Salted black milk mushrooms: 11 recipes

Milk mushrooms are mysterious mushrooms that are considered inedible all over the world because of the caustic milky juice that stands out from their pulp. But in Our Country they have long been valued on a par with mushrooms, and salted milk mushrooms were a delicacy worthy of the royal table. Salting black mushrooms is no more difficult than any other variety. It’s hard to imagine a more worthy snack to taste, and mushrooms change their black color in pickles to a noble dark cherry.

How to salt black mushrooms

Among experienced mushroom pickers, black milk mushrooms have many “home” names and one of the most affectionate and common is black mushrooms. The thickest, densest and fleshiest caps have mushrooms that have grown among deciduous trees. Nigella from coniferous forests are distinguished by thinner hats. Although these mushrooms appear already from mid-July to the second half of October, it is best to collect them from the end of August and the entire first half of autumn. The fact is that black milk mushrooms that have grown in warmth are poorly stored, often moldy when salted. And mushrooms harvested in cold weather have a brighter taste and better preservation.

For salting black mushrooms at home, it is important to choose the right dishes.

Traditional wooden barrels and tubs, as well as enamel or glassware, are best for making salted mushrooms. Wash the latter thoroughly with soda and dry thoroughly in the oven at high temperatures.

With wooden containers there will be a little more fuss. In any case, they must be soaked in water for several days so that the wood can swell and become waterproof. New oak barrels should be soaked for at least 2 weeks to completely remove tannic compounds, which can turn both the mushrooms and the brine black.

In addition, oak tubs are washed with a stiff brush and spilled with a boiling solution with the addition of caustic soda (5 g per 1 liter of water), and also fumigated with sulfur. Only in this case, you can be completely sure of the destruction of all bacteria that have accumulated in the slots of the tub.

Before salting black mushrooms, mushrooms must first be sorted by size. If possible, mushrooms of different sizes are salted separately from each other. If this is not feasible, then large mushrooms are cut into several parts. For salting, only mushroom caps are usually used.

Since nigella grows in the very thick of the forest floor, a lot of natural litter is collected on them. Therefore, the procedure for their removal of debris is very important. To thoroughly remove all contaminants, a sponge, a stiff brush, and even a kitchen knife are used when it is necessary to scrape off the most difficult areas to be affected.

At the end of the procedure, the peeled mushrooms are washed well under running water, finally removing all the smallest impurities.

It is time to decide on the choice of the method of salting nigella. There are two of them: hot and cold. The first, faster, involves the mandatory cooking of mushrooms. Using the cold method of salting mushrooms, they do without heat treatment, so the mushrooms are especially tasty, crispy and healthy. Of course, the cold method involves spending more time making salted mushrooms. But many housewives, nevertheless, choose it because it provides the following advantages:

1. It is especially convenient to pickle a large amount of mushrooms in a cold way, especially when using wooden tubs.

   

2. If the harvest of mushrooms is harvested gradually, over several weeks, then only the cold method makes it possible to salt the nigella in one container, gradually adding them there as they come from the forest.
3. For people who are demanding on the appearance of the finished snack, it is the cold method that will be the best, since whole and dense, non-old mushrooms are selected for it.
4. Finally, the most patient will be rewarded with a completely unique taste of salted milk mushrooms, in which all healthy components are preserved unchanged.
5. And only cold-salted milk mushrooms can boast of attractive crunchiness and density.

How much to soak black mushrooms before salting

In order to get rid of the bitterness and causticity of the milky juice in blackberries, there are only two ways: soaking and boiling. It is possible to salt a black mushroom without boiling only in a cold way. Therefore, the soaking procedure is mandatory for such salting.

Peeled and finally washed mushrooms are poured with cold water so that it covers them entirely. From above they can be covered with a flat dish so that they are completely in the aquatic environment. 10 g of salt and 2 g of citric acid per liter are sometimes added to the water, but mushrooms can be soaked without additives. Most importantly, the water must be constantly replaced with fresh water. It is best to do this 2 times a day.

Black milk mushrooms can be soaked before salting from 24 hours to 5 days. The exact time depends on the size of the mushrooms, their age, and sometimes where they grew. On average, the soaking time lasts from 2 to 3 days. After a few days, you can cut off a small piece of mushroom pulp and taste it. A piece is better then spit out. If frank bitterness is no longer felt, then you can safely proceed to further salting.

Another sign of the milk mushrooms being ready for further salting is that the replacement water remains light, but foam appears on it. On the first day of soaking, the water in the mushrooms quickly darkens.

How to pickle black mushrooms to be crispy

For lovers of salty crunchy mushrooms, any recipe for salting black mushrooms in a cold way is ideal. Only in this way can you get dense, and not sour mushrooms from salting. Moreover, cold-salted milk mushrooms have the ability to retain their crunchy properties for a long time – up to 6-8 months when stored under suitable conditions. Also, oak, cherry and horseradish leaves add additional crunchiness to salted mushrooms.

Black mushrooms salted in a cold way according to a traditional recipe

The traditional recipe for making salted mushrooms involves the use of many spicy and aromatic additives that complement and improve the taste of mushrooms. Salting black milk mushrooms will be easy even for a beginner if you use the following step-by-step recipe.

You will need:

• 10 kg of fresh chives;
• 500 g coarse rock salt;
• 20 dill inflorescences with seeds;
• 40 g black peppercorns;
• 30 pieces of blackcurrant, cherry and horseradish leaves.

The cold cooking process consists of the following steps:

1. Mushrooms are sorted and cleaned of debris, cutting out rotten and moldy places if necessary.

   

2. Hats are separated from the legs, leaving just a couple of centimeters.
3. Mushrooms are soaked in a large wide container for 2 to 5 days.
4. After soaking, they are washed under running water.
5. Prepare a container suitable for salting – a pot, a jar, a bucket.
6. All green seasonings are washed and dried.
7. The bottom of the selected container is covered with a small amount of horseradish leaves, currants and cherries with dill inflorescences.
   Important! Cherry leaves, in their absence, can be replaced with bay leaves.
8. Lay a layer of mushrooms, about 5-7 cm thick, legs up, sprinkle with salt and a mixture of spices on top.

   

9. In this way, layer by layer is laid until the mushrooms run out.
10. The top layer is sprinkled with salt most abundantly.

    

11. From above it can be additionally covered with a sheet of horseradish.
12. The milk mushrooms are covered with gauze or other cotton cloth, pressed on top with a wooden circle, on which the load is placed. As a load, it is easiest to use a glass jar filled with water.
13. A container with salted nigella is placed in a non-hot room for 40-60 days.
14. A few hours after salting, the mushrooms will release juice and, if there was enough salt, they will be completely covered with saline. If the liquid level is low, then it is necessary to add saline solution (30 g per 1 liter of water).

    

15. After a few days, the salted milk mushrooms should settle slightly and, if desired, fresh, pre-soaked, nigella can be added to them for salting.
16. Earlier than 40 days after salting, tasting blackies is not recommended, since all this time the final removal of bitterness from the mushrooms takes place.
17. If mold nevertheless appears on the surface of the fabric or mushrooms, the top layer must be thrown out, the gauze must be boiled, and a little vodka should be added to the container with black salted milk mushrooms.
18. Completely salted mushrooms must be put in a clean and sterilized jar, closed with a regular plastic lid and placed in a cold place for storage.

How to pickle black mushrooms with dill and garlic

The very technology of salting black mushrooms for the winter according to this recipe does not fundamentally differ from the traditional cold method. Dill baskets are usually added to mushrooms along with seeds. If you can’t find fresh dill buds, you can simply use dry dill seeds. For 10 kg of nigella, you need a few tablespoons of seeds.

The aroma of garlic can easily override the aroma of forest mushrooms, so it is not often used in salting. Some experienced mushroom pickers recommend adding it to ready-made salted mushrooms. But if you want to make mushrooms with the aroma of garlic, its slices are cut into small pieces and added at the beginning of the process along with spices. For 1 kg of mushrooms add 3-4 cloves of garlic.

Salting black mushrooms with horseradish, currant and cherry leaves

The leaves of all three plants are traditionally used in the manufacture of cold salted nigella. Blackcurrant leaves add flavor to the appetizer. Cherry leaves give strength and fragility. And horseradish leaves add spice and preserve the dense structure of salted mushrooms.

Cold salting of black mushrooms with oak and currant leaves

If it is possible to find oak leaves for salting nigella, then we can assume that the process will take place under almost the same conditions as hundreds of years ago. Indeed, in those days, only oak barrels were used to make salted mushrooms, which gave the finished pickles an unobtrusive piquant taste and fragile elasticity. And the use of blackcurrant leaves will complete the overall picture of harmonious aromas and tastes.

For 10 kg of mushrooms you will need:

• 400 g salt;
• 30-40 oak leaves;
• 40-50 blackcurrant leaves with sprigs.

How to salt black milk mushrooms in a cold way with horseradish root and cabbage leaves

You will need:

• 5 kg of carrots;
• 8 large and strong leaves of white cabbage;
• 220 g salt;
• 1 large horseradish root;
• 20 dill inflorescences;
• 20 leaves of cherry and black currant;
• 1 garlic head.

It is not difficult to prepare salty and crispy black mushrooms according to this recipe in a cold way:

1. Cleaned and sorted milk mushrooms are poured with salt water (20 g per 1 liter of water) for 3-4 hours.
2. Then the mushrooms are washed and poured with ordinary water for 5-8 hours.
3. Cabbage leaves are cut into several large pieces.
4. Horseradish root and garlic are peeled and cut into thin slices.
5. Soaked mushrooms are placed in the prepared dishes with hats down in layers, two hats thick, shifting the layers with horseradish, garlic and cherry leaves with currants.
6. Cabbage leaves are placed on top of the last layer, on which a wooden circle is placed, and a heavy load is placed on it.

   

7. Leave the container with mushrooms for 2 days at room temperature. During this period, the mushrooms are mixed at least 2-3 times.
8. Then tightly lay the salted milk mushrooms in clean and dry sterile jars, pour over the released juice and place in the refrigerator or other cold place for 2 months.
9. After this period, salted blackies can be considered ready.

How to pickle black mushrooms with onions in a cold way

Onions are a great addition to any type of mushrooms when salted, and nigella is no exception.

Mushrooms are prepared according to the traditional recipe in a cold way, using the following components:

• one 10-liter bucket of milk mushrooms;
• 330 g salt;
• 5-6 large onion heads.

How to salt black mushrooms with cloves at home

In the same cold way, you can salt the blackberries with the addition of clove buds. According to this simple recipe for salting black mushrooms, only a few components are used:

• 10 kg of carrots;
• 45-50 g of coarse salt;
• 25 carnation buds.

A simple recipe for salting black mushrooms using the cold method

And for lovers of the natural taste of mushrooms, the following recipe will be of interest, which uses nothing but the mushrooms themselves and salt. After all, blackies are distinguished by their own unique, slightly tart and resinous flavor.

The maximum concentration of brine is used: for 1 kg of mushrooms, at least 50 g of salt. Otherwise, the cooking technology is no different from the traditional one.

Black milk mushrooms: salting in a cold way in Altai

In Altai, people have been salting nigella for many centuries and the following ingredients are used for cooking:

• 10 kg of mushrooms;
• 500 g salt;
• 20 dill umbrellas;
• 5 heads of garlic;
• by 5 st. l. black pepper and allspice peas;
• 20 carnation buds.

The process of preparing salted mushrooms in a cold way is traditional and consists of preliminary soaking and subsequent unfolding of mushrooms in layers, shifting them with spices. Mushrooms should be salted for about a month under oppression in a cool room. The only thing that needs to be controlled at the same time is that the salted milk mushrooms are constantly covered with liquid brine, otherwise mold may appear.

Cold salting of black mushrooms with citric acid

Citric acid can be added to black mushrooms both before soaking them for pickling, and during the salting process itself, after the mushrooms release a sufficient amount of juice under the weight of the press. The addition of citric acid contributes to better preservation of mushrooms and their faster salting.

For 10 kg of blackberries add 35 g of citric acid.

Rules for storing black mushrooms, salted in a cold way

Cold-salted black milk mushrooms are stored at a temperature of + 2 °С to + 8 °С. If storage takes place at higher temperatures, then it is very likely that they will become soured and even moldy.

It is also impossible to allow salted mushrooms to freeze, as this leads to a loss of shape and disintegration into small pieces.

Conclusion

Any housewife should be able to salt black milk mushrooms for the winter, because this traditional snack will help decorate the festive table and help to cope with some diseases.