Fresh mushrooms are not only tasty, but also healthy. They contain many minerals and vitamins necessary for humans. The main task of the cook is to prevent the mushrooms from losing them in the cooking process. Useful tips gathered in this article will help you learn how to clean and cook champignons.

Do I need to clean the champignons

There is a widespread belief that purchased mushrooms do not need to be cleaned: just rinse them with a stream of running water. But real housewives know that sand and soil residues can hide in hard-to-reach places under a hat, therefore, cleaning and washing the fruits is the right decision.

If champignons are in store, the remains of the earth and mycelium on them are minimal. But when they were collected in the forest, the question of their purity should be considered more carefully: plant debris, moss, road dust and dirt easily penetrate the fruit body. To clean fruit bodies well and quickly, it is enough to soak them for 30 minutes in hot water at a temperature of + 60 ° С.

Hats for large specimens are subject to mandatory cleaning.: During the cooking process, the uncleaned peel may become stiff and ruin the dish. If the skin on the hat is not cleaned, then, starting from the extreme base of the hat, use a knife to cut a thin top layer along the entire length. This simple procedure will speed up and simplify the cleaning of old fruit bodies with brown hats.

How to wash champignons

Mushrooms should not be kept under running water for long: both royal and ordinary champignons absorb water better than sponges. In this case, they will lose their taste and richness of the aroma. Be sure to wet the wet fruit bodies well with a napkin or a clean kitchen towel, and also leave them to dry (at least for an hour).

Mushroom champignon

To peel the champignons, prepare:

• a deep bowl;
• sharp knife with a stainless steel blade;
• chopping board;
• dry kitchen napkins;
• damp terry towel (foam sponge);
• flour;
• a small soft brush.

Important! Slight blackouts on a hat of forest mushrooms are often not pollution, but traces of sun exposure. They do not need additional cleaning and try to wash!

Champignons are easy to clean. This instruction will help you step by step to cope with the necessary procedure:

1. Sort large and small champignons.
2. Before cleaning, carefully inspect the fruit. As a rule, fresh specimens have a clean and even cut, so there is no need to cut it further.
3. Cut the film that connects the leg and the hat. At the same time, remove everything that has rotted, including small black spots.
4. Using a soft bristle brush and a damp terry towel (or a regular kitchen sponge), gently brush away any dirt and pieces of soil from the surface of the mushrooms.
5. If the fruits are small and relatively clean, it is easy enough to rub them together.
6. With large fruit bodies, the skin on the hat peels off easily, you just have to touch it, pry it with a knife from the edge and pull it up.
7. For stubborn champignons, remove all dried up and sluggish places so that the taste of the dish does not spoil.
8. Wipe them with a damp sponge or towel.
9. If necessary, hold the mushrooms for a few seconds under a stream of cold water (it is most convenient to use a colander). Blot them with a dry cloth or towel.

If the mushrooms are too dirty and the sand is in hard to reach places, try cleaning them in the following way:

1. In a deep bowl, draw a liter of cool water.
2. Pour 1 tbsp into a bowl. l flour, stir the mixture thoroughly.
3. Dip the mushrooms in flour water and hold them there for 10 minutes. This procedure will help get rid of garbage in the most remote places.
4. Place the washed items on a kitchen towel and let them dry.

Did you know? It is not necessary to remove the dark skin on the hat, the skirt and the brown plates under the hat: these parts are absolutely safe and suitable for food. Some housewives prefer to get rid of them so as not to spoil the aesthetic appearance of the dish.

How to process before cooking

Dried fruits should be cut into slices or quarters for the convenience of subsequent processing. The hat is usually cut into slices, in half or in four parts (depending on the recipe and the size of the fruiting bodies).

When cutting champignons, you need to use a sharp knife: if it is blunt, the pulp of the fruit body will not be cut, but crushed. There is also a risk along with the skin to damage the edible part

If the mushrooms are pre-cooked, they can be stored for much longer.by adding as a semi-finished product to food during cooking or baking, for example, in soups, fries or vegetable stew.

Before adding other ingredients, mushrooms must be separately fried in a pan: this will help remove moisture and get the most intense taste. The fried product will be an excellent filling for pizza, rolls and pies.

Did you know?Chefs cut champignons into thin strips not on a whim. This treatment reveals the taste of mushrooms and enhances their smell during cooking, frying and baking!

For winter spins

For pickling, use small champignons: they are convenient to put in jars, because the marinade easily soaks the fruits of a small volume. For preservation, it is permissible to choose both small and medium champignons. The main thing is that they should not be damaged or deformed.

For preservation when harvesting champignons for the winter, use a simple, but proven by experience recipe:

1. Rinse the mushrooms thoroughly.
2. Soak them for 10 minutes. in cold saline with citric acid. Observe the following proportions when preparing the solution: 2 g of acid, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 liter of water. This step will protect the mushrooms from darkening.
3. Put a pot of water on the fire. When it boils, add salt (1–1.5 tablespoons of salt per 1 kg of mushrooms) and wait for the water to boil again. Be sure to remove the foam as soon as the mushrooms boil. Cooking for 10 minutes is enough to process the mushrooms before canning.
4. Transfer the mushrooms from the pan to a colander, cool.
5. While the mushrooms cool, cook the marinade. In salt water, in which mushrooms were boiled, add 1 tbsp. sugar per 1 liter of water, as well as spices to taste (you can without them) and boil for another 5 minutes. Then add vinegar (20 ml per 1 liter of water).
6. Prepare jars with lids for preservation, sterilize them for at least 20 minutes.
7. Fill the container so that 80% of the volume is occupied by mushrooms.
8. Pour the mushrooms with hot marinade, cover and roll.
9. It is not necessary to cover and turn over banks of mushrooms. Store preservation in a cool, dark place.

For drying

Fortunately, the many-day old-fashioned ways of drying mushrooms on strings are a thing of the past. Now only an hour is enough to dry a kilogram of fresh fruit with a microwave. Remember that the yield of dried champignons will be only 1 kg of 10 kg of fresh fruit.

You should stick to this recipe:

1. To prevent mushrooms from absorbing excess water from the air during the drying process, place them in a deep bowl, sprinkle with two tablespoons of flour on top and leave for 10-15 minutes. Flour is a good absorbent, so it quickly absorbs excess moisture.
2. With a knife, remove the top peel on the hat directly with flour.
3. Cut off the windward edge of the stalk.
4. With the tip of a knife, go over the plates of the hat.
5. After cleaning, the champignon is dry and clean, so there is no longer any need to wash it under running water.
6. Cut the mushrooms into plates up to 0.5 cm thick.
7. Cover the glass microwave with thick paper or parchment.
8. Lay out the mushrooms so that they do not touch each other, evenly on paper.
9. Turn on the microwave for 20 minutes at 180 watts.
10. Open the microwave lid for 5–7 minutes without removing the mushrooms. This will remove excess moisture from the door and the walls of the microwave.
11. Re-enable the microwave for 20 minutes. Remove the ready-made dried mushrooms and load the next batch in the microwave.

Video: Drying champignons in an electric dryer

How to handle raw foods

The French gave us not only a lot of delicious recipes for their cuisine, but also the fashion for the use of champignons in their raw form. To do this, fresh mushrooms should be processed in a special way:

1. Scrape off the skin from the cap and the top layer from the mushroom legs. The skirt and plates in this case must be removed.
2. Trim the mushroom leg 0.5 cm from the edge to remove possible contamination.
3. Immerse the mushrooms in hot water for 2 minutes (about + 60 ° C). This will help destroy harmful microorganisms.
4. To further disinfect the product, soak the mushrooms in apple or wine vinegar.
5. The addition of olive oil will enhance their taste and extend shelf life. Champignons ready to eat.

When to clean and process mushrooms: before cooking or in advance

Peeled mushrooms can not be stored for a long time, therefore, they must be processed and cut immediately before cooking. In extreme cases, you can simply fry or cook them: in this form they can be stored for 7 days.

A freezer will help extend the life of freshly peeled mushrooms. You need to freeze the washed, dried mushrooms (plates or whole). The main storage condition is the dryness of mushrooms prepared for freezing and the tightness of the bag. They can be stored in this form for a year at a temperature of –18 ° С. You can also buy ready-made frozen and chopped mushrooms: their cost will not exceed the price of fresh ones.

Storage Features

If it is not possible to cook mushrooms immediately, place the sliced ​​workpiece in a plastic container or glass dish with low sides. To store mushrooms in this way can be no more than a day. In this case, the product should be tightly closed with a lid or wrapped with cling film. This will help to avoid darkening of the mushrooms.

Important! If you add a couple drops of lemon juice to the peeled mushrooms, they will not darken during storage and will keep fresh!

Do not add mushrooms to the dish if mold appears on them during storage. You can understand that the champignons are spoiled by a soft, slippery leg or hat. Do not try to resuscitate them, but immediately throw away such mushrooms. Do not keep peeled mushrooms in the refrigerator for too long. Before cooking with standing mushrooms, it is necessary to shorten the leg by 2 mm.

No matter how many mushroom food recipes exist, one cannot do without cleaning and processing champignons. How to carry out the preparation before cooking correctly, you are now aware.