Contents
Autumn honey agaric is one of the most popular among mushroom pickers, a mushroom species growing on trees.
External characteristics
What do autumn mushrooms look like? Below is a complete description of this edible and healthy mushroom.
Hat: autumn individuals have a hat with a diameter of 5 to 10 centimeters (in rare cases, mushrooms with a 15-centimeter hat diameter are found). Juveniles have a spherical cap, with edges pulled inward, after which there is a flat-convex tubercle in the center, yellow-brown or gray-yellow in color with small brown scales.
Blades: The blades of the plant are somewhat descending, often located, at first they have a light yellowish tint, after – a light brown tint, often with dark spots. Spore powder white.
Stem: Mushrooms have a stem 6 to 12 centimeters long, with a diameter of 0,5 to 2 centimeters. The leg is cylindrical in shape with a thickening at the bottom in the form of a tuber. There is a white ring on top of the leg. The color on top of the leg is light, closer to the roots – dark.
The pulp of the fungus is hard and fibrous.
Distribution
Where do they grow? Autumn mushrooms are found from the end of August to mid-October. When to collect? Most often, mushrooms can be found on dead or living trees or stumps. Honey mushrooms prefer hardwood trees, especially birch, to live in. They grow in waves. One wave lasts up to 15 days, 1-2 waves can grow per year. During waves, mushrooms are harvested in large quantities.
Similar species
Autumn mushrooms can only be confused with scaly fleecy mushrooms (distinguished by the presence of an abundant number of scales, a rare smell and a bitter taste). Many sources indicate false types of autumn mushrooms: brick-red and sulfur-yellow, which are similar to autumn ones only in their place of growth (on stumps) and no more.
Some authors separately distinguish a thick-legged variety, which has a thin cobwebbed coverlet, a pot-bellied leg, and grows exclusively on dead and decrepit stumps, and can rarely be found on leafy autumn litter.
Another similar variety is dark honey agaric, it can most often be found on coniferous wood. It differs from autumn by the presence of too dark scales on the hat.
Edibility
Autumn mushrooms belong to the group of good edible mushrooms that require high-quality and thorough heat treatment before use. This product can be consumed in the form of a powder, salting, marinade, as well as boiled, dried or fried. It is recommended to use hats, but the legs are suitable for use only when young (old individuals have tasteless and hard legs).
Signs of difference from a false twin
How to distinguish dangerous twins of autumn honey agaric? False autumn mushrooms have a smooth cap, while real ones have scales. Real ones have a soft color, while false ones are more expressive and catchy in color. Hat plates are cream, but in false mushrooms they are gray or yellow. Adults of real mushrooms have a pleasant smell, and a skirt is formed under the hat. Most often you can find false, sulfur-yellow, yellow, gray-lamellar, brick-red type. In order not to collect false dangerous individuals, you need to be as careful as possible.
We grow a mushroom at home
To grow autumn mushrooms at home, you need to find old mushroom caps with ripe mycelium in the forest. Hats should be carefully and thoroughly kneaded in water. The resulting mycelium solution should be poured over a tree trunk or stump. You can also nail the mycelium to a tree or stump with a nail.
Mushrooms grow very quickly, usually appearing a week after rain. The autumn mushroom is a popular and numerous mushroom. It is for this reason that they try to cook them in different ways, to save them for the winter. The main cooking methods of mushrooms are salting, boiling, drying, roasting, pickling and freezing. There are a wide variety of recipes, including: stewed mushrooms in sour cream and tomato sauce, mushroom pizza, hodgepodge with mushrooms, salad with vegetables, mushrooms and sour cream and garlic dressing, and even caviar from mushrooms.
Methods for harvesting mushrooms for the winter
Before proceeding with the direct harvesting of mushrooms for the winter, they must be thoroughly washed from sand and dirt and cut off the bottom of the legs that were in direct contact with the ground. For pickling, it is better to give preference to very young or already old mushrooms. From old mushrooms, only hats are suitable, the legs are very hard. For freezing, you need to use clean, dried, fresh or fried mushrooms. For salting, pre-boiled mushrooms are used. Dense mushrooms are used for drying; they do not need to be washed before drying. Dried mushrooms are usually used during the preparation of soups, as they are somewhat harsh. For preservation, you can fry mushrooms with the addition of onions and carrots, pour them into jars while hot, pour over melted pork fat and roll up. It is worth remembering that undercooked mushrooms can provoke indigestion. How much to cook? At least half an hour.
How to marinate
How to pickle autumn mushrooms? This question worries many housewives. Now we will write the most successful and delicious pickling recipe.
To prepare the marinade, you need to take 1 liter of pure water, 1 tablespoon of sugar (optional), 1 tablespoon of salt, 3 cloves, 3 peas of allspice, 1,5 tablespoons of 70% vinegar, 1 bay leaf.
Honey mushrooms need to be boiled. After 20 minutes of simmering over low heat, add all the ingredients to them, except vinegar, and cook for another 20 minutes. Add vinegar. During the cooking period, the mushrooms need to be stirred regularly so that they marinate evenly.
We shift the hot mushrooms into jars, pour boiling marinade, roll up. Store pickled mushrooms in the cellar or in the refrigerator.