Chaga: how to clean and prepare for drying, storage at home

Harvesting birch chaga is practiced not only for personal purposes – some people build a successful and profitable business on chaga. In order for the birch tinder fungus to bring maximum therapeutic and financial benefits, you need to know how to properly harvest it.

Features of harvesting chaga mushroom

Before harvesting the mushroom, first of all, you need to decide on the time of collection. Theoretically, chaga can be cut throughout the year, but in practice it is usually done in spring or autumn:

1. In autumn and spring, birch growths contain the most medicinal substances, respectively, harvesting is most justified.
2. Harvesting the mushroom in winter is more difficult due to frost and snowdrifts. Snow drifts make it difficult to get close to the tree, and the mushroom itself is much harder than in the warm season, and requires great effort to harvest. It also takes longer to dry winter birch growths during harvesting.
3. In summer, you can get close to the birch trunk without problems, but another difficulty arises. The dense foliage of trees often hides growths on birch trunks, making them harder to see.

Traditionally, they go to the autumn forest for birch tinder fungus during the period of active leaf fall, when the trees are exposed, and it becomes easier to find growths. Mushroom harvesting can also be carried out in March-April, after the main snows have melted, but before the leaves bloom.

You need to cut off the chaga growths located high above the ground

How to prepare chaga

Harvesting is a fairly simple process, but when it is carried out, several rules must be taken into account:

1. It is necessary to collect beveled tinder fungus only on living trees, a mushroom located on fallen trunks or stumps does not have special valuable properties.
2. For harvesting, you need to cut the mushrooms located in the upper part of the tree, it is better not to touch the growths near the ground, their medicinal value is minimal. Useful birch chaga should be at least a meter from the ground, and preferably higher.
3. The most useful are birch tinder fungi, which are located on the same tree in a group.
4. The growth is separated from the birch trunk with difficulty. It is necessary to cut it down with a small hatchet or a very sharp wide knife. The incision is made vertically, ideally it should run parallel to the tree trunk and separate the tinder fungus from the birch right at the point where the fungus connects to the trunk.

Chaga growth is separated from the trunk with a vertical incision

How to process chaga

Immediately upon returning from the forest, it is necessary to properly clean the chaga at home. If birch tinder is not planned to be used immediately, then the treatment is as follows:

• the build-up with a sharp knife is beaten off and cleaned of loose areas of light color – in the place where it came into contact with the tree;
• with a wide, strong knife or a small hatchet, the bumpy black bark that covers the mushroom from above is chipped off from the growth;
• the remaining brown solid part is cut into small pieces of 3-5 cm in diameter, it is most convenient to store the tinder fungus in this form.

After processing, birch tinder must be dried for harvesting. This can be done in several ways, which one to choose depends on the purpose for which the dry product is needed.

How to make a drying chamber for chaga

If the harvesting of beveled tinder fungus is carried out in large volumes, then it is most practical to build a chaga dryer in the country or in the house. To do this is quite simple:

1. The main thing that is required to create a drying chamber is a small room in which there is a stove, fireplace or electric furnace.
2. In the room you will need to install a high-quality door that prevents the penetration of drafts. If there are windows in the chamber, it is necessary to install sealed double-glazed windows that do not let air through when closed.
3. All cracks, cracks and other openings in the walls and corners must be sealed with sealant, and the walls themselves should be upholstered with insulation, which will help maintain a stable temperature. You can overlay the room with a brick from the inside, it will help to keep the heat coming from the fireplace or stove.

At the last stage in the room, you will need to build metal shelves on which the workpieces will be located.

The workpiece in the drying chamber is very simple – the processed tinder fungus is placed in large volumes in a room, the oven is heated and an even temperature is maintained for the next few days for uniform drying.

To dry chaga raw materials, you can equip a special dryer

With very large volumes of workpieces, you can also build a spacious dryer on the site, which in size is more reminiscent of a garage. For it, you will need to lay a foundation, then assemble a frame from an aluminum profile and metal sheets, equip heat and waterproofing. Drying is carried out using a heat gun.

A large dryer helps to quickly process large volumes of raw materials. However, its construction is profitable only if there is a business based on the sale of birch tinder fungus in wholesale quantities.

How to dry chaga at home

If the harvesting of birch chaga is carried out for personal purposes and in small quantities, then specially equipped dryers will not be needed. It is better to dry the beveled tinder fungus under normal conditions – this can be done in several ways:

1. Natural drying. The process takes a lot of time, but more useful substances are preserved with such a preparation – valuable compounds in the composition of the fungus are not destroyed. For natural drying, wood growth, chopped into small pieces, is laid out on sheets of thick paper and placed in a dry and well-ventilated place. It is necessary to properly dry birch chaga in the shade, away from the direct rays of the sun, in summer verandas or tables under awnings are well suited, and in winter shaded window sills. If the conditions are met, the mushroom will dry completely in 2-3 weeks.
2. In the oven. This method is faster, although some of the nutrients in the composition are lost when using it. Chaga raw materials should be laid out on a baking sheet or a wire rack, and then placed in an oven heated to only 50 ° C. The door must be left open for the entire drying time, and the process takes 8-10 hours in time.

Also, raw materials can be dried using a special electric dryer. In this case, you will need to set the temperature of the apparatus to no more than 40 ° C and place a birch tinder fungus in special trays for 7-8 hours. From time to time, it is recommended to rearrange the trays from place to place so that drying occurs more evenly.

For private use, chaga is more practical to dry in the fresh air or in the oven.

How much does chaga lose in weight when dried

The exact reduction in the weight of chaga during drying depends on the time and intensity of drying, as well as on how much water was contained in the freshly cut tinder fungus. But on average, after drying, the build-up loses about 10-20% of its mass and becomes noticeably lighter.

How to store chaga

If the raw material is not planned to be used immediately after harvesting, then it should be stored. It is necessary to keep dried raw materials in paper bags, cardboard boxes or wooden containers. It is important to note that the container cannot be hermetically sealed with a lid, air access is needed, otherwise the fungus will lose its beneficial properties.

For storage, the birch tinder fungus is placed in a dark place with a low level of humidity. At room temperature, the mushroom feels quite comfortable, but you do not need to put it in the refrigerator.

Chaga expiration date

The shelf life of chaga after harvesting depends on the processing method. Dried raw materials last longer – this is another reason why drying is recommended to be carried out immediately upon returning from the forest.

Chaga raw material retains valuable properties after drying for 2 years

How long dry chaga is stored

Dry birch tinder is able to retain valuable properties for 2 years. But how much dry chaga is stored depends on compliance with storage rules. Therefore, you need to carefully monitor the conditions, the humidity is required to be reduced, the harvested mushroom must “breathe” with fresh air. The appearance of dampness in the container is unacceptable; under such conditions, mold will quickly develop on the fungus.

How long does fresh chaga keep

The shelf life of fresh raw materials is much less – only about 3-4 months. That is why the mushroom is recommended to be processed and dried as soon as possible. If you leave a fresh tinder fungus in a place that is not suitable for temperature and humidity, it can become moldy and lose its beneficial properties.

It is also recommended to process raw materials quickly because over time, the hard bark on the surface of the build-up becomes more rigid. It will be more difficult to clean the stale mushroom, and the process will take longer.

Fresh chaga raw materials are stored for a short time – only a few months.

Harvesting birch chaga as a business

The medicinal properties of chaga are recognized not only by folk, but also by official medicine and homeopathy. Therefore, chaga raw materials are in great demand in the and foreign markets. Annually Our Country sells more than 1 million kg of birch chaga, mainly China and Korea are the buyers. Birch tinder is also in demand within the country, which allows you to create a profitable and interesting business based on the harvesting of birch growths:

1. To create a successful business, you will first need to resolve the issue of procurement of raw materials. Depending on the size of the business, it is necessary to either find a sufficient number of beveled tinder fungus near the house, or acquire reliable suppliers.
2. For business development, you will also need to equip a spacious dryer in your country house or country house, or several at once if the business develops well. It is unprofitable to dry a birch mushroom at home, if the raw material is intended for sale, the process will go too slowly.
3. Before opening a business, it is recommended to find regular wholesale buyers for raw materials in advance. This is also rarely accompanied by difficulties – both buyers and customers from China and Korea are interested in chaga.

The business of harvesting and selling chaga is quite profitable and allows you to receive about several hundred rubles of profit every month.

If you wish, you can also sell chaga in retail volumes, for example, through the appropriate forums on the Internet. The profit from such a business will not be high, however, retail sales will allow you to get rid of excess chaga and also get a nice cash bonus.

Chaga harvesting business can be very profitable

Conclusion

Harvesting birch chaga is not only useful, but also potentially profitable. Valuable properties of beveled tinder fungus are used for treatment, and chaga can also be sold in retail and wholesale volumes. The harvesting process itself looks quite simple, subject to the basic rules.