Not all mushrooms are fit for drying: a guide for foragers
19 August 2024 12:21
The first mushrooms have already appeared in the forests. You can see beautiful porcini, bay boletes, slippery jacks, or orange birch boletes during a walk. Some of them will certainly end up in a dehydrator or an oven. It turns out that some varieties are not suitable for drying.
Although the mushroom season has just started, you can already find many tasty specimens in the forests. Many people come out with baskets full of beautiful mushrooms, which are difficult to process before they start to spoil. This can be avoided by drying them.
This is one of the most popular methods of processing mushrooms. Thanks to it, we can enjoy their taste all year round. However, not every variety is suitable for drying. Which mushrooms should not be dried?
These mushrooms are better not dried. They can cause many unwanted ailments
Drying mushrooms is simple. You just need to place them in an oven, a special dehydrator, or the sun. The heat will evaporate the moisture from the tissues, preventing the growth of mould or other harmful microorganisms.
Few people realise that not every variety is suitable for drying. Some of them lose most of their flavour, while others become harmful. Which mushrooms are better not dried? Gilled varieties include chanterelle, saffron milk cap, honey fungus, shaggy parasol, or green cracking russula. The last variety hides many dangerous substances that become even more toxic after drying.
This situation occurs with very moist mushrooms such as slippery jacks. Even long drying in a dehydrator does not guarantee the heat will remove all the moisture. It is better to consume them immediately after collecting them.
Which mushrooms are suitable for drying?
Mushrooms with a dry cap are best suited for drying. These include porcini, king, orange birch, and bay bolete. You can find them in the forest as early as August. How to properly dry mushrooms? Start by thoroughly cleaning them from soil and sand residues. You can use a damp sponge for this purpose. Slice them and then place them in a dehydrator, or if you don’t have one, you can dry them in an oven.
Set the temperature to 50°C, with top and bottom heating, and dry them for 7-8 hours. After turning off the device, leave them to cool completely, then put them in a glass or metal container with a lid.
