Nature presented us with invaluable gifts in the form of natural and healthy plants growing in the forest - berries, mushrooms and medicinal herbs. Of all the gifts, porcini mushrooms are, without a doubt, most valued. How to dry and harvest them in different ways is described in this article. The knowledge gained will also be useful in the processing of products grown in your personal garden or in a greenhouse.
In what ways and how to dry ceps?
They try to prepare any “living”, that is, natural forest products (berries or mushrooms) without heat treatment (cooking, pickling, sterilization). Therefore, it is advisable to dry or freeze them. What is the best way to process porcini mushrooms for storage? How to dry them in different ways? It is important to take care of this in order to preserve all the beneficial substances, and also minimize the time spent. The most natural, but at the same time the longest drying method, is heating in the open air under the influence of solar heat. Other options are much faster and include the use of ovens and microwaves. Also, the processing time is affected by the size of the raw material prepared for drying. The smaller the pieces, the sooner they will “reach” the desired state.
Ceps: how to dry them outdoors
Sort the fruits, carefully cutting off the damage with a sharp knife and scraping off the rest of the earth. In no case should you wash them before drying. For a more thorough cleaning, use a brush with which sticky needles and sand can be easily removed from the surface of the mushrooms. Then cut large specimens into several pieces, separating the leg. The smallest mushrooms are dried whole or divided along. The leg remains on the hat. If you want to dry mushrooms very quickly, chop them with straws. Then string all prepared pieces onto a tight thread and hang in a place with good air circulation - in a draft, under the roof. The sun's rays should not fall on the mushrooms. You can also dry them by spreading them in a thin layer on large, even surfaces covered with paper. In hot weather, the mushrooms will be fully cooked in 4-5 days.
How to dry porcini mushrooms in the oven
Put the prepared mass on a baking sheet with a thin layer. Preheat the oven to a temperature of 50-60 ° C. The door needs to be kept slightly ajar all the time - for air circulation. After 1-2 hours of drying, remove the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Next, continue the drying process. In total, it will take about 5-7 hours, given 2-3 breaks for air freshening. In this way, you can bring the mushrooms to full readiness after preliminary “withering” in the fresh air.
Ceps: how to dry them in the microwave
Put the mass on a flat dish of the required size. Choose a power of 150-200 watts and set the time - 18-20 minutes. Dry the mushrooms intermittently, during which open the oven door for ventilation. Pour the finished cooled product into a glass jar and store, tightly closing it with a plastic lid.