Homemade methods of harvesting mushrooms for the winter

If the year turned out to be fruitful, then the family will be mushrooms provided for the entire season. And what to do with the gifts of the forest, eat which is no longer possible? Do not despair: if you do not want to lose your crop, you can always harvest mushrooms for the winter in cans, barrels, tubs by salting or preservation, or just dry them. Using these methods of procurement mushrooms, you can enjoy the autumn until the next season supplies.

How to make mushroom harvesting for the winter: banks and another inventory

The first thing to take care to make mushroom harvesting for the winter, this is a container and equipment for home canning.

Canned food at home is most often made in ordinary glass tin cans with tin lids. But in the last over the years, glass jars for blanks have been appearing more and more on sale mushrooms for the winter with glass covers, wide rubber rings and clamps – especially for home canning. Such cans for preserving mushrooms are more convenient for work, and they should be recommended first. Work with these two types of cans are carried out in different ways.

Ordinary glass cans for harvesting mushrooms for future use available in every household, their acquisition does not represent difficulties. To seal these cans use tin lids with narrow (rectangular cross-section) rubber rings. Such covers complete with rings sold in hardware stores.

The whisk of the neck of cans for harvesting mushrooms has strictly defined diameter (most often 83 mm, but there are also other sizes). Lids make exactly the right diameter, to ensure complete tightness of the cans. On sale can be found lids are white, made of tin, tin-plated, and yellow, topped a layer of persistent food varnish. Lacquered caps are used for capping acidic fruits and berries, as well as pickles. Some products – jams, jams or jams – can be corked and unvarnished (white) caps.

Manual cans are used to seal cans seaming machines. The machine consists of a steel roller, a cartridge, clamping lever (fungus) and handle.

To harvest mushrooms for the winter you will need the following stock: pan aluminum or enameled 3-5 l for blanching; pan for sterilization (high) into which place 3-4 or more cans, covering it with a lid; skimmer, colander, knives, tablespoons and teaspoons, forks – all stainless become.

In addition, for home harvesting mushrooms should have jar extractor, wooden mugs under banks, as well as a thermometer suitable for detecting temperature water in a pan and canned food in a jar during sterilization and blanching fruits and vegetables.

For heating, it is best to use gas stove.

Glass jars for harvesting mushrooms for the future before starting canning should be thoroughly washed and boiled for minutes, completely immersing them in a large pot with water.

For each type of canned food in banks of different capacity or Bottles have the required sterilization duration (in minutes) and temperature (in degrees). Most often, home-made canned food sterilized at 100 ° C, i.e. in boiling water.

Depending on which banks produce canned food, mushroom harvesting rules and operating procedures are different. Next you learn how to prepare mushrooms for the winter in jars with glass lids and in cans with tin lids.

How to prepare mushrooms for the winter in jars with glass lids

Filled jars are covered with glass lids so that a rubber ring is placed between the lid and neck of the can and completely closed the upper (usually grooved) section of the neck. WITH Using a clip or a spring, the lids are pressed tightly against the jar. In advance in a pan, heat water to 55-65 ᵒС and put in this water sealed cans.

To properly prepare mushrooms for the winter, water is taken in such amount so that it covers all the cans with lids (you can pre measure to what level to pour water). To the bottom of the pan under cans place a wooden trellised circle or piece of cloth to when heated, the bottoms of the cans did not touch the bottom of the pan (otherwise local overheating is possible and then the glass may burst).

Further, at home canning mushrooms continue to heat pan with jars and water until water boils in the pan. The moment of the beginning of boiling water in the pan is considered the beginning sterilization. From this point, cans withstand moderate boil for as many minutes as indicated for this type of canned food. Boiling does not have to be stormy – it’s not necessary, the temperature of the water in the pan will still not rise. Pan in sterilization time for canning mushrooms at home cover with less heat loss and couples did not stand out in the room.

With this sterilization, fruits and vegetables in banks are heated by water in the pan, and the microbes in them die. If in the bank at heating as a result of fluid expansion and vapor formation if the pressure rises, the lid will slightly rise. Moreover, in the excess gap from the can is squeezed out by the excess pairs and the air remaining there, after that the lid will again be on its own place under the action of the clamp, and water from the pan to the jar does not will hit.

After the time required for sterilization of the can removed from the water and, without removing the clamps from them, set for gradual cooling in air or cool gently water. At the same time, so that the banks during water cooling do not burst, first they are dipped in moderately warm water, and then after some decrease in temperature of the contents is rearranged to more cold water.

Remove clips from hot cans when preserving mushrooms in home conditions is not allowed. Glass jars cool down the covers are tightly attached to them – then you can remove the clamps, and put canned food into storage. Lids are held on banks because in banks a rarefied space (vacuum) is formed. To open such a jar, it is necessary to press slightly with a knife inside on one side a rubber ring (or, if there is a ring pull the tongue and pull out the ring slightly). Then air outside it will fall into the jar – and the lid will open itself.

Jars with glass lids are most convenient for home use. canning: no attachments required (except springs) for capping and opening.

Preservation of mushrooms for the winter at home in jars with tin lids

For preserving mushrooms for the winter in glass jars with tin lids are first filled in the same way as described above. Then the cans are only covered with tin lids, and not rolled up and put for sterilization in a pan with heated water (on wooden lattice circle or a piece of cloth), but with such a calculation, so that the water after installing all the cans does not reach the lids on 1.5-2 cm.

After that, the cans continue to heat until the water begins to boil in pan and withstand the prescribed number of minutes with moderate temperature condition.

At the end of the sterilization, the cans are carefully removed from the pan, did not open their covers (for this it is better to use special devices so as not to burn yourself). The taken out banks put on a table and immediately closes the lids with a seaming machine.

Corked cans are left upside down for cooling. lids down. This is done in order to additionally Sterilize the lids with the hot contents of the cans. In addition, if the roll was wrong, in an inverted bank right away leak will be detected.

So in glass jars with tin lids first sterilize canned food, and then cork the jars. If first cork the cans, and then put in a pot of water and heat it to a boil, then from the expansion of air and vapor is formed increased pressure, as a result of which the covers will be torn off cans, i.e., all work done will be nullified, and products will be spoiled.

Harvesting salted mushrooms: pickling in an oak tub

Salting mushrooms at home is a science. This The process was described in detail by a great expert on Russian nature, writer V. Soloukhin in the book “Gifts of Nature”, watching the process of salting mushrooms Pavel Ivanovich Kositsyn, who worked for many years forester.

Before you salt the mushrooms for the winter, you need an oak tub rinse thoroughly. Put juniper branches in it, and these branches scald with boiling water so that their spirit permeates the wood of the tub. Then her cover with a cotton blanket so that the juniper steam does not go outside. Raising the blanket, they throw a very hot stone into the tub. Water hisses and rumbles muffled under the covers, and a new portion of juniper the aroma is absorbed by the tub. However, the matter is not only juniper aroma, which probably could be dispensed with. But in this way disinfection is carried out, and this is the guarantee that mushrooms in the winter will not turn sour and will not begin to mold.

So, the oak tub for salting mushrooms is ready, now mushrooms or other gifts of the forest must be carefully wiped with a rag from the ground and garbage. Lay dry mushrooms in rows and layers so that each layer It turned out with half a quarter of the thickness. Stacked Mushrooms sprinkled with seasonings: dill, currant leaves, horseradish leaves, oak leaves, cherry leaves. Sure you may put cumin, and in general everything that can give its own special taste. So when harvesting salted mushrooms lay layer by layer until the tub will be filled.

On top of mushrooms you need to put a bag of gauze filled with salt, spread it evenly over the entire surface. On this bag put a wooden, cleanly washed circle, and it bends on the circle, more often total ordinary river stone. After a while the circle and the stone will begin to sink, and abundant mushroom will appear on top of them juice, which Pavel Ivanovich recommends from time to time scoop up.

Two months later, you can eat mushrooms. That is what it means “you can eat “? At home pickling mushrooms, you can eat them the next day. But in two months, the gifts of the forest will salt out, will take in all possible shades of aroma and taste and will become what I wanted to see them the culinary specialist.

Needless to say, mushrooms salted in this way are unlikely to be will remain indifferent, especially in winter, but with hot boiled potatoes! You can fill almost all types of plate mushrooms.

Some also pick porcini mushrooms, but it’s better not to, for each mushroom has its own purpose.

How to salt mushrooms for the winter at home: pickling in jars and barrels

How else can you salt the mushrooms at home to make excellent harvesting for the winter?

As a rule, the most commonly used cold method of salting, then eat without prior heat treatment of mushrooms. Salt the mushrooms this way is not at all difficult.

Oak barrels are suitable for pickling mushrooms wide-necked glass and clay jars.

Before pickling mushrooms for the winter in jars or barrels, before total mushrooms prepared for salting (washed and peeled) must be soaked in cold, slightly salted water so that in there was no bitterness left. To soak any mushrooms is enough from two to five days. It all depends on their type. So, saffron milk don’t they are soaked, and the valui and the milk must be kept in water for 3-5 days. And yet, do not forget to salt the mushrooms in a barrel, three once a day during soaking, change the water.

For salting 10 kg of mushrooms, approximately 250-300 g of salt is required, each 2-3 g of allspice, bay leaf (if desired, you can put in mushrooms garlic, currant leaves, cloves, dill and other spices to your taste).

Stack mushrooms in a bowl with their hats down. Each layer (5-7 cm) sprinkled with salt.

Spices are usually placed on the bottom of the bowl and on top of the mushrooms, but you can put between each layer, especially when it comes to dill, leaves of fruit trees and shrubs.

Mushrooms laid in this way are covered with wooden the lid on which they put oppression.

Usually, after a day or two, a brine appears abundantly. Surplus him must be drained. So do until the mushrooms finally will not settle. Lack of brine suggests what is needed increase oppression.

With this method, salted mushrooms can be consumed as food of the day in 2-3, gruzdy – in a month, traps – in one and a half, and valui – 2 months later.

Store salted mushrooms in a cool place at temperatures up to + 8 ° C, but not lower than 0 ° C.

For 1 kg of mushrooms take 1/3 cup of water, 2/3 cup of table vinegar, 1 tbsp. teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and other spices to taste.

Water, vinegar are poured into an enameled pan, salt is put. After the water boils, lay prepared (washed and peeled) mushrooms and again, bringing to a boil, cook them on a weak fire for 10 to 30 minutes. Cooking time depends on pulp density. mushrooms.

When cooking in a pan, copious foam accumulates. She should periodically delete. When the foam stops and the mushrooms begin to settle to the bottom of the pan, boiling ends. Shortly before the end of cooking, salt and spices are added to the marinade.

Ready mushrooms cool quickly, put in jars and pour until top with a cooled marinade. Properly boiled marinade is usually translucent, clean and slightly viscous.

Pickled butter is especially good.

The least suitable for marinating are boletus, boletus and porcini mushrooms, since when cooking their caps are boiled, why the marinade becomes clogged and cloudy.

How to dry mushrooms at home

The easiest way to harvest mushrooms is drying: moreover, drying any mushrooms are possible, but prefer strong boletus (white mushrooms), boletus and boletus, oils, morels and lines. Lamellas are less suitable for drying, so how the milky juice they contain gives them a bitter taste. By the way, when buying these mushrooms on the market, you need to be very prudent – in dried form they are very difficult to distinguish from poisonous.

How to dry mushrooms so that they do not lose their taste qualities?

Before you dry the mushrooms at home, you don’t need to wash them, It only serves to cleanse the gifts of the forest from the earth and litter. Legs cut on a distance of 1.2-2 cm from the cap. Before you dry the mushrooms, they must be sizzled for 2-3 hours at a temperature of 40-50 ᵒC.

In hot sunny summers, mushrooms are best dried in the sun. For this they are strung on strong threads and hung so that mushrooms did not touch.

Dried mushrooms are highly hygroscopic, so they need to be stored in dry, ventilated places. Dried in cooking mushrooms are hard to overestimate. Any 2-3 fungi added to meat or fish dishes, sauce or porridge, can do it the dish is fragrant and very tasty. Having just 1 kilogram of dried mushrooms, you can treat your loved ones the whole year delicious food.