Mushrooms are undoubtedly a very tasty and nutritious product. But and do not forget about the danger. Harvesting mushrooms for the winter, you need choose methods that provide complete sealing of containers. Some housewives just fry mushrooms (even without using salt!), lay them on glass jars and pour oil. it bad option: as a result of fat oxidation, mushrooms will become taste unpleasant. And this is not the worst! Such mushrooms nothing worth seriously poisoning. After all, a layer of oil and lack oxygen – a favorable environment for the growth of spores of microbes botulinus producing deadly poison. You should know that it’s impossible to completely get rid of these spores by washing, boiling or frying. Some of them will still remain on mushrooms laid in a jar. The whole task is not to provoke their activation. To do this, carefully monitor the sterility of containers and lids. Otherwise, botulism is not to avoid.
Safe ways to store mushrooms:
1) Frozen mushrooms should be stored in freezer in bags of cling film. Moreover, it doesn’t matter by what technology they were frozen: fresh or pre-cooked. Freezing allows you to keep the taste and beneficial properties of mushrooms for 12 months. That is, stocks should enough until the new season.
2) Dried mushrooms also retain all the vitamins and trace elements, but rather capricious in terms of conditions. They need keep in a package of paper or fabric material dry, well ventilated and not too cold room. Worth remembering and that dried mushrooms perfectly absorb extraneous aromas, therefore, it is recommended to store them separately from garlic, onions, seasonings and spices. On average, dried mushrooms can be used without fear for health for two years. Just keep in mind that with a long shelf life, they decrease the amount squirrel.
3) Pickled mushrooms must be stored in underground, cellar, refrigerator or basement, i.e. in a sufficient cold and dark place. Container should only be glass, and lids – metal (with a food coating for content protection, otherwise the risk of poisoning multiplies) or glass too. They should fit snugly into the jar and not let air in from outside. With glass lids, marinades are stored longer – up to two years, while metal limits this period to only a year. This fact is understandable: the contents of the jar reacts metal is much faster than glass. That is, the mushrooms begin to release life-threatening toxins, there are such canned food Strongly not recommended.
4) Salted mushrooms can be kept in various tare. For example, an oak barrel, enameled pan or glass jar. For the safety of the product, oppression is necessary. Mushrooms must be completely immersed in a liquid (brine). The best place for storing mushroom pickles – a cellar or a refrigerator, and optimal temperature – from + 5 to + 6 degrees. Not scary for them, even freezing temperatures, so cans of mushrooms are often set right on the balcony. But it’s always worth remembering that mushrooms harvested by this method deteriorate very quickly. therefore you need to eat them quickly, until lovingly made blanks covered with nasty mold. Well, and don’t salt too much mushrooms.
5) Caviar from mushrooms is stored in a cool place and in sterile glassware. It’s easy to cook this delicacy. It is fried in oil until the liquid is completely evaporated and immediately, not waiting for cooling, lay out on containers. All above filled with hot vegetable oil and covered with lids. Then the banks need to be sterilized. Suitable for this metal dishes with a wide enough neck (e.g. pan or basin with high sides). To the bottom is necessary put a cloth, pour hot water, put in it cans of caviar and add more water so that its level reaches the level caviar. Then bring the liquid to a boil. Sterilization time depends from the volume of the container. For example, for a half-liter jar, five is enough minutes, but a liter capacity must be sterilized at least ten minutes. Then the lids tightly twist, and the cans of caviar set off to cool in a warm place. You can not sterilize mushroom caviar, but then you can keep it exclusively in the fridge. It can handle this workpiece and harsh conditions. freezer compartment. But for this option there are subtleties: salt quite a bit (a teaspoon of five liters) and unfold in a container made of plastic, which, unlike glass, does not scary low temperatures.
6) Best for mushroom powder sealed container made of metal or glass – it does not change moisture indicators, so the powder will retain its useful properties and mushroom taste without impurities. This kind blanks “love” the darkness, humidity not higher than 75% and temperature air at 18 ° – 20 ° C. Slightly worse for powder storage wrapping paper with an additional layer of parchment, laminated paper or cellophane. In them the humidity of the powder changes over time. For example, after four months she increases by 15-30%, and after half a year of storage it decreases again 13-16%.
Summary
So, there are several technologies for preserving mushrooms, but safer are those that involve sterilization of the container and its content. Moreover, with this treatment, the mushrooms retain their nutritional value and even acquire a particularly pleasant taste and the aroma. Mushroom harvesting is a great way to expand winter menu and enrich your diet with proteins, amino acids, vitamins and other healthy substances. So that pick mushrooms in the summer and try to save them – wise and visionary decision.
