How long to cook mushrooms before freezing for the winter

Introduction

The collected mushrooms should be immediately soaked in water, then cleaned from dirt with a brush and rinsed, changing the water several times. Clean mushrooms need to be dried and re-sorted.

Harvest

The fruiting body of the mushroom contains a lot of moisture, so before cooking it is recommended to simmer them in their own juice under a closed lid. This procedure is done in a heated frying pan without vegetable oil, so the product is stewed until softened. If a little of your own liquid is released, then add water.

Sometimes it may be that the mushrooms are already soft, but more than enough mushroom juice has already been released into the pan. Then you just need to drain the excess liquid.

Drying mushrooms

Drying process

Drying is one of the most successful ways to prepare this product for the winter. This way they will perfectly retain their properties and be better absorbed by the body.

The aroma becomes more pronounced during the drying process. In first courses this smell will be simply incomparable. Raw materials for blanks should not have wormholes, rotten areas, or mold.

Only fresh mushrooms are suitable for drying.

Strong and healthy, non-wormy mushrooms are suitable for drying. It is important to know that mushrooms selected for drying cannot be washed.
They should be wiped clean with a slightly damp cloth. Ideal for drying porcini mushrooms. You can dry boletus and boletus. Honey mushrooms, chanterelles, saffron milk caps, and russulas in dried form do not retain their aroma; they should not be dried.
Mushrooms for drying are strung on a strong thread using a needle and the resulting bunch of mushrooms is hung in the sun.
You can string mushrooms onto long, planed sticks made from birch or alder branches and dry them.
Mushrooms can be dried in a rustic oven or in a gas oven. The temperature in the oven should be between 40 - 60°C, the mushrooms should be dried on a baking sheet for 3 - 5 hours.
From dried mushrooms you can make mushroom powder, which is convenient to add to first courses, sauces and gravies, for taste and aroma.
Dried mushrooms should be crushed in a mortar or ground in an electric mill.

The resulting powder is poured into glass containers with lids and stored in a kitchen cabinet.

Why cook mushrooms

There are several types of heat treatment of harvested forest crops. Cooking is one of the simplest and most common methods. Why is it needed?

Firstly, mushrooms contain alkaloids that are hazardous to health. These are toxic compounds that should definitely be disposed of. Some types of mushrooms, for example, contain gilvelic acid. This is a powerful poison that has a destructive effect on the liver and kidneys and leads to death in 30% of cases. The poison is contained by strings - mushrooms very similar to morels. When cooked, it turns into liquid, so suspicious mushrooms are boiled in two waters, the first one must be drained, and the mushrooms are washed after it.
It is no coincidence that mushrooms are compared to a sponge. They instantly absorb all dirty and harmful substances from the environment, including radiation. Boiling helps reduce its level; with a single boil for ten minutes, the radiation level is reduced by 80 percent, and with a double boil, by 97 percent.
Cooking allows you to get rid of microscopic parasites, larvae, microorganisms, in general, to protect the human gastrointestinal tract as much as possible.
In addition, some types of mushrooms that do not pass the boiling water test may taste bitter. Therefore, you need to cook not only dangerous strings (which, in fairness, rarely end up in a mushroom picker’s basket), but also everyone’s favorite chanterelles, russula, milk mushrooms and even store-bought champignons.
How to cook mushrooms depends on their type. However, it is important to understand that when boiling, some of the nutrients and vitamins will go into the broth. Therefore, you need to pour a little water into the pan so that it only slightly covers the mushrooms.

Salted mushrooms

Almost any edible mushrooms can be salted. Fans claim that milk mushrooms are especially good when salted. Volushki and honey mushrooms are often salted.

It can be a pity to use porcini mushrooms for pickling, but they are also salted.

All mushrooms need to be peeled, washed and the roots cut off. Only honey mushrooms and saffron milk caps can be salted raw. All other types are boiled in salted boiling water for 10 minutes.

Mushrooms are salted in a barrel, or in a glass jar.

For one kilogram of fresh mushrooms take 5 teaspoons of salt.
Line the bottom of the barrel with washed blackcurrant leaves, add a layer of salt, and place the mushrooms on it, caps up, in one layer.
Then sprinkle this layer with salt, add bay leaves and black and allspice peas.
So alternate layers of mushrooms to the top of the container. You can add dried cloves, dill or garlic to the mushrooms to suit your taste.
Cover the top layer of mushrooms again with currant leaves and press down well with pressure. The mushrooms will release juice, which will mix with salt and serve as brine.
In a week the mushrooms will be ready.

Lightly salted mushrooms for the winter

This is a simple recipe for preparing mushrooms in lightly salted brine. Prepared and preserved according to this homemade recipe, they will come in handy in the winter.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms – 2 kg.
Water – 1 l.
Salt – 10 g.
Citric acid – 5 g.

Preparation:

Mushrooms are washed and boiled in water with salt and citric acid. Then they are put in a colander, and then into jars.
The brine itself is boiled again and added to the jars.
Sterilization must be carried out twice. The first time at a temperature of 90 oC for 80-100 minutes. The second time - at the same temperature, but for 60-90 minutes.
As a result, the mushrooms are lightly salted and can be used instead of fresh ones.

Bon appetit.

Mushrooms in marinade with and without oil

Marinated porcini mushrooms without oil.

For 1 kg of fresh mushrooms, take one glass of water.
½ cup table vinegar, one and a half tablespoons salt
4 teaspoons sugar
4 bay leaves
5 peas of allspice, dill and parsley - to taste
To marinate, mushrooms need to be peeled, washed and chopped.
Small mushrooms can be beautifully chopped by separating the caps from the stems

Marinated with oil

You can marinate both large and very small mushrooms.
Combine the ingredients for the mushroom marinade and put it on the fire to boil, then add the mushrooms to the marinade and simmer over low heat for an hour.
Then the mushrooms can be rolled up or covered with oil. To do this, pour the cooled mushrooms along with the marinade into jars, leaving ¼ free space in the jar, which is topped up with vegetable oil, but not to the very top.
Cover the jars with tin screw caps or parchment paper, which is tightly tied with rope. Store in the refrigerator.

Delicious quick marinade (for boletus, boletus, milk mushrooms)

Properly pickled mushrooms have a bright, specific taste that many people are simply crazy about. This appetizer is served not only for everyday lunches and dinners, but also on special occasions.

Absolutely any edible mushrooms can be marinated in this way.

Components:

garlic cloves - 4-5 pcs.;
water – 50 ml;
vegetable oil – 25 grams;
sugar – 25 grams;
salt – 45 grams;
vinegar – 40 ml;
peppercorns – 5-6 pcs.;
cloves - 2 sticks.

How to cook:

First of all, you need to cook the mushrooms, and you must change the water 3 times. The total cooking time is 1.5 hours.
Then add all the spices to the pan, except the vinegar. Bring to a boil, turn off the stove and add the remaining ingredient – vinegar.
First scald a glass container, then place garlic cloves on the bottom and boiled mushrooms on top. Fill the jars with hot marinade and add a little oil. Close the lid and roll up if necessary.
After 24 hours, the appetizer is completely ready and can be stored throughout the winter.

On a note! How to dry mushrooms at home

Soaking

If you decide to get serious about harvesting mushrooms for the winter, then be prepared for the fact that some of the varieties of these forest gifts will have to be soaked in water. This procedure is necessary due to the presence of milky juice in some types. The record holders for the content of caustic juice are milk mushrooms, white mushrooms and valui.

Black milk mushrooms and valui will have to be soaked for 3 to 4 days.
By the way, in some regions, valui is not soaked, but simply boiled, draining the broth, and then boiled again in fresh water.

To prevent the water in which the mushrooms are soaked from becoming sour, add a little salt (2 tablespoons per liter) and citric acid on the tip of a knife.

Wash raw materials thoroughly before processing

How to prepare a mushroom appetizer for the winter - 18 varieties

Pickled saffron milk caps for the winter
Pickled honey mushrooms for the winter
Cold salting of milk mushrooms for the winter
Mushroom caviar - preparation for the winter
Pepper salad with champignons
Solyanka with mushrooms in a slow cooker
Stewed canned mushrooms
Marinated porcini mushrooms
Lightly salted mushrooms for the winter
Mushroom salad for the winter
Marinated mushrooms in tomato for the winter
Cold-prepared saffron milk appetizer
Fried mushrooms in breadcrumbs
Delicious cabbage with mushrooms for the winter
Marinated oyster mushrooms with carrots
Canned fried mushrooms
Marinated mushrooms in an air fryer
Eggplant and champignon lecho

The simplest method is dry salting.

It is only suitable for saffron milk caps and some varieties of russula. There is an opinion that you can pickle nigella and other mushrooms using the dry method, but it is worth remembering that the bitterness of the acrid juice will give the product an unpleasant taste.

Russulas and saffron milk caps are excellent for dry pickling. You may ask why the method is called dry? It’s simple, mushrooms are not washed before this method, but are cleaned of debris with soft brushes.

Salting stages:

Place the mushrooms in a saucepan or bottle, generously sprinkling them with salt (for one kilogram of fresh mushrooms you will need 30 grams of salt).
Cover the top layer with gauze and place pressure on top. You can use a plastic bottle filled with water as pressure.
After a few days, the product will settle, release its juice, and a new portion of mushrooms can be added on top.
The time for pickling mushrooms is 1-2 weeks from the moment the last portion is placed on top.

Cold salting mushrooms

Barrel for pickling

From the name it is clear that the product cannot be heat treated.

The mushrooms are thoroughly washed if necessary, soaked, and then the actual cultivation begins.
At the bottom of the prepared container we place a bay leaf, allspice peas, garlic cloves, cumin seeds, and a cherry leaf.
Don't overdo it with spicy ingredients, you may kill the mushroom flavor. Some cooks do not use any herbs and spices, especially for preparations made from milk mushrooms and porcini mushrooms.
Layers of mushrooms are sprinkled with coarse salt (45 grams per kilogram of mushrooms).
The top is covered with gauze, a wooden circle is placed, and oppression is placed.
A product that is under pressure will shrink and release juice in a few days. Therefore, you can safely put a new portion of mushrooms on top.
This operation is performed until the container is completely filled. Very convenient, right? It’s not always possible to come back from a quiet hunt with a rich catch in your basket.

Using the gradual filling method, you can fill the container over several weeks.

Hot salting

Preparatory process

The peculiarity of this type of preparation is that the prepared mushrooms are boiled before salting.

Mushrooms are dipped in boiling salted water (45 g per liter) and boiled:

boletus, boletus, boletus, boletus - 10 minutes
Russula and nigella - 12-15 minutes
black milk mushrooms - 7 minutes
champignons, oyster mushrooms - 12-15 minutes
honey mushrooms - 30 minutes
valui – 35 minutes
chanterelles - 15-20 minutes
It is allowed to pour boiling water over 2 – 3 times instead of cooking

The good thing about heat treatment is that after it the mushrooms take on their final size. And you can easily determine what container you will need for pickling. In addition, such mushrooms can be eaten in just a couple of days.

Hot-cooked method of pickling champignons

How do you know if mushrooms are ready?

If the mushrooms have settled to the bottom and become transparent, stop the cooking process. A good housewife's mushrooms retain their elasticity, do not fall apart, and are crunchy.

The cooked products are removed and cooled. Transfer to a bowl, add salt (2.5% by weight of mushrooms), spices to taste. Pour in the prepared brine, place umbrellas of dill and garlic on top, and pour in refined vegetable oil.

Store products in a cellar or refrigerator. The mushrooms should sit for about a month, after which they are ceremonially served to the table.

How long to cook dried mushrooms

Dried mushrooms are a real winter delicacy. From them you can prepare many delicious, aromatic, amazingly tasty first and second courses, baked goods, snacks and salads.

However, to restore the original properties of the mushroom, it is important to know how long to cook the mushrooms after drying.

Improperly prepared dried mushrooms lose both taste and pleasant texture and become too tough. First of all, they should be soaked in fresh cold water.

Four hours of soaking will be enough to restore the elasticity and volume of the mushroom slices. You don’t have to drain the water after soaking, because the mushrooms give it their amazing aroma and taste.

Of course, you need to focus on results. If the mushrooms were prepared incorrectly, the water will become dirty, cloudy, clogged with leaves, pine needles, and sand. You shouldn’t cook mushroom “meat” in this.

As a rule, porcini mushrooms are dried. However, you can dry boletus, boletus, morels, moss mushrooms, champignons, chanterelles, etc. How long should you cook dried mushrooms after soaking?

At least half an hour. You can check readiness by whether the mushrooms fall to the bottom of the pan after rising above the surface of the stove.

Depending on the degree of drying, it may take longer to cook the mushroom slices. To prepare a delicious decoction based on porcini mushrooms, you can use the following recipe.

Ingredients:

three hundred grams of dried slices of porcini mushrooms;
one and a half liters of water;
salt;
Bay leaf;
peppercorns (optional).

Preparation

Pour boiling water over the mushrooms so that all the slices are under water. You can press them down on top with a plate or lid.

After three to four hours, pour the swollen mushrooms into a pan of boiling water for the broth.

Throw in the bay leaf, pepper, and add salt to the broth to taste.

How long to cook dried mushrooms depends on the size of the slices and the degree of drying. If the mushrooms are coarsely dried, the cooking time should be 35-40 minutes. Thin slices will cook faster, literally in half an hour.

After the mushrooms are ready, they can be cut into smaller pieces and placed in a frying pan in heated oil. Cook mushroom soup using the broth.

Butter cooking technology

The boletus should be cleaned dry from blades of grass and pine needles.
It is recommended to remove the top film from the cap; it does not affect the taste of the finished dish in any way.
For marinating, take butter, which is stronger and more beautiful.
We cut the peeled boletus, the small ones in half, and the large ones into strips. Mushrooms marinated in jars look better when they are the same.
Pour the chopped boletus with salted water.
Although boletus is not one of those mushrooms that definitely needs to be soaked, still do this procedure.

Alas, nowadays the environment is not in order, and mushrooms absorb various toxins from the environment. By the way, pre-soaking will help get rid of unwanted worms. Put 4 kg of salt, add 1 tablespoon of oil and leave overnight. In the morning we drain the water.

Fill our boletus with fresh salted (1 tablespoon) water and set to cook.
Cook for 40 – 45 minutes. Mushrooms greatly decrease in volume during heat treatment. It is not recommended to add a new batch of butter to the water where the previous batch was boiled.
While the mushrooms are cooking, you can start preparing the jars; they need to be thoroughly washed and sterilized.

Butternuts like to foam when cooked, so you need to be careful not to run away.