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You do not need to peel the milk mushrooms by removing the upper skin. Everything in a mushroom is edible. It is important to properly process the harvested crop in a timely manner, otherwise the fruit bodies will lose their taste and become unsuitable for human consumption.
Do I need to peel the milk mushrooms
The concept of "cleaning a mushroom" does not always mean the action associated with the removal of the skin, the spore-bearing layer from under the cap and other parts of the fruiting body. To find the correct answer to this question, you need to deal with all the nuances. It's worth starting with the fact that not all milk mushrooms can be eaten. Two types of mushrooms are conditionally edible:
- White milk mushrooms. The growing fruit body color varies from white to slightly bluish. After soaking, the color changes. The fungus becomes gray or slightly greenish.
- Black milk mushrooms. Despite this name, the caps of the fruit bodies are dark brown with a greenish tint.
These two species are united by a common habitat. Milk mushrooms grow in families in any forests, but are more common among pines and birches. Fruiting bodies are recognized by a flat cap with a peculiar bulge. It is in this hole that the most dirt collects and needs to be cleaned.
The mucous skin of the mushrooms promotes the adhesion of dirt, grass particles and foliage
The next point is to pay attention to the skin. In mushrooms, it is slimy, which contributes to the abundant adhesion of dust, grass, pieces of dry foliage. This dirty bloom must be similarly cleaned before cooking the fruit bodies.
According to the rules, you need to peel white milk mushrooms or their counterparts with black caps a maximum of 5 hours after collection. You can withstand the day, but part of the crop will go to rejection. Such strict requirements are due to the fact that mushrooms contain a lot of moisture in their bodies. Fruit bodies stored for a long time lose their taste, become lethargic, and change the structure of the pulp.
An example on the video how to peel milk mushrooms quickly:
How to handle milk mushrooms after collection
When the harvested crop has already been delivered home, you cannot hesitate for a long time. Immediately you need to start preparing everything you need to help clean the fruiting bodies with high quality. To complete the procedure, you need:
- The capacity of a round shape is larger in volume than mushrooms. A saucepan, bowl, bucket, or plastic barrel will work. If the crop is too large, several containers will be required.
- You need cold water, preferably running water. If there is no running water, you can use a well. In the second option, you will often have to change the water manually with buckets.
- A knife with a sharp blade is necessary for trimming the bottom of the leg, damaged areas, and will help to better clean the dirt from the head.
- A soft-bristled brush or regular sponge is used to wash the mushrooms. Cleaning with a device with coarse bristles is not permitted. It will damage the fruiting body.
When everything is prepared, an important point begins - the processing of milk mushrooms before cooking or pickling.
How to quickly remove dirt from milk mushrooms
The harvest delivered from the forest needs to be cleaned, but first it is pre-processed. The first step is to sort out all the mushrooms. Old milk mushrooms, damaged by slugs or worms, discard dubious fruiting bodies. If the damage is minor, you can cut it off with a knife. Sorted mushrooms are cleaned by hand from coarse debris. The surface of the cap, if necessary, is cleaned with a knife, scraping off adhering foliage and grass.
It is convenient to clean dirt from the surface of the cap with a knife
After completing the "rough" cleaning, the mushrooms are washed with running water. It is optimal to load them in portions into a colander and place them under the water tap. The washed fruit bodies are placed in a container, poured with cold water for 3 hours. During this time, the adhering dirt will lag behind. Heavily soiled caps are cleaned with a brush.
Dirty water is drained, after which a new portion is immediately poured. So that the milk mushrooms do not float, they are covered with a large dish or lid, a load is placed on top, for example, a jar of water. Soaked mushrooms are worth a day. During this time, the fine dirt that has eaten into the body of the mushrooms will lag behind, insects will die. During the day, the water will have to be changed every 4-5 hours. If this is not done, the fruiting bodies will turn sour.
How to quickly wash milk mushrooms
After a day of soaking, the main dirt will lag behind. The water is drained from the container. In order to further properly clean the milk mushrooms after soaking, they arm themselves with a brush or sponge. The washing process begins. Mushrooms are poured with clean cold water. Each hat is cleaned by wiping with a brush or sponge in a circular motion. To clean the cap from the spore-bearing layer is a controversial matter. Sand usually accumulates between the plates, which is difficult to remove even by soaking. If the harvest was carried out in the forest on sandy soil, then it is better to cut the spore-bearing layer with a knife. Villagers who collect milk mushrooms in ecologically clean sandy areas do not do this.
Washing mushrooms will require a large container, such as a bucket.
The treated mushrooms are washed again and placed in another container with clean salted water. Here they should get wet for another day. The next day, they are simply washed under running water, they are no longer cleaned, they are used for cooking.
How to properly clean milk mushrooms
Each processing of milk mushrooms at home follows its own recipe. Most often, mushrooms are salted, fried, pickled, and dishes are prepared from fresh fruit bodies. Milk mushrooms are rarely allowed to dry and freeze. This is due to the fact that the fruiting bodies are too watery. In addition, cleaning them involves several stages of soaking, and this cannot be done for drying or freezing.
If a dubious mushroom is caught during sorting, it is better not to start cleaning it, but throw it away immediately
Experienced mushroom pickers say that it is correct to wash black milk mushrooms without soaking. This royal mushroom is capable of losing its delicious aroma and taste. In extreme cases, for the dirt to lag behind, the harvested crop can be soaked in salted water for no more than three hours.
How to properly clean milk mushrooms for pickling
Despite the many recipes, there are two types of pickling: cold and hot. However, for any option, the processing of milk mushrooms before salting occurs according to the same principle:
- The harvested crop is sorted. Remove old and damaged fruiting bodies.Try to brush away dirt and adhering foliage. If this is difficult to do, the milk mushrooms are poured with water for 2 hours, after which cleaning is repeated.
- Clean and washed fruit bodies are cut into 2, 3 or more pieces, as required by the pickling recipe. Sometimes the cap is simply separated from the leg.Advice! The most delicious salted hats are. In many recipes, the legs of the mushrooms are removed and used to prepare other dishes, such as caviar.
- Even if you use the hot method of salting, the sliced mushrooms must be soaked before boiling. Heat treatment will not get rid of the bitterness. Fruiting bodies are placed in a container of a suitable size, filled with cold salted water. The duration of soaking depends on the quality of the fruit bodies. Better to take your time. If cold salting is provided, then soaking can be extended up to 2-3 days.
- After soaking, the fruit bodies are washed several times and examined. If everything is fine, they are sent for pickling. Further, no preparatory actions are needed if the cold method is chosen. When hot salting is provided, raw milk mushrooms need to be processed by cooking.
To boil the mushrooms, they are placed in a saucepan. Water is poured in such an amount that the bodies float freely. After boiling, simmer for 15 minutes. The cooked product is thrown into a colander, left to drain, and then sent to the pickle.
Processing should be done correctly, otherwise the mushrooms will lose their taste and attractive color.
How to properly peel milk mushrooms before cooking
It must be remembered that milk mushrooms are conditionally edible mushrooms. In their body there is a milky juice that can cause intoxication of the body. After harvesting, you cannot hesitate with processing, regardless of which dish the mushrooms are provided for. If you put your crops in the refrigerator, even for short storage, toxic substances will begin to be absorbed into the body. From a lack of oxygen, pathogenic bacteria will begin to multiply.
Before frying, it is optimal to sort out large and small fruit bodies
To properly clean the milk mushrooms, you need to follow the same steps as for pickling. Mushrooms are cleaned of dirt, washed, soaked. The only difference is the need for cooking. In addition, fruit bodies are optimally sorted by size. It is more convenient to cook small and large specimens separately, since the former will fry or cook faster, while the others will take longer.
Useful Tips
To enjoy the harvested crop, you need to use the advice of experienced mushroom pickers:
- a small knife with a sharp stainless steel blade is used for cleaning;
- you cannot overdo it with soaking, otherwise the fruit bodies will lose their aroma and taste;
- after cleaning and soaking, the milk mushrooms are immediately processed without being sent to storage;
- you cannot use a pan made of copper, cast iron, aluminum for cooking;
- you cannot store mushroom dishes for a long time, especially if they are with potatoes.
If, after cooking or processing, the appearance of the fruit bodies is in doubt, it is better to discard them.
You can partially clean coarse dirt with a knife at the harvesting stage.
Conclusion
Peeling milk mushrooms is no more difficult than other mushrooms. The main thing is to follow the processing rules and not ignore the points of the requirements specified in the recipe.
