Methods for drying boletus
Boletus is one of the most valuable mushrooms, it has a special taste and sophisticated aroma. Fresh, this product is not stored for a long time. It is not only salted and pickled, but also dried. If you dry boletus mushrooms, then in terms of taste they will not only be inferior to porcini mushrooms, but will also be able to compete with them.
Methods for drying boletus
Features of boletus
They grow in deciduous forests, mainly in sunny glades. Collect them in late spring.
Views
There are several types of boletus:
- Ordinary: it is fried, dried or pickled.
- The black: his hat is dark brown or black, slightly smaller than that of the usual one. It is recommended to collect them from the second decade of summer to September. They grow near swamps. They are allowed to be eaten, but they are not popular due to the porous structure of the pulp.
- Swamp: grows near swamps and in mosses of mixed forests. Has a very light, whitish or pale brown cap. Taste qualities are inferior to the usual boletus. Its pulp is white or greenish, watery.
- Turning pink: this mushroom has a gray or dark brown convex cap, reaching 15 cm in diameter. The pulp is dense, the leg turns a little pink on the cut.
The most popular of them is the common boletus. Its wide cap reaches 15 cm. The color ranges from gray and light brown to dark brown. The pulp of the mushroom is dense. It can be confused with a poisonous bile fungus. It is easy to distinguish them: in inedible specimens, the cap inside (hymenophore) is pinkish, the cut leg darkens in the air.
Preparation for drying
Drying is one of the simplest, most affordable and common ways to process mushrooms. In the process, the mass of the product is reduced by 10 times.
The dried product is stored for a long time and acquires unusual taste and aroma qualities. Before starting drying, the mushrooms need to be prepared: remove the adhering grass, leaves and remnants of the earth. Specimens eaten by worms are thrown away. It is not worth washing them, because the tubular hymenophore, like a sponge, very actively absorbs water, as a result of which it will not be possible to dry the collected mushrooms normally. The mushrooms must be sorted out and distributed by size. Large ones are cut into identical pieces. If the hats are dirty, then they are cleaned with a sponge, the skin is removed from the leg.
Drying
There are several ways to dry fresh boletus boletus at home:
- on air;
- in a Russian stove;
- in the oven;
- in a dryer for vegetables and fruits;
- in the airfryer.
The main thing in drying boletus is to start it gradually. Fruit bodies should dry out, not boil. Do not slow down the drying too much, otherwise the product will deteriorate.
Outside
It takes three days to air dry mushrooms.
This method is used if the weather is good. For this, pallets with a lattice bottom are built right on the street.
Products are placed on a stand. They are strung on rods and placed in a horizontal position, leaving a gap between them. The mushrooms are regularly turned over to dry from all sides.
Drying takes 2-3 days.Another way to air dry mushrooms is to plant them on a strong string and hang them outside, where a light breeze will blow them. To protect the mushrooms from insects and dust, they must be wrapped with gauze. It is advised to finish the process in the stove or oven.
In the Russian stove
Drying boletus boletus in this way is very simple. The main thing is to adjust the heating. To make sure that the temperature is right, you need to throw a sheet of paper into the stove, if it does not immediately ignite, the mushrooms are sent inside. They are dried in an oven on iron grates for 10 to 12 hours.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
In the sections of culinary publications of the USSR of the 50-60s. Of the twentieth century, devoted to the topic of harvesting mushrooms, the principles of drying mushrooms in a Russian oven based on practically real data were indicated:
- acceptable temperature;
- trays with mushrooms are placed on bricks placed under their edges;
- creation of good air circulation when opening the stove damper.
Since the mushrooms dry unevenly, using a Russian stove, you will have to constantly monitor the drying process, removing the small ones that are already dry and leaving the larger ones to dry.
In the oven
In the oven, the process also takes place quite quickly. It will take a lot of trays. Prepared mushrooms should be cut into small pieces and spread out on a dry baking sheet, after covering it with baking paper (to prevent sticking to the surface of the baking sheet). Next, the iron sheet is placed in an oven preheated to 45-50 ° C. When the food is dry and no longer sticking to the parchment, raise the temperature to 70 ° C. When drying in the oven, 10 kg of fresh boletus will yield 1-1.5 kg of product. Attention! Do not forget to keep the oven door ajar when using this option for drying boletus boletus, because this will provide the necessary air circulation and prevent the mushrooms from boiling. Drying of mushrooms lasts 2 days with breaks for cooling and airing them outside the oven.
In the dryer for vegetables and fruits
The products are cut (preferably in slices) and placed in a dryer container. The "Mushrooms" mode is switched on with a temperature of 65 ° С. During the drying period, the device must be turned off several times so that the boletus mushrooms cool down and the moisture in them is distributed equally throughout the slices. The pallets should be changed periodically so that all the mushrooms dry out evenly.
In the airfryer
Fruit bodies are cleaned and wiped with a damp nylon cloth. Then they are sorted by size, cut into slices and laid out on a wire rack. A small gap must be left under the cover of the airfryer to allow excess moisture to evaporate. Drying takes an hour and a half at a temperature of 90 ° C.
Conclusion
Dried boletus mushrooms are much better than pickled and salted ones. The protein content in dried mushrooms is several times higher than in canned ones.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
A modern housewife who wants to stock up on dry mushrooms (including boletus mushrooms) for the winter needs to remember:
- it is best to cut the mushrooms into slices no more than 5 mm thick;
- it is necessary to place the mushrooms for drying so that they do not come into contact with each other either on the thread or on the parchment;
- properly dried boletus boletus spring when pressed on them, but do not break. If they become brittle, you have dried out the mushrooms. These mushrooms are best ground into a powder for use as a seasoning.
Dishes made from these mushrooms come out fragrant and extremely tasty.
