Why do milk mushrooms turn blue? - Everything about mushrooms

The brine of milk mushrooms has turned black. What to do - Read the Answer

The brine of milk mushrooms has turned black. What to do?

Gintaras » Aug 18, 2012, 10:58 pm » #637314

yur-mikh » August 18, 2012, 23:10 » #637323

YAT » Aug 18, 2012, 11:23 pm » #637334

Zhenya 594 » August 18, 2012, 23:34 » #637346

We soak it a little - the mushroom tastes better, but the salting period is longer. Soak for a long time and change the water often - we get “quick” salting

Gintaras » August 18, 2012, 23:48 » #637358

Benyan » 19 Aug 2012, 08:54 » #637405

Dima (arch-sk) » August 19, 2012, 09:54 » #637419

and what lies as oppression? maybe from him

NOISY » 19 Aug 2012, 10:22 » #637430

Dmitry » August 19, 2012, 10:27 am » #637435

AlexX » August 19, 2012, 10:30 am » #637438

Dmitry » August 19, 2012, 10:30 » #637439

Gintaras » Aug 18, 2012, 10:58 pm » #637314

How to cook milk mushrooms so that the mushrooms do not darken?

Some housewives noticed that the milk mushrooms darkened during cooking, why did this happen? If the water is rarely changed during soaking the mushrooms, then the remaining bitterness may come out during boiling - this is what gives the milk mushrooms a dark color.

How should you cook milk mushrooms so as not to darken? Usually, when cooked, all fruiting bodies darken a little. But some experienced mushroom pickers advise boiling milk mushrooms whole in salted water, and only cutting them after boiling. You can also add garlic cloves, cut into several pieces, as well as dry mustard (1/2 tbsp per 2 liters of water) to the water with mushrooms.

Problems with salting: why did the brine in recently salted mushrooms turn dark?

Usually milk mushrooms are salted in glass jars, because oak or ceramic barrels are almost impossible to find in stores. The mushrooms are laid in layers and sprinkled with salt and other spices, and each layer must be compacted tightly with your hands or a stainless steel spoon.

There are cases when, when salting milk mushrooms, the brine darkens, and not the mushrooms themselves. Perhaps in this case the salting was carried out incorrectly and all rules and recommendations were not followed. Therefore, the fruiting bodies are removed from the jar, the brine is poured out, and the mushrooms are washed well and again filled with brine made from new ingredients.

Now you know why the brine in recently salted milk mushrooms darkened. You can remake it, pour mushrooms, press it down in jars so that there are no air pockets, and after 30 days of salting, eat and treat your guests.

However, it happens that even with redone salting of milk mushrooms, the brine darkens, why? In this option, perhaps all the proportions of the ingredients in the recipe were incorrectly observed. If there was not enough salt and the mushrooms could not get their dose, then the brine becomes cloudy and becomes dark in color. Some people replace the brine again, but many housewives boil the mushrooms (if it was cold pickling) and marinate with the addition of vinegar, cloves and dill.

Milk mushrooms also turn black in brine, why do they change color and what caused this? The first thing that can cause a color change is old, overripe specimens. The bitterness does not come out of them so quickly, which leads to the problem: the brine or mushrooms turn black.

There is another reason why salted milk mushrooms turn black. After salting, there may be little brine in the jars, and the mushrooms come into contact with air - this leads to darkening. Therefore, experienced chefs recommend pickling milk mushrooms immediately in an enamel pan, where the mushrooms are pressed down with a weight and remain completely immersed in the brine. After 10-14 days, the fruiting bodies are transferred to jars, pressed down and filled with brine right up to the lid.

If after the soaking and salting processes the darkening of the milk mushrooms does not occur, then everything was done correctly. However, if the mushrooms still turn black, do not be upset, as this problem can be corrected. In this case, the milk mushrooms are washed under the tap and each layer is again sprinkled with salt and spices. Fill with cold boiled water and take it to a cool room.

What to do if saffron milk caps turn blue

Before salting, the blue saffron milk caps are sorted out, forest debris is removed, washed under running water and salting begins. To prevent the brine from acquiring a dark color, salting is carried out in enamel dishes, barrels or glass jars. Other dishes can cause oxidation, causing the color of the brine to darken and become unattractive. Also, to prevent the brine from changing color, do not use iodized salt for salting and do not add dill, its seeds and a large amount of spices.

If, out of ignorance, a large number of spices were used during pickling, and the brine darkened, then washing the mushrooms and pouring freshly prepared brine will help correct the situation.

To prevent saffron milk caps from turning blue when soaked in boiling water, add citric acid. But there are cases when the preparatory process went according to all the rules, and the flesh of the saffron milk caps still turned blue. This can happen due to the long exposure of the collected forest products under the sun's rays and in the open air. Therefore, many mushroom pickers start dry pickling right in the forest.

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To prevent a chemical reaction from occurring during the preparation of pickles, it is better to prepare the dish in glass, portioned jars. Also, to prevent blueing and the harvest to look beautiful when preserved, it can be pickled. But to obtain a clear brine when boiling mushrooms, add a pinch of citric acid or the juice of ½ lemon to the water.

Salted and pickled saffron milk caps are stored in an airtight container in a cool room for no more than 12 months. If the brine suddenly darkens and black mold appears, the preserved food is thrown away, as it can cause irreparable harm to the body.

Contraindications and harm

You should refrain from using it in the following cases:

pregnancy;
peptic ulcer in the acute stage;
pancreatitis;
liver diseases;
lactation;
age up to 7 years.

Canned mushrooms that have expired are contraindicated. This product can cause severe poisoning.

Other risks:

gastrointestinal disorder;
allergies due to individual intolerance to mushroom protein;
botulism as a result of poor processing of milk mushrooms.

Is it possible to salt saffron milk caps if the mushrooms turn blue when raw?

It often happens that saffron milk mushrooms turn blue in their raw form. Is it possible to salt them in this case? Interestingly, spruce saffron milk caps have pulp that, when cut, releases sweet juice, which when exposed to air acquires a bluish tint. Boron species of saffron milk caps also release juice when cut, but when in contact with air, their body acquires a greenish tint. This does not at all affect the quality of future blanks. Therefore, mushrooms that have changed color are also suitable for pickling, like other types. If spruce mushrooms turn blue during salting, this is a common occurrence, and it does not in any way affect the taste and aroma of the mushrooms. But if the fruiting bodies turn black during pickling, then the question is about their spoilage. If the workpiece has an unpleasant odor and black mold, then it should under no circumstances be eaten to avoid poisoning.

What to do if the collected saffron milk caps turn blue and should be salted? First of all, the mushrooms are carefully sorted, cleared of forest debris, washed in plenty of water and salted. To do this, take salt at the rate of 40-50 g per 1 kg of the main product. As for spices, this is a purely individual question: some prefer to use only a preservative when pickling saffron milk caps, while others prefer allspice and black pepper (corns), cloves, bay leaves, dill and others. To prevent saffron milk caps from turning blue when salted, they must be salted in enamel containers, wooden barrels or glass jars. Other utensils may cause discoloration in the fruiting bodies.

Is it possible to eat milk mushrooms if they have darkened?

What should you do if the milk mushrooms have darkened while still in the basket? This sign of darkened mushrooms indicates that they were left in the air for a long time. Therefore, a change in color should not scare you, this is a normal condition, and you should not throw away such specimens.

After the fruiting bodies have been cut, they need to be cleared of forest debris. It is recommended to do this preliminary cleaning right in the forest, and after arriving home, continue the procedure. In this case, it is better to immediately fill the milk mushrooms with cold water, and then clean them, transferring them to another container filled with a clean portion of water.

Cleaning milk mushrooms is quite quick and simple. So, the caps and legs are cleaned with a regular toothbrush. You can also use the hard side of a kitchen sponge. The skin is removed only from black milk mushrooms, which after the cleansing process become completely white. Do not forget that you need to remove all the mucus from the black milk mushrooms, and then clean them until they are white.

But if the peeled milk mushrooms have darkened, is it possible to eat them or cook something from them? Very often, fruit bodies that darken even before soaking become lighter if they are boiled with the addition of citric acid. This ingredient can restore color to milk mushrooms and whiten them.

Milk mushrooms can darken when soaked, when salted, when boiled, sometimes directly in jars. There are cases that during all these processes the white milk mushrooms darken. Below we discuss in more detail all the options in which milk mushrooms darken in different processing processes, as well as after cooking. In addition, the article explains how to solve the problem of darkened mushrooms.

What can I do to prevent milk mushrooms from turning black when cooked?

It happens that for some reason milk mushrooms turn black during cooking. This may be due to the fact that the mushrooms have been outside the boiling liquid for some time. The top layer of milk mushrooms in the pan was not completely immersed in water, which led to a change in color.

Experienced housewives advise boiling milk mushrooms 2-3 times for 15 minutes each, while the first time the procedure should take place in sour-salty water, and the mushrooms themselves should be pressed down with a small weight. It is better to use citric acid rather than vinegar for acidification, which will make the taste of the mushrooms more delicate. In addition, citric acid can whiten darkened milk mushrooms.

Water is poured into the mushrooms, salted and enough acid is added so that the water becomes slightly sour.
After 15 minutes, the liquid is drained and the milk mushrooms are boiled in plain water, without adding salt or citric acid. Sometimes clove buds or black peppercorns are added to the water for zest and taste.

Having read the detailed information and knowing what to do to prevent milk mushrooms from turning black, you can prepare an amazingly tasty winter snack from these fruiting bodies, thereby surprising your household and guests.

Other reasons why saffron milk caps turn blue after salting

Another reason why salted saffron milk caps turn blue may be their improper storage. Dishes with salted fruit bodies should be stored in a well-ventilated and cool area. The most suitable temperature for storing canned mushrooms is +8+10°C. If the temperature is below this norm, the mushrooms may freeze. Because of this, they will crumble and lose their taste. At elevated temperatures, the mushrooms will sour, turn black and spoil. In addition, every housewife should ensure that the mushrooms are completely in the brine. If there is not enough liquid, the fruiting bodies are topped up with cold boiled water. All these methods help prevent saffron milk caps from turning blue.

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Also, the reason why saffron milk caps turn blue after pickling may be long-term storage of an open jar of mushrooms, even if it was in the refrigerator. The very first discovery of canned saffron milk caps can disrupt their environment, and the oxidation process begins to take place much more intensely. You should not leave mushrooms in jars for a long time, especially if they are not completely covered with brine.

Species diversity

Common milk mushrooms:

real (white, raw, wet, right) - considered the most delicious;
black (nigella) - a brown or almost black mushroom that accelerates metabolism;
peppery - has a hot taste; in the Caucasus it is dried, ground into powder and used as an analogue of hot pepper;
felt (violin, skripun) - the most caustic of all laticifers, and therefore requires the longest processing;
camphor - an inedible variety that emits a strong camphor smell;
bluish (dog, golden-yellow lilac) - its white milky juice turns yellow in the air; has antibacterial activity against staphylococcal infections;
red-brown (euphorbia, milkweed) - completely devoid of bitterness, but is becoming less common; features a unique set of plant steroids.

It is important for inexperienced mushroom pickers to know the main differences.

Felt

The real milk mushroom is often confused with the felt or squeaky milk mushroom (Lactárius velléreus).

The white milk mushroom has a frill in the form of a fringe on the cap, and the flesh on the break has a yellowish tint. The violin has no frill and the fruiting body is milky white with a cap diameter of 6–25 cm. But if it ends up in a dish with other mushrooms, nothing bad will happen.

When chewing, you feel an unpleasant creak on the teeth, which is why this name has stuck.

In Chinese medicine, skripun is used externally to treat lumbago, pain and numbness in the limbs, diseases of the bones and tendons.

In pharmacology, the alcoholic extract of these mushrooms exhibits anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity.

Camphor

Camphor milkweed (Lactarius camphoratus) grows on moist, mossy soils and rotten trees.

The cap is reddish-brown, up to 7 cm in diameter; in young mushrooms it is convex, in mature ones it is concave and funnel-shaped. The pulp is brown, darkens when broken, but the milky juice that comes out does not change color.

Attention! The mushroom is unsuitable for food: the muscarine it contains (as in the red fly agaric) is resistant to heat treatment and can cause poisoning.

The mushroom has a distinct camphor smell, so it is difficult to confuse it with edible species. Older fruiting bodies may have a persistent coconut odor.

Peppery

Pepper milk mushroom, or false mushroom (Lactárius piperátus), is another doppelgänger of the white mushroom, a conditionally edible mushroom. Suitable for food after careful processing.

It has a peppery taste, hence the name. You can get rid of the sharpness only by soaking it for a long time.

Unlike real milk mushrooms, the pepper cap (5-25 cm in diameter) is always dry, without mucus and fringe at the edges. Milky juice quickly changes color to olive when exposed to air, while real juice is always white.

In Chinese medicine it is used to relieve muscle cramps.

In Russia, the milky juice of this mushroom has been used for a long time to remove warts and compresses against purulent conjunctivitis. In the 19th century, they even tried to treat tuberculosis with pepper milk, but to no avail.

In Slavic folk medicine, mushrooms fried in butter were used to treat kidney and gallstones.

White

White, or true milk mushroom (Lactárius résimus), is the most beloved among the people. The cap is white, in adult mushrooms with a yellowish tint, with a diameter of 10–25 cm. It is covered with mucus even in dry weather, and there is a fringe-like fluff on its edges. The pulp is white, changing color to gray or yellowish when cut. The smell is pleasant.

Inhabits coniferous and mixed forests of the Urals, Volga region, and Siberia from late July to October.

Along with porcini mushrooms, saffron milk caps, boletus and champignons, it belongs to category 1 mushrooms (the best, by consumer standards, gifts of the forest).

White milk mushroom is useful for:

colds (cleanses the lungs and bronchi);
urolithiasis (removes salts);
diabetes mellitus (regulates blood sugar).

Like all mushrooms, it can cause harm in the form of gastrointestinal upset. It should not be eaten by those with liver or stomach diseases, children or pregnant women.

But here’s what’s strange: in Russian folk medicine, young fruiting bodies boiled without adding salt are used specifically to treat stomach ailments.

Black

Black milk mushroom, or nigella (Lactárius nécator), loves coniferous forests with birch thickets.

The cap of a young mushroom is convex, with age it becomes funnel-shaped, with a diameter of 6–20 cm. The color is difficult to determine: it varies from brown to black-green. Concentric circles on the cap are often visible. The pulp is light; juice is released at the breaking point, darkening upon contact with air. The leg is several shades lighter. The plates are creamy and darken in areas of damage.

Speeds up metabolism, helps lose weight, contains vitamins B and PP.

It has no poisonous counterparts.

Carefully! Nigella is a heavy food that often causes diarrhea. They actively accumulate radionuclides, so you should not abuse them.

Cold salting method

For small, strong mushrooms, cold pickling of saffron milk caps is especially good. With this option of harvesting, the fruiting bodies are laid out in layers in prepared containers, sprinkled with spices and salt, and then pressed under pressure.

Remember that you should not use bricks, limestone or dolomite stones and metal objects as oppression. Due to contact with brine, they may partially dissolve, which will lead to damage to the workpiece.

This is how glass jars in which the pickles will be stored are filled, or the fruiting bodies are first salted in an enamel pan and then placed in jars. Let's consider a more convenient "saucepan" method of salting saffron milk caps for the winter.

For a kilogram of selected fresh saffron milk caps you will need:

table salt (not iodized) - 50 g (two level tablespoons);
garlic - 3 cloves;
dill - several sprigs;
cloves - 4 inflorescences;
horseradish - 1 leaf;
oak, currant leaves, spruce and heather branches.

Dry the washed, peeled fruit bodies on a towel, cut off the caps from the stems, leaving no more than 0.5 cm.
Prepare an enamel pan: wash thoroughly and dry at a high enough temperature to get rid of microorganisms (jars that will be used to store pickled mushrooms for the winter should undergo a similar procedure).
Pour a little salt onto the bottom of the pan, cover with half a horseradish leaf, oak leaves, currant leaves, and a spruce sprig (this will additionally protect the workpiece from spoilage).
Sequentially lay out layers of saffron milk caps, sprinkling each with salt and spices. Lay the middle, as well as the topmost salted layer with leaves and pine needles, cover everything with the remaining half of the horseradish leaf. Place a plate or wooden circle of a suitable size on top, wrapped in clean gauze, and load it with pressure - a jar filled with water, or a heavy stone that does not dissolve in brine.
Leave the workpiece in a cool place at a temperature not lower than 0 ºC and not higher than 6 ºC for 2-3 weeks. During this time, the mushrooms will settle, release their juice, be salted and soaked in spices. Then they can be placed in prepared jars, closed with boiled lids (you should not use roll-on lids for this type of preparation) and stored.

Happy owners of oak barrels salt saffron milk caps in a cold way and store them directly in this centuries-tested container.