Processing honey mushrooms at home: preparing for cooking

Honey mushrooms in the "kingdom" are given a worthy place. These mushrooms are not only nice to collect, but also prepare various dishes from them. From the harvest of honey mushrooms, you can make delicious preparations for the winter, which will certainly warm your soul and remind you of the warm days spent in the forest.

Mushroom pickers consider honey agarics as very tasty, tender and fairly versatile fruiting bodies. They can be stewed, fried, marinated, salted, fermented, frozen and dried. No other mushroom species undergoes such diverse processing processes. However, before being on our table, honey mushrooms go through an difficult path of cleaning, heat treatment and other procedures.

Preparation of honey mushrooms for processing is an important procedure on which the quality and shelf life of the finished product will depend. Before you consider each method for processing mushrooms mushrooms separately, you need to familiarize yourself with some general rules for their cleaning and sorting.

Stages of primary processing of honey mushrooms

First of all, it should be noted that collected mushrooms cannot be stored fresh for a long time. Otherwise, they can quickly lose their taste and nutritional properties. In addition, leaving the basket untouched after coming from the forest, the appearance of fresh mushrooms will quickly cease to be presentable. Most likely, all that you get in the end is the blackened and ugly remnants of what was once called honey mushrooms. In particular, long-term storage is not tolerated by wet mushrooms that were harvested in rainy weather. Therefore, the conclusion suggests itself: sorting and cleaning this type of fruiting bodies is necessary immediately after coming from the forest.

But if for some reason this cannot be done, then be sure to get them out of the basket, sort it out and put it in the room on the newspaper. At the same time, avoid direct sunlight, unless of course you are going to dry the mushrooms. Thanks to such actions, their safety increases to 7-8 hours.

The primary processing of honey mushrooms at home includes several stages. Of course, it would be wise to start cleaning the mushrooms back in the forest, removing very contaminated places with a knife. In this case, you will save time cleaning up in the future, and you will not drag so much dirt home. Although honey mushrooms are considered pure mushrooms, some of them have a lot of dirt. It all depends on the location of the growth of fruiting bodies, as well as on the weather conditions under which they were collected.

So, having come home, the first thing to do is to sort out the mushrooms and discard all the worms and rotten ones, if any. You can sort mushrooms in the following way: we send young and whole specimens in one pile, and large, broken and trimmed ones in another. Then you should take a knife and cut the bottom of the legs. If you notice small patches of rot and blackening on the fruiting body, then do not rush to throw it away.Just cut this place with a knife, capturing a significant part of the "healthy" body. In addition, you can remove the spoiled leg of the mushroom, leaving a whole and beautiful hat. Also, under the cap, you can often meet bugs, but this does not mean spoilage. Take a knife and carefully remove the top layer along with the insects. Next, you need to decide for which processing process you want to use mushrooms. The preparation of fruiting bodies will depend on your decision.

The processing of honey mushrooms means the following processes: drying, pickling, salting, frying, freezing and preserving. So, small and whole mushrooms are great for pickling and pickling. And unpresentable fruiting bodies can be cut into pieces and put into all other processes. Let us now consider the preparation for each method of processing honey mushrooms separately.

Preparing mushrooms for canning for the winter

Canned mushrooms perfectly complement almost any dish on the table. An important role in the preparation of mushrooms for canning is played by soaking, boiling and sterilizing dishes. As already noted, ugly, broken and large mushrooms go to canned mushrooms. After the initial cleaning, the mushrooms must be cut into slices, put in a deep container and pour water mixed with salt. The ingredients for the solution are taken from the calculation: for 1 liter of water 1.5 tbsp. l table or natural sea salt. After that, the fruiting bodies should be left soaked for 1.5 hours. During this time, the salt will open the pores of the fungus and remove excess dirt and sand from it. In addition, if worms are present in honey agarics, then they will simply pop up.

After the set time, put the mushrooms in a colander and rinse them with plain tap water. If there are many fruiting bodies, then rinse them in small portions. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to rid the honey agaric from salt.

Thanks to soaking, we carry out the preparation of honey mushrooms for cooking, which will follow. Boil mushrooms in just one water. To do this, boil water in an enameled pan (1 tbsp. Liquid per 1 kg of honey mushrooms) and lay out the fruiting bodies. You can add a pinch of salt and citric acid on the tip of the knife. Boiling time will depend on the age of the fruiting bodies. Thus, 15 minutes of boiling are enough for young mushrooms, and 25 minutes for their elder “brothers”. Then drain the water and rinse the product again under the tap.

Preservation of such mushrooms for the winter in the form of caviar, salads and other snacks will be a welcome "guest" on your table. Honey mushrooms go well with vegetables: onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, etc. Here you already need to consider your own preferences and tastes of your family.

However, immediately before preservation, the banks must be sterilized. Usually for such a process take glass jars of 0.5 and 1 liter. Tanks should be thoroughly washed on both sides and warmed in boiling water for about 35-45 minutes. In addition, the lids must also be boiled for at least 20 minutes.

For long-term preservation, banks are again sterilized, but already with preservation. At the bottom of a large pot of water lay a fabric folded 3-4 times. Then they put the cans with the workpiece and cover with water until 1.5-2 cm remain to the neck. Bring to a boil and set the time: for 0.5 l of cans - 25 minutes, and for 1 l - 35 minutes. Then roll up and leave to cool at room temperature.

Features of the preparation of honey mushrooms for pickling

Preparation of mushrooms for pickling is similar to canning, but has a number of its own characteristics. Do not forget that for this method it is better to use small and young mushrooms, which will look beautiful and appetizing in the bank.

Soaking and boiling for this process is mandatory. After the initial cleaning of the mushrooms from dirt, you can proceed to the above steps. For young specimens, the soaking time is about 45 minutes, and the cooking time is 15 minutes.After soaking, rinse the mushrooms with cold water. The same procedure must be repeated after boiling. Then you need to put them in a colander so that the glass is excess liquid. If there are a lot of fruiting bodies, then after boiling them can be distributed on dry tissue, so excess moisture will go away faster.

Processing of honey mushrooms for the winter by pickling is carried out in hot and cold ways. In the first case, mushrooms are boiled directly in the marinade, then laid out in jars and rolled up. And in the second case, the marinade is cooked separately. Then it is poured into banks in which boiled mushrooms are already located. Various spices are used for the marinade, the most popular of which are cloves, black pepper grains, leaves of parsley and cinnamon. Mandatory ingredients for pickled mushrooms are salt, sugar and vinegar. All this is mixed with a certain amount of water and boiled over low heat for 7-10 minutes.

Marinating honey mushrooms also involves the use of sterilized cans and lids. This procedure takes place in a water bath for 10-15 minutes. An oven is also available for this. The cans washed with soda or laundry soap are sent to a cold or warm oven and gradually increase the temperature. The maximum temperature should be no more than 150 ° C, and the stay time of the cans is 15 minutes. But the lids can simply be lowered for 10 minutes in boiling water.

Finished spins are cooled at room temperature and taken out to the basement. The time for soaking honey agarics with marinade is on average 30-45 days.

Preparing honey mushrooms for salting cold and hot

Salting of fruiting bodies is somewhat different from traditional pickling. In this case, the preparation of honey mushrooms for salting will depend on the method of the procedure itself. So, you can salt the mushrooms in a cold and hot way. For the first, mushrooms are boiled in advance, and for the second - they are not boiled at all. However, remember that for the cold salting method, only young and small mushrooms are suitable.

Cold method involves more thorough preparation than hot. So, mushrooms after initial cleaning must be soaked in salted water for 2 hours, and then rinsed. In addition, honey mushrooms should first be weighed in order to correctly calculate the amount of preservative for salting. For 1 kg of fresh mushrooms, 40 g of large salt is needed. For the hot method of salting, it is enough just to rinse the mushrooms in water and boil for 15 minutes. Honey mushrooms are laid out in layers, alternating with salt, fresh leaves of cherry, currant, oak, horseradish, cloves, dill umbrellas, garlic and other ingredients. However, do not overdo it with spices so that they do not drown out the taste and aroma of mushrooms.

Mushrooms are salted under oppression in barrels, banks, enameled buckets or pans, as well as in large ceramic containers. Preparation of honey mushrooms for processing by these methods also implies the use of clean dishes, which must first be doused with boiling water and dried naturally.

Proper preparation of mushrooms for frying

Preparation of honey mushrooms for frying begins with traditional cleaning and sorting. I must say that for this process, you can safely use broken, large and trimmed mushrooms. However, before they need to be cut into large strips or cubes. Then they should be washed under water or soaked for 40 minutes, if there are large contaminants. Then the fruiting bodies must be transferred to a pan with boiling salted water (per 1 kg of honey mushrooms: 2 tbsp of water + 1 tsp of salt). Boil for 10-15 minutes and put in a colander to remove excess fluid.

I must say that the proper preparation of honey mushrooms for frying does not always imply preliminary boiling. Many housewives are content with just soaking, and then immediately spread it on a heated frying pan. However, it is extremely undesirable to carry out such a procedure with large and old mushrooms.

Before frying, add a small amount of vegetable oil to the pan. Frying time is from 15 to 25 minutes.You can add finely chopped onions and sour cream, and then stew the mushrooms for another 5 minutes.

Secrets of the proper preparation of mushrooms for freezing

Preparing honey mushrooms for processing also includes a freezing process. This is a very effective way to prepare mushrooms, allowing you to spoil your home with delicious and aromatic dishes all winter. Frozen honey mushrooms retain taste and nutritional properties. In addition, such mushrooms remain truly fragrant, fragrant throughout the house in the autumn forest. Freezing is considered the easiest way to prepare mushrooms for the winter.

Here are a few secrets to properly preparing mushrooms for freezing. I must say that in this case you need to take only strong young mushrooms that do not have any signs of damage. Small specimens are frozen whole, and large ones are cut into pieces. Of course, fruiting bodies undergo mandatory cleaning of debris and dirt.

You can freeze honey mushrooms raw, but here you need to be careful. The fact is that in this case it is better not to wash them, but to use an ordinary dry kitchen sponge. Just wipe the hats of each fruiting body, and remove heavy dirt with a knife. In extreme cases, you can rinse the product under running water and put it on a dry cloth to dry.

It is interesting that freshly frozen mushrooms will not lose their pristine appearance for a long time. Yes, and you can cook them in the same way as freshly picked fruiting bodies.

After the initial cleaning, honey agarics must be spread out on the spreading surface, previously covered with parchment paper or cling film. Then place it in the freezer, set the temperature as cold as possible and detect for 1 hour. During this time, honey mushrooms will seize, which will prevent them from further sticking together in one continuous lump. After that, the standard temperature is set, the mushrooms are taken out and already finally laid out in bags or plastic containers.

Boiled honey mushrooms can also be frozen, but then they need to be soaked for 20 minutes in salted water. The boiling time is at least 10 minutes. After that, honey mushrooms are transferred to a colander so that the glass is excess liquid. The process then proceeds according to the principle mentioned in the previous paragraph.

As you can see, the preparation of honey mushrooms for cooking includes certain rules. Knowing them, every housewife will be able to cook the most delicious and healthy mushroom dishes.