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Undoubtedly, collecting mushrooms in the forest is a pleasant and exciting business. Many mushroom pickers have long appreciated the merits of these mushrooms, which means they will never pass them by. One of the main advantages of honey mushrooms is that they grow in large groups. This is very convenient, because you do not need to make an effort to find them in the forest. In one small area – a stump or a tree, you can collect several baskets of forest “gifts” at once. In addition, for their taste, mushrooms lend themselves perfectly to various culinary processes. In addition to everyone’s favorite fried potatoes with mushrooms and mushroom soups, mushrooms can be used to make wonderful appetizers, pastes, sauces, meatballs, and also preserve them for the winter.
However, along with a pleasant pastime in the forest and a rich mushroom harvest, every lover of “silent hunting” is faced with the task of conducting a thorough primary processing. How to clean and wash honey mushrooms before various processing methods?
Purification and processing of mushrooms
To know how to properly clean and wash mushrooms, you need to decide what you will use them for in the future – for cooking or preserving for the winter? So, the cleaning method for all processing methods is as follows:
- the mushroom crop should be sorted out and all blackened, rotten and wormy specimens should be discarded. Small and strong ones are best used for pickling and salting, while broken and large ones can be used for caviar, frying, sauces, pates, etc. Sometimes it happens that the leg of the fruiting body is whole and strong, and the hat is badly damaged. In this case, they can be separated from each other and put a good part into cooking;
- before washing the mushrooms after the forest, it is necessary to first remove strong pollution from them. It is better to do this with an ordinary kitchen knife or a dry sponge. Usually, little forest debris is collected on mushrooms, as they grow on stumps, fallen branches or trees, and not on the ground. It is enough just to take a good look at them and cut off all the damaged places, if any;
- then cut off the edges of the legs, because they are too hard, which means that a “travel” dish with their participation will not work.
Many hostesses are interested in: should the skirt be removed from the stem of the mushroom before washing fresh mushrooms? It should be said that here everyone decides for himself. There is an opinion that the skirt framing the leg of the mushroom gives the dish bitterness, but this is not so. Most mushroom pickers do not even bother with the removal of this film, believing that this is simply a waste of time and effort.
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How to wash autumn, summer and winter mushrooms
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Does it matter how to wash different types of mushrooms? So, autumn, summer and winter mushrooms, although they differ in appearance and growing season, are washed almost the same after cleaning. The only thing is that winter mushrooms do not need soaking, because they are considered one of the purest representatives of their kind. Sometimes in the winter forest, these fruiting bodies are found literally under the snow. They are practically not cleaned of adhering dirt and debris, but simply cut off the tips of the legs. After that, winter mushrooms are rinsed in water for several minutes and start cooking.
And how to wash mushrooms of autumn and summer species? Here everything will depend on the further processing method. Traditionally, both of these types require the same cleaning and rinsing methods. So, fruiting bodies need soaking after sorting and cleaning. Soaking should take place in cold salted water (for 1 liter of water you need to take 1 tablespoon of table salt). Salt helps to open the pores of the fungus and remove small grains of sand from there. And if there are insects or worms in the fruiting body, they will simply float to the surface. Soaking time is 30 to 90 minutes. Then you should rinse the mushrooms under the tap and start cooking. As you can see, washing summer, autumn and winter mushrooms is quite simple if you follow the above tips.
How to wash mushrooms before frying, boiling and freezing
Fried mushrooms are a very popular dish, especially if it is mushrooms. They can be fried and combined with various vegetables, as well as harvested for the winter. How to properly wash mushrooms after cleaning, so that they can then be fried deliciously? For this processing process, you need to rinse the prepared mushrooms in cool water, and then dry them on a kitchen towel or leave in a colander to drain excess liquid. If the fruit bodies are large, then it is better to soak them in salted water for 40-50 minutes, and then rinse under the tap.
Most mushroom processing methods involve pre-boiling them. In this regard, many novice housewives ask how to wash mushrooms before cooking? To do this, after cleaning, the mushrooms should be washed under the tap for several minutes, and then boiled. You can also soak fruiting bodies in salted water for half an hour, and then rinse again. If you decide not to soak the mushrooms, but boil them immediately, then change the water at least 2 times during cooking.
If you want to freeze fresh fruiting bodies for the winter without first boiling, then the contact of mushrooms with water should be minimized. How to wash honey mushrooms fresh before freezing? First of all, remember that you need to use only whole, strong, young and undamaged specimens. After cleaning, they should be washed literally for a minute under running water and dipped in boiling water for 20-30 seconds. If you want to prepare boiled mushrooms for the winter, then rinse in the way mentioned above.
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How to wash mushrooms before pickling and salting
And how to wash mushrooms before pickling and salting? To do this, after cleaning, immerse the fruiting bodies in a deep container with warm water, leave for 20-30 minutes, then rinse them. Change the water in the container and put the mushrooms back into it. After 15-20 minutes, transfer them to a sieve or colander and let the excess liquid drain. Then feel free to proceed with the heat treatment before pickling and salting recipes.
Some housewives prefer to use the cold method of salting fruiting bodies, which excludes preliminary boiling. In this case, you need to soak the mushrooms after cleaning for 9-15 hours, then rinse under the tap and dry. Important: for salting in a cold way, you also need to use only young and strong specimens.
We offer you to watch a video showing how to wash mushrooms after the forest:
VIDEO
How to store washed mushrooms
Honey mushrooms are a perishable product, so it cannot be stored fresh for a long time. How to store washed mushrooms after cleaning and where? It is better to immediately put fresh fruiting bodies into action and cook any dish out of them. However, if for some reason this is not possible, then send the mushrooms to the refrigerator for storage for no more than 7-10 hours. At the same time, cover the storage container with cling film, otherwise the mushrooms will absorb extraneous odors.
Washed mushrooms can be stored for a longer time if they are frozen by shock freezing, then spread out in plastic containers and returned to the freezer. Fruiting bodies can be stored in this form for up to 1 year.