Drying mushrooms is one of the best ways to preserve the nutritional properties and quality of a forest product. However, the drying process requires adherence to the rules and nuances, without knowing which the harvested crop can be lost.
Preparing mushrooms for drying
Only mushrooms that are not damaged are suitable for drying. Clean the harvested "crop" from debris (needles, foliage, soil) and wipe with a dry cloth. It is not recommended to wash the mushrooms, because subsequently, this will complicate the drying process and reduce the taste. Disassemble the mushrooms according to size and quality. Porcini mushrooms can be whole (only the lower part of the leg is cut off), and only caps are taken from boletus, boletus, flyworms for drying. It is better to cut mushrooms with a horn or bone knife - from the metal the mushroom cut turns black.
For drying, it is recommended to take only tubular mushrooms - lamellar mushrooms retain their bitterness even when dried
Large mushrooms must be cut lengthwise so that the thickness does not exceed 1-1.5 cm. Place the resulting slices on a sieve and, at the initial stage, dry them in a room protected from rain. Some amateur mushroom pickers cut the legs from porcini mushrooms and dry them separately; in this case, for taste, you can subsequently add 1/10 part (of the total mass) of the caps of the same porcini mushrooms cut into plates. Cut large caps into 2 or 4 pieces to speed up drying.
Drying under the sun
Hot, calm and cloudless weather is suitable for drying mushrooms. Pierce the mushrooms with a needle through the center of the cap, the leg, and thus string 20-30 pieces on one strong thread. Then hang the "bunches" in the sun so that they do not touch each other. Another option is to use special stands and. In both cases, the mushrooms must be covered with gauze to protect them from dust and flies. When inclement weather sets in, the mushrooms must be removed indoors.
It will not be possible to completely dry the mushrooms in the sun - the process must be completed in the oven, over the stove or in a Russian stove. The exception is morels, lines: in the oven or oven, they burn and then quickly mold. These mushrooms are strung on a string, wilted in the shade and then brought out into the sun. The best quality is obtained when the temperature increases gradually, the mushrooms are dried in several "passes".
Drying at home
If you are going to dry in the oven, first place thick paper on the baking sheets, then put finely chopped twigs on it to ensure the movement of warm air under the mushrooms. They should lie in one row, with their caps down. Keep the oven door ajar during the drying process.
Periodically check the mushrooms for readiness and remove already dried
Mushrooms strung on a string can also be dried simply over a heated gas or electric stove. If there is a rotary fruit dryer, then the process will be noticeably accelerated. To do this, put the mushrooms on galvanized nets and first dry them at a temperature of + 40-50C. Then increase the heating to 60-80C and dry completely. The total duration of the procedure is 5-6 hours.
Very good results are obtained when using a Russian stove. After heating, the inside of the stove is cleaned of coals, moistened with a broomstick and lined with rye straw, on which the foresters are laid with their hat down. You can also use metal trays, but in this case you also need straw (so that the mushrooms do not touch the metal). If there is no bedding, the mushrooms will burn and take on an unpleasant aftertaste. On the 1st day, the mushrooms are dried, on the 2nd - they are finally dried.
