Everyone who loves mushrooms has heard of a noble family of aspen mushrooms. These tasty mushrooms are often harvested for the winter, drying of the product is especially popular, and we will discuss this later.

Boletus

Boletus or redhead, as it is also called, prefers to grow in deciduous forests, although it is also found in mixed forests. Mushroom "families" appear in shady and humid places, in the grass, at the roots of trees or stumps.

The botanical description of the species says:

• the hat is spherical (diameter 5–20 cm), tightly wraps around the top of the legs, the skin color is always saturated, in red-cinnamon tones;
• the leg is often in the form of a cylinder, stocky, with a scaly surface, height up to 22 cm, thickness up to 5 cm;
• the pulp is dense, fibrous, darkens at the cut.

The family is popular in that it has no poisonous doubles. The only mushroom with which the redhead can be confused is gall (the second name is mustard).

Important! Gorchak differs from boletus with a pink cut of pulp and a mesh on the surface of the leg.

About ten species of different fruiting times are common in our country. The collection season begins in late June, and ends in mid-November.

Depending on the partner for mycorrhiza and the time of appearance, the boletus is conditionally divided into several types:

• oak side - a coffee-brown hat and a speck of the same color on the leg;
• red-headed pine - a red-brown hat and a leg with a spot brown plaque;
• black-boiled boletus - red-orange top, leg strewn with small black dots;
• red-headed spruce - chestnut-colored hat, cylinder-shaped bottom, scaly, light brown;
• boletus white - snow-white top, white-cream, scaly bottom;
• chamomile - all parts of the fruiting body are colored in an orange-brown tone;
• red boletus - brick or red color of the hat, brown-white leg.

Drying Methods

Whatever cooking method you choose, you first need to prepare the raw materials. Worm specimens are discarded, with signs of rot, cracks. With a dry flap, the tissues are wiped off from dust and dirt, soil residues or foliage.

Important! It is not advisable to wash the raw materials, since the fruits quickly darken and gain moisture, which slows down the heat treatment process.

In the oven

An oven is one of the most basic “tools” for drying at home, as it is in every kitchen. The advantage of the device is the ability to control the temperature and place several baking sheets with raw materials at once. For drying in the oven, mushrooms are cut into long slices, spread on parchment.

It is dried in a cabinet warmed up to + 55 ° С with the door open, until the slices are reduced in size. Then the temperature is increased to + 70 ° C, in the process the product is mixed to ensure uniform evaporation of moisture. The procedure takes 3-4 hours.

In the electric dryer

The ideal way is to cook in an electric dryer. This device is specially designed for the preparation of such preparations from vegetables, fruits and berries. Redheads cut into plates are laid out on pallets in an even layer. The electric dryer is set to + 60 ° C. To speed up the process, it is undesirable to put all available pallets in the appliance at the same time - this will “stretch” the drying for 5-7 hours. From time to time, you need to swap them so that the moisture evaporates evenly.

Did you know? Forest squirrel harvests not only nuts and acorns for the winter, but also mushrooms, with preference being given to oils and boletus.

On open air

You can dry the boletus by stringing the fruiting bodies on a string, on the veranda or on the balcony. At the same time they can be cut, but can be left intact. They are strung with a sewing needle, leaving a distance between copies of about 1.5–2 cm. They are suspended from the ceiling and must be covered with a gauze napkin from flies. The fruit body dries to the desired state in two days.

In the microwave

The prepared product is cut into slices or circles of the same size. Then lay out on a pallet in a uniform layer. The microwave is set to power, which provides a temperature regime of + 180 ° C for 20 minutes.

Did you know? Having wounded in the forest in the summer and autumn, you need to look for a raincoat. Its peel is sterile on the inside and contains bactericidal substances, as in a pharmaceutical patch.

After turning off the unit, drain the water from the dish and ventilate the oven for several minutes. Repeat the previous action 3-4 more times. In order not to overdo it, check the readiness of the raw materials by touch. Ideally dried boletus has a dry surface, but with an elastic flesh.

Cooking mushrooms in the microwave is a rather burdensome task, since its capacity is small. The second drawback is that you can overdry the raw materials. If such a nuisance happens, do not rush to throw away the workpiece, but grind it in a blender to the state of flour. Mushroom powder will serve as a wonderful seasoning for any dish.

Features of storage of dried mushrooms

A dried product can be stored for up to 2 years without losing its taste and aroma. The raw materials are stored in a glass jar with a hermetically sealed lid. It’s best if the jar is made of dark glass, but you can just put it in a dark place without access to sunlight.

There should not be any products with a pungent, saturated odor near the stored mushrooms, since even dry pulp quickly absorbs the surrounding aromas. The storage location should be dry, moisture will spoil the raw materials, create conditions for mold growth. If this is a shelf in a closed cabinet, then from time to time the door needs to be opened for ventilation.

Mushrooms are a healthy and tasty product, in dried form it does not lose its properties. In winter, the boletus will diversify the everyday menu and serve as a piquant, fragrant seasoning.