Is it possible to dry butterflies for the winter: rules for harvesting (drying) mushrooms at home

Dried butternuts retain the maximum amount of useful properties, unique taste and smell. Drying is an easy way to prepare them for the future, without resorting to high-temperature processing methods, without the use of salt, vinegar, vegetable oil. Fragrant dishes from dried mushrooms will complement any menu, including lean and dietary ones.

Is it possible to dry butter mushrooms

Butter mushrooms are edible mushrooms with oily, slippery skin on a hat 4–10 cm in diameter. They are popular with mushroom pickers due to their wide distribution, pleasant rich taste and beneficial properties. They rarely grow alone, most often uniting in small clearings in numerous colonies. More than 40 species of these mushrooms can be conditionally divided into three groups:

1. Late – grow in pine and young deciduous forests in the central strip. Their collection continues until mid-December.

   

2. Grainy – common in pine forests on limestone slightly acidic soils.

   

3. Larch – meet infrequently, mainly in deciduous forests.

   

Butterflies can be dried for the winter. This is the most gentle and ancient way of harvesting them. With such processing, they do not lose useful components: resinous and mineral substances, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, amino acids, trace elements, polysaccharides, vitamins B and D. Due to this richness of the composition, they have valuable properties:

• due to their low calorie content, they can be used in the dietary and medical menu;
• stimulate the immune system;
• can be used in the diet of patients with gout, eliminating excess uric acid in the body;
• help reduce headaches;
• take part in cell regeneration;
• normalize hormonal levels and increase hemoglobin in the blood;
• stabilize the work of the nervous system;
• help lower cholesterol;
• have a positive effect on potency.

How to dry butter mushrooms at home

Butter mushrooms are very common mushrooms. Having found their mycelium, it is easy to collect a good harvest from a small clearing. Drying these mushrooms is recommended, adhering to the following rules:

• use fresh, strong, recently harvested, young specimens;
• oils absorb moisture well, so they do not need to be washed, otherwise the drying process will take much longer;
• prepared mushrooms must be dried immediately, this will preserve their color and taste;
• unlike other harvesting methods, the sticky film can not be removed from their surface before drying.

For drying, oil is prepared in this way:

1. They clean oily hats from adhering forest debris, leaves, twigs. It is best to do this in the forest, immediately after collecting them. Then at home, hands or a slightly damp sponge remove the remaining dirt.
2. Sort. Overripe, wormy, soft specimens are not suitable for drying.
3. Divide the selected batch by size. Small butternuts can be dried whole, large ones are cut into pieces before drying, often their legs are cut off.

The choice of drying method depends on the preferences and capabilities of the mushroom picker. At home, butterflies can be dried in the oven, microwave, air grill, dryer, oven, on a thread, on trays in the air. Dried, they become compact and take up little space, while retaining all the properties. From 10 kg of raw oil, 1 kg of dried oil is obtained. The readiness of the dried butter dish is checked by breaking it.

How to dry butter in the oven

Drying butterflies in a gas stove oven is an easy and quick way, even in a city apartment. The process will take no more than 5 hours, and it is performed in the following sequence:

1. Prepare baking sheets by lining them with foil or baking paper.
2. Peeled and chopped butternuts are laid out on a baking sheet in one layer, placed in the oven.
3. At a temperature of no more than 50 degrees, they are kept in the oven for 1,5 – 2 hours, slightly drying.
4. Raise the temperature to 70 degrees and continue to dry the oil for another 30 – 60 minutes.
5. Finish drying by lowering the temperature to 50 degrees.
6. Readiness is checked by breaking the mushroom slice.

Drying oil in an electric oven

Modern electric ovens can operate in convection mode, providing forced ventilation and creating optimal conditions for drying. If there is no such function, then the oven door is also kept ajar to evaporate the liquid.

In an electric oven, butternuts can be dried according to the following scheme:

1. In convection mode – at a temperature of 40 – 50 degrees, they are dried for about 3 hours to remove most of the moisture.
2. Raising the temperature to 70 degrees, they can withstand another 1 – 1,5 hours.
3. Dry until tender, lowering the temperature to 45 – 50 degrees.

How to dry butterflies for the winter over the stove in the dryer

For drying over an electric or gas stove, you can use a universal dryer. Its dimensions correspond to the dimensions of most domestically produced plates. On such a dryer, a batch weighing up to 5 kg can be placed. The device is designed in such a way that its use does not interfere with normal cooking.

The oil is dried in a dryer in the following sequence:

1. Install the fixture above the stove.
2. Mushrooms are prepared, cut.
3. They are laid out on the tiers of the dryer in one layer at a distance of 2-3 mm from each other.
4. Periodically, as they dry, the oil is turned over.
5. Drying is a long process, taking, depending on the frequency and time of use of the plate, about a week.
6. The readiness of dried butter is checked by breaking a piece.

How to dry butterflies on a thread

Drying butterflies for the winter on a thread or fishing line is a familiar and proven method that does not require special devices. Drying can take up to three weeks. Prepared mushrooms are strung on a thread with a needle. Small specimens are pierced in the middle of the cap, large ones are pre-cut into pieces. To prevent rotting and rotting of mushroom slices, they are placed at a small distance from each other. As they dry, they are shifted. The resulting garlands, covered with gauze, can be hung up:

• outdoors, in the sun or in the shade, avoiding moisture;
• in a ventilated area;
• in the kitchen above the stove.

How to dry butternuts at home in the oven

At home, oil drying can take place in an oven. They are split into a sieve, plywood sheets or trays lined with straw and placed in a cooling oven. If the moisture begins to foam, the temperature in the oven is too high. In this case, the baking sheets must be removed and the oven cooled down. The optimum temperature for drying is 60 degrees: at a higher temperature, the mushrooms will burn, at a lower temperature, they will turn sour.

Such drying is a cyclical process. Mushrooms are placed in the oven each time before the completion of the furnace. They will dry out in at least 4 days, depending on the frequency of kindling.

How to dry butter mushrooms in the microwave

For drying, you can use a microwave oven. At the same time, the following sequence of actions is followed:

1. The prepared crop is laid out on a plate covered with baking paper.
2. Put the dish in the oven.
3. Turn on for 15 min. minimum temperature setting.
4. After the timer signal and the microwave oven is turned off, its door is opened and ventilated from moisture for 5-10 minutes.
5. Steps 3 and 4 are repeated three to five times until the liquid has completely evaporated.
6. Readiness is checked by breaking a slice.

The main advantage of this method of drying mushrooms is a short drying time, about 1,5 hours. However, this method is energy-intensive and not suitable for large batches of crops.

How to dry butterflies in an air grill

An air grill is a modern universal device in which butterfish can be dried. For this:

• the air grill grate is covered with baking paper so that small pieces do not wake up;
• butterfish are laid out on a wire rack in one layer;
• the grate is placed in the convection oven;
• on the dashboard set the blowing speed to the maximum value, and the temperature – to 70 – 75 degrees;
• the lid is left slightly ajar so that moist air escapes from the air fryer and the food is dried rather than cooked.

Drying time in air grill – about 2 – 2,5 hours.

How to dry oil in an electric dryer

Oils can also be dried in an electric dryer. The principle of its operation is based on the supply of heated air to special trays. Convective electric dryers evaporate moisture due to the circulation of the air flow. In infrared units, radiation is used that affects the water molecule in the structure of the product.

Drying oil in an electric dryer consists of the following steps:

1. Peeled and chopped mushrooms are laid out tightly in one layer on pallets.
2. Pallets are installed in the dryer.
3. Turn on the “Mushrooms” function on the electric dryer. If it is not provided, set the temperature to 60 degrees.
4. Periodically, pallets are swapped.
5. At the end of the process, the dried mushrooms are removed from the pallets.

Drying time in an electric dryer depends on the thickness of the slices and the humidity in the room. On average, it takes 12 – 20 hours.

Clearly about drying oil in an electric dryer – in the video:

Drying butter in the sun

Dried butterfish in the open air is possible only in hot sunny weather. After preparing them:

• strung on threads or fishing line and hung out on the street;
• laid out on sieves, baking sheets or sheets of plywood and put in a sunny place;
• placed on gauze folded in several layers, stretched horizontally on a wooden frame.

At night, pallets or garlands are brought into the room so that the mushrooms do not begin to absorb moisture. Drying time depends on the weather and placement. On sunny, hot days, butternuts suspended on threads dry out in 12-30 hours, and when they are on pallets, it will take up to 4 days.

How to cook dried butternut squash

From dried oils you can cook:

• soups and broths;
• roast and stew;
• pilaf, risotto, pasta;
• sauces and gravies;
• stuffing for pies, pancakes, pizza;
• mushroom croutons.

Mushroom powder is made from overdried crushed in a blender or mortar and mushroom powder and used as a seasoning.

Storage Rules

Store dried boletus in a dry, cool place protected from sunlight for no more than 2 years. To do this, they are laid:

• in glass jars, tightly covered with a lid;
• in paper bags;
• in fabric bags;
• in plywood or cardboard boxes.

Conclusion

Dried butternuts are stored for a long time, do not deteriorate, do not lose their aroma. Dishes based on them are not inferior in taste to food prepared from fresh butter. They are more nutritious and healthier than pickled or salted mushrooms.