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True lovers of mushrooms among the variety of gifts of nature note mushrooms. These mushrooms in terms of taste belong to the first category. Therefore, many housewives strive to make pickles out of them for future use in order to enjoy a delicious delicacy in winter. To do this, you definitely need to know how to properly store salted mushrooms. If the necessary storage conditions are observed, salted mushrooms can remain tasty and healthy for a long time.
What determines the shelf life of salted mushrooms
It is advisable to eat fresh mushrooms within a day after they are collected. It is impossible to store uncooked mushrooms. They spoil quickly. If it is not possible to immediately cook them in one way or another, then they should be cleaned of debris and kept in the refrigerator for no more than a day. No need to wash with water. Then they should be cooked or thrown away.
For long-term storage, mushrooms can be pickled, dried, frozen and, of course, salted. There are factors that you need to pay attention to when preparing salted saffron milk caps for storage at home. They affect the quality of salting and the shelf life of food.
There are several such factors:
- The temperature of the air where the pickle is located. It must be at least 00C, so that salted mushrooms do not freeze, and not higher than +70C, so that they do not deteriorate.
- Lack of light. The storage place should remain dark most of the time of the day, especially direct sunlight should be excluded.
- Salting method. It can be with or without pre-cooked mushrooms.
- You also need to put a sufficient amount of preservative (salt), which greatly affects the storage time. How much salt to put in is affected by storage conditions. When there is a cold cellar, then experienced housewives put less salt than in the absence of such a storage place.
- Containers for storing workpieces. You can use glass, wooden, enameled dishes or other non-oxidizing containers. Sterilized glass jars are the best option to keep salted mushrooms for as long as possible.
All the time of storage it is necessary to monitor the brine. If it remains transparent or slightly cloudy, has acquired a brownish tint, then everything is going as it should. In the case when the brine has turned black, the pickling must be thrown away, because it has become unfit for human consumption.
How to store salted mushrooms
The terms and conditions of storage of mushrooms after salting are greatly influenced by the method used for harvesting. There are 2 main options:
- Hot – mushrooms are boiled before salting. After cooling, they are placed in jars and sprinkled with salt. To pickle, the workpiece must be kept in the refrigerator for 6 weeks. At the same time, due to heat treatment, some of the useful properties are lost, but the risk of rapid deterioration is reduced and the appearance is preserved.
- Cold – mushrooms are salted raw without preliminary heat treatment. They are placed in a container, sprinkled with salt. A flat object is placed on top and a weight is placed on it to press down. Withstand 2 weeks at a temperature of +10…+150C. Then put in the refrigerator for 1,5 months. The process of salting in this way takes 2 months. At the same time, most of the useful and gustatory qualities are preserved, but the likelihood of mold appears if the storage conditions are not observed. The color of the mushrooms themselves changes slightly, it becomes darker.
Not in any dishes you can pickle mushrooms. The choice of dishes in which pickled mushrooms are to be stored affects the shelf life of the product. You can eat salted mushrooms only after the end of the salting stage, but not earlier.
How to store salted mushrooms after salting
If the mushrooms are salted without pre-cooking and placed in a wooden barrel or an enameled pan, then mushrooms can be stored after such cold salting for about 6-8 months. provided that the temperature does not exceed +6…+80C.
In this case, you must also regularly clean the gauze and oppression from the mold that has formed and make sure that the brine covers the mushrooms. If the brine does not completely cover the salted mushrooms, then cold boiled water must be added.
How to store salted mushrooms in jars
Hot-cooked pickles are stored in jars. In order for them to be stored in jars longer, conservation should be carried out as follows:
- Clean mushrooms from forest debris and rinse well with plenty of cold water.
- Boil in salted water for 7-10 minutes.
- Drain the water, let it drain completely.
- Arrange in jars in layers, sprinkling with salt and spices.
- Pour boiling water over and close with capron lids.
- After cooling, take out to a cool place for long-term storage.
Such blanks should be stored in a room with a temperature not higher than +80C. Then salted mushrooms will be edible for 2-3 months. If you roll up the jars with metal lids, then with proper storage, pickles will remain edible for another 2 years.
There are small tricks to help keep salted mushrooms edible all winter. One of them is the use of vegetable oil. After the mushrooms were packaged in jars and filled with brine, vegetable oil is poured on top so that its layer covers the surface of the brine and is about 5 mm thick. This technique prevents mold from forming on the surface of the brine and prolongs storage.
At what temperature to store salted mushrooms
Salted mushrooms already prepared for long-term storage should be stored in a room with the optimum temperature for this – from 0 to +80C. A cellar or basement is well suited for storage. If there are no such options, then containers with pickles can be placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. In the case when there is not enough space in the refrigerator, you can use an insulated loggia, but make sure that the temperature is within acceptable limits.
How long are salted mushrooms stored
Hot-salted and hermetically sealed in jars, mushrooms are stored in suitable conditions for about 24 months. During this time, they must be eaten. Pickles closed with nylon lids should be in the refrigerator. In this case, they remain edible for 2 months. after salting.
Cold-salted mushrooms will be edible for six months if they are stored in a refrigerator or cool room.
Open jars of pickles can be kept on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. If during this time the delicacy has not been eaten, then it is better to throw it away so as not to risk your health.
Conclusion
In order to be able to taste your favorite mushrooms in winter, if you wish, you need to know how to store salted mushrooms in compliance with all the rules. There is nothing difficult in this. It is necessary to provide the blanks with the necessary storage temperature and monitor their condition in appearance and smell. At the first sign of spoilage, it is better to get rid of dubious salted mushrooms than to risk your health.