How to preserve porcini mushrooms for a day: conditions and methods

• February 18, 2020
• Cooking
• Tatiana Rodina

Porcini mushrooms are popular gifts of nature, growing in almost all countries of the world. They are edible mushrooms. In Russia they have different names: boletus, beloviki, harvesters, wood grouse, mullein, pechury. They are the most desirable and sought after prey for mushroom pickers.

Porcini mushrooms should be looked for in deciduous and coniferous forests; they closely interact with the roots of trees and shrubs. Mushroom properties include helping other plants obtain beneficial minerals from the soil and trees delivering nutrients to their mycelium.

Description of white mushroom

The porcini mushroom was first described by the botanist Jean Baptiste Bouillard at the end of the 18th century. It is large in size and has a smooth, slightly slimy cap. Its colors vary from yellow-brown to reddish-brown. Weight can reach more than 1 kilogram. The inner surface of the cap is porous and does not change color when cut.

The leg is light, in comparison with the rest of its section, absolutely white and hard. The mushroom has a weak but pleasant mushroom smell and a mild nutty taste. This crop is harvested from early summer to autumn, depending on weather conditions. Mushroom pickers bring them home, and then think about how to preserve the porcini mushrooms for a day before starting to process and prepare them.

Rules for cleaning mushrooms at home

It is important to sort the mushrooms as soon as you brought them home, without putting them on the back burner, because honey mushrooms, having stopped receiving nutrition from the mycelium, darken very quickly, which does not affect their taste, but their appearance may suffer, which is especially true it is important to avoid if we want to salt or pickle them. Fresh mushrooms spoil quickly, so we have about five hours to disassemble the mushrooms and pickle, prepare for drying or marinate them.

If we cannot clean the mushrooms right away, we can immerse them in cold water with a pinch of citric acid and the same amount of salt to prevent browning.

First, we need to decide what we want to do with our honey mushrooms, because the method of their further processing depends on this.

To clean mushrooms, we may need a sharp small knife, a dry toothbrush with stiff bristles, as well as a soft brush or a piece of soft cloth.

The mushroom knife should be small and sharp

If honey mushrooms are for drying

Honey mushrooms intended for drying should not come into contact with water when cleaning (mushrooms absorb moisture very strongly, and it will no longer be possible to dry them properly - the water will not evaporate completely). In addition to preliminary cleaning of mushrooms in the forest, it is necessary to clean the mushrooms under the cap - “comb” the plates with a dry toothbrush; there may be bugs or other small insects between them - remove them with a knife. Remove the remaining sand particles from the caps using a soft cloth or brush.

If honey mushrooms are intended for drying, do not soak or rinse them

For marinating

The honey mushrooms that we want to pickle must be whole and beautiful, they need to be soaked in warm water, 40–50 minutes is enough. The main thing is that the soaking should not last more than an hour; if the mushrooms spend too much time in water, they lose their taste. After such soaking, you can remove the skirt (you don’t have to do this, but in brine the skirt usually gets wet, and this affects the appearance of the pickled mushrooms), rinse the mushrooms with cool running water, it is important to do this thoroughly, but not for long. If our honey mushrooms are very young, we soak them for 10 minutes in slightly salted water, and then rinse them either under running water or in several waters. The washed honey mushrooms need to be boiled in salted water for half an hour, and then salted and pickled.

Before marinating, you need to wash honey mushrooms especially thoroughly.

Some mushroom pickers claim that the skirt gives the pickled mushrooms a slightly sour taste and thereby spoils the taste of the mushrooms. The majority adheres to a different point of view - a skirt does not affect the taste.

For freezing

You need to freeze freshly picked mushrooms that have not been stored for several days (even in the refrigerator). Only “ideal” specimens are suitable for freezing - whole, without cut wormholes. Honey mushrooms should never be washed before freezing; they only need dry cleaning - use a sponge or soft brush to remove specks of dust, debris, stuck leaves and twigs. There is also no need to cut honey mushrooms into pieces - they are already small in size.

White mushrooms in nutrition

Porcini mushroom perfectly complements various dishes: it is fried, added to soups, salted and pickled. The youngest are considered the most nutritious. Drying and freezing are often used as methods for storing porcini mushrooms - this is how they retain their properties for a long time.

The boletus has an inedible twin called the gall fungus; it is not poisonous, but its taste is very different from the original: unpleasant and bitter.

How to preserve mushrooms while camping. How to dry mushrooms while traveling?

When going on a multi-day hike, it is very difficult to maintain the weight parameters of a backpack, because in addition to various equipment, you also have to carry food supplies. But experienced hikers always find ways to get around difficulties, because they are never used to difficulties! It's summer time, the forest is full of food. Ordinary forest mushrooms, of which you will come across a great variety along the route, can serve as a fairly high-calorie food.

However, fresh mushrooms are one thing: I picked them, cooked them and ate them. But this is just for once... And you can stock up on mushrooms for future use if you know how to properly prepare mushrooms for drying and dry them in the field. Mushrooms are a valuable product, and when dried they are also light, so you can stock them up for more than a day’s travel.

The best types of mushrooms for drying are: early honey mushrooms, boletus mushrooms, moss mushrooms, boletus mushrooms, boletus mushrooms, and porcini mushrooms. First of all, you need to collect the mushrooms; usually this is not difficult. All named types of mushrooms, as a rule, are known to all mushroom pickers and tourists, so it is unlikely that you will be able to pick up a poisonous mushroom. The only exception is honey mushrooms, but in any case you should not cut the mushroom if you doubt its edibility. For cooking, you can take any mushrooms, but for drying, preference is given to young mushrooms.

We lay out the collected trophies and begin to prepare them for drying. To do this, we cut off the stem of the mushroom from the cap, clean the cap itself from pine needles, stuck leaves and blades of grass, earth and sand. Using a knife, carefully cut out all the damage caused to the cap by various insects or small rodents. Using the same knife, cut the mushroom caps into small pieces. At this point, in fact, the main stage of preparation is completed.

It is better not to dry the mushrooms immediately, but after preliminary drying: spread the prepared pieces of caps on a newspaper, a cloth bedding, or, in extreme cases, just on stones in the sun. Lay out so that the pieces do not touch each other, this way they will release moisture faster. After some time (measured by eye), when the mushrooms have given up approximately half of their moisture and noticeably wilted, you can begin to string them on a thread. Any needle and any thread up to one meter long is suitable for this procedure. You need to string slowly, and, again, keeping a small distance between the pieces being strung.

You can finally dry the mushrooms by hanging the prepared mushrooms near the tents or between the branches of trees and bushes. When drying, it is advisable to wrap the garlands with gauze so that flies cannot lay eggs in them. The mushrooms will dry perfectly in just one sunny day. Sometimes tourists resort to an accelerated option for drying mushrooms using a fire. To be honest, I would not recommend doing this, as the mushrooms will smell of smoke, and you may not keep an eye on the situation: the mushrooms will burn instead of drying out. Before preparing dried mushrooms for further transportation, inspect them carefully. There should be no under-dried pieces! Otherwise, because of a couple of damp mushrooms, all your work will go down the drain, that is, from your backpack you will take out a bag of strange porridge, which also smells unpleasant.

At an overnight stop, another drying method is used, such as a fire burning on the stones. The preparatory phase is exactly the same as described above. But the final one is done like this. A hole about half a meter deep is dug, its bottom is covered with an even layer of cobblestones or suitable stones. A fire is built on the stones, which can be used for heating or cooking dinner. After the fire burns out, its remains are removed from the hole, and a layer of hazel or alder branches, for example, is placed on the stones. Dried pieces of mushrooms are strung on twigs. As in the first case, the pieces should not touch each other. The twigs are laid over the prepared hole, resting on its edges. Then the entire structure is again covered with branches of the same trees; it is advisable to put newspaper or thicker paper on top of them. Then all this is covered with earth and left in this form until the morning.

When laying twigs with mushrooms over a hole, you may need a mitten, since the temperature in the hole from the hot stones will still be significant. When you wake up in the morning, you will receive a well-dried batch of mushrooms. Put them in a cloth bag and you can go further along the route. On the way back, you can make some supplies of dried mushrooms for home.

This, perhaps, is the whole simple science of drying mushrooms in the field. Good luck to everyone on your hikes!

How long can porcini mushroom be stored?

If you do not plan to process the porcini mushrooms during the first hours, they should be put in a cool place, such as a refrigerator. It will fit perfectly. But in this way you can preserve porcini mushrooms for a day, no more, otherwise it will be dangerous to eat them.

If you plan to store boletus mushrooms for three days, then you need to prepare them first:

1. Wash fresh mushrooms and soak them in a salt solution for 6 to 24 hours.
2. Remove them from the water and carefully inspect them for damage; they will differ in color. If there are such areas, they should be trimmed.
3. Let the mushrooms dry and place them in a deep bowl, cover with a napkin or towel.
4. Place the porcini mushrooms in the refrigerator.

If the same preparation and storage conditions are followed, porcini mushrooms can be frozen and stored for several months.

Storage methods

There are a lot of options for storing porcini mushrooms, some of which allow you to preserve their taste and vitamin qualities for a long time. However, according to experts, they lose more than half of their beneficial properties, and it is advisable to eat them immediately after collection. The refrigerator will help you preserve fresh fruits if you do not have the opportunity to process them immediately . Freezing is the best option. In this case, boletus mushrooms will retain all their properties, and they can always be used even in winter.

Drying mushrooms allows you to preserve their aroma and beneficial substances for as long as freezing , but in this case insects and a large amount of dust may appear. In addition, certain storage conditions must be observed, otherwise the product may become unfit for consumption. Preservation allows boletus mushrooms to serve as a completely independent dish.

Did you know? Porcini mushroom can be found on all continents except Australia and, of course, Antarctica.

In a refrigerator

Mushrooms are capable of absorbing pungent odors, which greatly affects the taste of finished dishes, so it is advisable to store them in a closed container, separately from other products. It is recommended to store boletus mushrooms for up to 3 days. However, this product requires at least minimal processing. So, to store mushrooms in the refrigerator, you need:

1. Rinse them and soak them in salt water for 6-24 hours. This is necessary to get rid of various insects that could remain inside.
2. Next, you need to cut off all damaged areas and parts that differ in color from the main part of the fruit.
3. When the mushrooms are dry, put them in a deep container, cover with a napkin and put them in the refrigerator.

Freezing

This method is considered universal for mushrooms, because this way you can store boletus mushrooms in any form: fried, boiled, raw or stewed. If you decide to freeze them boiled, you must first boil the water and salt it a little . At this time, it is necessary to clean the product and, if desired, cut it. Boletus mushrooms are cooked for 10–25 minutes. They will be ready when they have reduced in volume by approximately 3 times.

The cooled mushrooms need to be put into jars and, if a lot of juice has formed, pour them over them. After which they can be placed in the freezer. At the same time, leave space in the jar so that the liquid does not damage the container as it expands.

Important! The freezing temperature should not be higher than -30

°
C, and storage - 15–20
°
C.
Porcini mushrooms are also stored fried . After frying, they need to be allowed to cool, then they can be distributed into bags and frozen. If a lot of liquid has formed during the frying process, then it is better to place the boletus mushrooms in a jar and fill them with this juice. At the same time, try not to overfill the container, otherwise the liquid, expanding when freezing, can damage it. Also, do not add spices and a lot of salt, because this can be done when preparing the dish later .

Some housewives also freeze raw mushrooms. To do this, they need to be cleaned and excess moisture removed. Next, put into bags or containers for freezing. Then put it in the freezer. However, cooked boletus will take up less space

Drying mushrooms

Boletus is one of the few species that can be dried. The drying procedure enhances the aroma of this product, which is why many chefs like to use them in their recipes. You can dry them in the oven, which will significantly speed up the process:

1. First you need to peel the mushrooms with a knife.
2. Next, wipe them dry.
3. After this, cut the boletus into thin plates, no more than 5 mm in thickness.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and then lay out the pieces so that they do not touch.
5. Preheat the oven to 45°C and place the baking tray with mushrooms in it.
6. When the plates stop sticking to the paper, increase the oven temperature to 75°C, without completely closing the oven door.

The process of drying boletus mushrooms in this way lasts on average 2 days, during which you need to periodically remove the baking sheet from the oven so that the boletus mushrooms cool and ventilate

To dry mushrooms in the microwave, you need:

1. Peel and chop them.
2. Set the temperature to 100°C and place the mushrooms in the microwave for 20 minutes.
3. Next, you need to open the microwave door to evaporate excess moisture for 7-10 minutes, then close it and leave to dry for another 20 minutes.

Did you know? In Switzerland, the porcini mushroom is considered inedible.

One batch dries in the microwave for about an hour, which saves a lot of time.

You can also dry mushrooms outdoors, but this can only be done in sunny weather . And the drying process is as simple as possible: you need to string pieces of boletus mushrooms on a fishing line, keeping a distance between the pieces, hang them in a well-lit place and make sure that insects cannot penetrate there. Dry like this until ready, about a week.

Dried mushrooms should be kept in a well-ventilated area, preferably wrapped in cloth to protect them from insects and dust.

Conservation

Canning is an excellent way to store many products, and boletus mushrooms can become the basis for preparing soups and sauces or be an independent cold appetizer. The preparation process will not take much time, and the result will please you at any time of the year. There are many recipes for preserving porcini mushrooms. Here is one of the simplest.

Boletus mushrooms in classic marinade

Ingredients:

• porcini mushrooms - 1 kg;
• vegetable oil - 350 g;
• onions - 100 g;
• black peppercorns - 10 pcs.;
• allspice peas - 10 pcs.;
• bay leaf - 3 pcs.;
• salt - 15 g

Important! Canned mushrooms must be stored in a dark and cool place.

Cooking method:

1. Clean the mushrooms from areas that have a different color from the rest of the body. It is better to leave small fruits whole, and cut large ones into small pieces.
2. Boil boletus mushrooms in water, adding salt and citric acid.
3. When they are ready, pour out the water and pour in vegetable oil, add finely chopped onion and simmer for 40 minutes. At this stage you can add salt, pepper and bay leaf.
4. Next, place the mushrooms in the jars and close them.
5. Cool the jars under a towel, after turning them over.

Drying: storing porcini mushrooms at home

Sometimes mushroom pickers manage to reap a huge harvest. They are happy in the forest, but when they bring the prey home, the question immediately arises: what to do with them? The storage of fresh porcini mushrooms should be approached responsibly.

Not everyone has the opportunity to place so many mushrooms in the refrigerator, there is simply not enough space for them, and it is not always possible to prepare pickles right away. There is a way to preserve porcini mushrooms for a day without refrigeration, but it is only suitable if it is cool outside. In this case, they can be taken out to the balcony or loggia for 12 hours. If the weather does not allow, you will have to start drying.

You can dry porcini mushrooms in the oven or special devices for drying vegetables. It is important to completely get rid of moisture so that they do not become moldy during storage. Dried mushrooms should be stored in a dry place that is well ventilated and free of unpleasant odors. They are placed in fabric bags, paper bags or open glass jars.

After drying, boletus mushrooms, observing all storage conditions, can be used for up to two years. And if you grind them into flour, the maximum shelf life will increase even more.

Shelf life

It is important to know how long the shelf life of mushrooms lasts. Mushrooms are stored in the refrigerator at a temperature below 2°C for 24 hours. Raw boletus mushrooms are stored in the freezer for 1 year, and fried or boiled - for 3 months. Canned ones are usually kept in the basement, and the temperature should be approximately 18°C . If you use glass jars and lids for preservation, the mushrooms will last for 2 years, and if you use a tin jar - 1 year. They can be stored dry for 1.5 years at a temperature of about 20°C and a humidity of 60–65%.

Also find out how long chanterelles can be stored in the refrigerator and in what form to store them.

Drying porcini mushrooms using grandma's method

If the mushrooms were collected at the dacha, but there is no oven or special drying equipment at hand, you can use your grandmother’s methods. The main condition: the weather during the week should be hot and sunny.

The simplest option is to string mushroom slices or whole mushrooms on twine and hang them outdoors. They shouldn't touch each other. To protect against dust and flies, use gauze.

The second way is to place pre-cut porcini mushrooms on trays with paper or boards. So you can only dry them a little, and then use the oven.

Whitening

Bleaching the mushrooms (soaking them in near-boiling water) is the first step in extending the shelf life of mushrooms. After such heating, the mushrooms are less susceptible to wear. After this, the mushrooms fall onto a conveyor belt, a machine slices them, ice water cools them, then they are dried, and finally they fall from the belt into large plastic bags or buckets. This process only takes half an hour to process 10 kg of fresh mushrooms per bag. When refrigerated, they are stored for the next six weeks.

Mushroom bleaching

Dry pickling of porcini mushrooms

Before using the dry salting method, mushrooms should be cleared of debris. If there is too much of it, it is better to rinse them with boiling water. Then you should cool and dry.

The only ingredients you need are the mushrooms themselves and coarse rock salt. You can start salting:

1. Fresh peeled mushrooms should be sorted by size, large ones should be cut into several pieces.
2. You can salt mushrooms in large containers or in jars; first pour salt into them, evenly covering the bottom with it.
3. Then you can lay the product in dense layers 3-4 centimeters thick, alternating each mushroom layer with salt.
4. The salted mushrooms need to be covered with a wooden board or flat plate and a pressure placed on top (an ordinary jar of water will do). When the mushrooms settle down, you can add new ones.
5. The workpiece should be kept in a room at room temperature for the first few days. It should then be placed in a cool, dry and dark place.
6. The brine must be checked periodically; there should not be enough of it.
7. Thus, boletus mushrooms will be ready for consumption in 30-40 days.

Before serving, porcini mushrooms should be soaked for an hour in cold water and rinsed well.

How to freeze mushrooms for the winter (video)

The preparation obtained according to this recipe retains the taste and color of the main ingredient well, and also has a pronounced mushroom aroma.

The preparation in a sweet and sour marinade turns out to be very piquant and tasty:

• clean and rinse well a kilogram of fungi;
• place a bay leaf, a teaspoon of grain mustard, a few black peppercorns, an umbrella of dill and a piece of horseradish root into clean and dry jars;
• place porcini mushrooms cut into small pieces on top of the spices in jars;
• pour boiling marinade prepared from a liter of water, 300 ml of 8% table vinegar, 30-40 g of salt and 100 g of sugar.

To sterilize 500 ml jars it will take half an hour at a temperature of 90°C, and liter jars should be boiled for at least 40 minutes. Such jars should be closed with boiled plastic lids. The preparation is perfectly stored in a dry and cool place until the next mushroom season.

Marinated porcini mushrooms

Many lovers of homemade preparations prefer to marinate porcini mushrooms. There are many recipes for pickling, but it is almost always recommended to serve them no earlier than a month later.

As for storage, a cool room with a temperature no higher than 7 degrees Celsius or a refrigerator is suitable for this. Mushrooms must be completely covered with marinade - this way they will retain their benefits and will not become moldy.

Marinated boletus mushrooms are an easy to prepare but delicious mushroom appetizer. There are a lot of pickling recipes, so every housewife can choose a dish to suit her own taste.

Storage temperature

• If a cut mushroom is left at temperatures above +4°C, the ripening processes will continue and it will deteriorate very quickly.
• The optimal storage temperature for this species is considered to be +2°C (not higher). And dried boletus mushrooms can be stored at room temperature. It is important that the room where they are located has a low level of humidity.
• Pickled porcini mushrooms are stored at a temperature of +5°C -+6°C. Salted ones can be kept in the same conditions.

General storage table

Preparing for marinating

Preparing pickled mushrooms is quite simple, but there are special secrets that help give the preparation an even brighter taste. Many housewives use citric acid or vinegar. Such products help extend the shelf life of porcini mushrooms and add piquancy to them.

When preparing the product for seaming, it is important to follow the rules:

• Boletus mushrooms need to be cleared of debris, damaged areas cut off and sorted. If the mushroom is large, then it is cut into pieces.
• It doesn’t matter which recipe is chosen - before starting pickling, porcini mushrooms should be boiled for 20-30 minutes in salted water. You can tell when the mushrooms are ready when they begin to sink to the bottom of the pan.
• Then you need to put them in a colander and wait until all the water has drained.

If porcini mushrooms alone are not enough, they can be combined with boletuses, boletus mushrooms, boletus mushrooms and boletus mushrooms.

How to prepare forest harvest for storage

Preparing mushrooms is a labor-intensive process, but if everything is done correctly and on time, the harvested crop will become suitable for use and will not spoil for a long time. First you need to sort and sort the mushrooms, choosing young, dense and healthy ones. Cut off dark spots or damaged areas. Remove leaves and other stuck plant debris. Arrange the remaining ones into groups by type, rinse with water, soak briefly and dry. You can prepare a salt solution to treat mushrooms against worms and diseases.

Special preparation for the process of drying and drying mushrooms

Excellent methods for preparing porcini mushrooms are drying. As a result of this processing, they become even better. When drying, they shrink to 90% of their volume. But they come out with concentrated and rich taste. And another advantage is that after such preparations, you do not need to look for a large space for them.

For such actions, do not forget to process them immediately, observing the following conditions:

1. Only high-quality, undamaged mushrooms can be dried.
2. Never wash mushrooms before doing this because they will become soggy.
3. Clean them with a cotton cloth.
4. Remove the bottom portions of the legs.
5. Sort according to gauges and sizes.
6. Do not use metal utensils as the flesh will darken.
7. Cut large mushrooms into pieces 1.5 cm thick.