;
• over the stove;
• on radiators, heaters, etc.

Theoretically, at home, it will be possible to dry almost any mushroom suitable for eating. But in practice, some exceptions need to be kept in mind. So, mushrooms that have a pronounced bitterness (during drying, it becomes even more concentrated), as well as too small ones, which after drying become almost microscopic and, moreover, quite harsh, are unsuitable for drying.

So, the following are considered suitable for drying:

• among the tubular - white, oily, boletus, boletus;
• among lamellae - honey mushrooms, champignons, hangers;
• among marsupials - morels, white truffles;
• among chanterelles - chanterelles.

Absolutely not suitable for this type of workpiece due to the same bitterness:

• breasts;
• loadings;
• russula;
• value;
• waves.

Drying of mushrooms for the winter is a process whose main feature is a significant reduction in product size: only 10-15% of the original remains. That is, from 10 kg of fresh raw materials will not work more than one and a half kilograms of dried product. For this reason, for drying, you should not choose too small types of mushrooms (for example, mouse mushrooms), as well as small, not grown to weight at least 40 g of large mushrooms.

How to prepare mushrooms for drying?

First of all, you need to immediately select those that are unsuitable for this. And this is not only the whole “trifle”. Overripe, old specimens rotten, badly damaged by worms are not suitable. They are best rinsed, cut and cooked immediately, and not for the future. That is, mushrooms need to be dried exclusively in an average condition: not “kids” and not “oldies”.

Before sending the product for drying, it must be properly prepared:

• clean from forest land, sand, adherent moss, needles, leaves and other debris;
• large hats are best pre-cut into identical slices or plates;
• legs of representatives of “long-legged” varieties (these include ceps, boletus, boletus) are divided into parts about 3-4 cm in length or cut into plates of small thickness (not more than 2 cm);
• in chanterelles, honey mushrooms, butter, it is necessary to remove the legs (since they usually only dry hats);

Morels do not cut before drying - they are usually dried whole.

After this, mushroom raw materials can be considered prepared: washing mushrooms for subsequent drying is contraindicated. They are quickly absorbed by water, and then give it away for a very long time. The result - during drying, the mushrooms are most likely to rot or mold.

Hats and legs are dried at different speeds, so it is better to sort and dry them in separate batches in order to save yourself from constantly feeling them for readiness and endless sorting of the finished product from not yet finished. For the same purpose, it is prudent to sort the raw materials into batches of approximately the same size.

How to dry?

Now it’s time to consider the different drying methods in order to choose the right one.

The natural method (in the open air) cannot be called universal, since it requires exceptionally dry, warm, sunny weather, and this is not always possible. In addition, with the slightest change in the direction of dampness (fog, dew, rain), all the workpieces will have to be urgently removed somewhere, otherwise they will collect water and deteriorate.

If this method is chosen, you should know that mushroom raw materials will dry for several days. The exact time depends on the air temperature (faster in the summer, slower in the fall or in spring), and also on the size of the mushrooms. For air drying, prepared mushrooms are carefully strung on thick fishing lines or reinforced threads, leaving free space between each piece (natural ventilation between them is mandatory, otherwise mold can also result). Mushrooms hung on threads in this way are hung out in the street under direct sunlight, covering a couple of layers of gauze from above to protect them from insect attacks and dirt or dust.

Do not put mushrooms on metal sheets or baking sheets, otherwise they will bake in the sun and turn black.

The oven involves more human participation than the previous version. Therefore, any mistake will cost damage to a large amount of mushroom raw materials.

If the oven is equipped with the option of additional blowing, this is a big plus, which will ensure the necessary air circulation during the process. Otherwise, you will have to leave the door ajar, because without such ventilation, drying can drag on for a long time, which will affect the quality of the finished product.

With this method, the raw materials are laid out in a single layer on the grill and sent to the oven, setting the temperature to about 50–70 degrees. Periodically (with an interval of 15 minutes) the gratings must be interchanged so that the drying of all raw materials takes place evenly. The exact time with this processing option is also impossible to determine - it depends on the size and thickness of the mushrooms, the amount of moisture in them, the number of grates in the oven, the dimensions of the oven itself, and the quality of blowing. The only criterion for readiness is that the pieces should become dry, but firm (not oily, sticky or too coarse) to the touch.

In the process of drying, in no case raise the temperature of the oven to speed things up. So you can, if not bake, then at least dry the mushrooms to the state of distorted plastic.

A special dryer provides an optimal result, eliminating damage to the workpieces. The electric dryer has several tiers on which grills with chopped mushrooms are placed. The only condition for obtaining a qualitative result is to cut the raw materials of the same size and not to dry knives with hats together. Having sent the grates to the dryer, you need to set the temperature to 55-60 degrees and periodically check the readiness. To dry the mushrooms in this way, it may take both 2 hours and all 6 (this also depends on the size of the pieces and the amount of moisture in them). The dryer will provide high-quality drying of mushrooms of any kind: tubular, lamellar, chanterelle ...

A microwave is an option that you can use "for lack of the best." This method has many drawbacks: you can dry only a small portion at a time, while there is a high risk of getting “rubber” mushrooms or a semi-finished product that requires additional drying. In addition, during the drying process you will have to turn on and off the power more than once.

The product is laid out in a thin layer on a dish, plate or other flat utensil suitable for microwave ovens, and the microwave oven is turned on for 15–20 minutes at a power of no more than 180 watts. Then, at the same time, the door must be opened so that accumulated steam comes out. Such a cycle will have to be repeated 2 to 6 times, depending on the same factors.

How to save dried mushrooms?

Mushrooms can be stored in dried form for 3 years.But in order to achieve this, it is important to provide them with the right conditions. First of all, they themselves must have the right condition. Too wet mushrooms are short-lived - very soon they will mold, even if they are stored in a dry place. Over-dried ones become non-aromatic, and during cooking - tasteless and tough, because they do not boil.

Criteria of readiness are very arbitrary, they need, as they say, learn to feel. And that comes with practice. In general terms, the mushroom should be flexible, springy (bend, but not break), but wrinkled, and dry to the touch. By color, it will resemble dried apples.

How to store such mushrooms? If they are nevertheless overdried, storage in the form of mushroom powder will be the salvation. True, this is more a spice than an independent product. But, nevertheless, he will find application: when grinding, all coarsened films and fibers are destroyed, which allows the mushroom aroma to unfold in its entirety. And our body is much easier to assimilate this form of product.

To prepare the powder, the mushrooms are crushed in a blender or coffee grinder, adding to the volume of the product about 1/10 part of the salt (as a preservative). You can add to taste any other spices. Such a powder is added no earlier than a minute before readiness. It will give the familiar dishes a unique piquant taste.

If the product is dried qualitatively, it is stored in compliance with the following rules:

• The container should be made of "breathable" materials: cardboard, paper, cotton fabric.
• Storage next to other aromatic products is not allowed.
• High humidity should not be allowed in the storage place (not more than 60%), otherwise mold will inevitably appear.
• The room must be well ventilated.
• Dried mushrooms must be periodically inspected and sorted, removing pieces that began to deteriorate.
• After 36 months, even if no external signs of spoilage are detected, the product is not used for food, as it loses valuable taste and aroma.

Drying of mushrooms is a responsible process, since in many respects it is worth relying only on organoleptic sensations. Therefore, in the absence of proper experience, the result may be unsatisfactory. However, if you plan to regularly procure the product in this way, it makes sense to learn to recognize willingness. For starters, you can, for example, purchase some ready-made dried mushrooms of good quality and study them by sight, touch, shape, weight, smell. Having learned how to dry mushrooms correctly, you can provide all households and guests with excellent dishes that delight with their taste and aroma.