How to salt milk mushrooms for the winter using cold and hot methods? How to properly collect and pickle milk mushrooms - several proven methods

Autumn is a great time for picking mushrooms. Frequent rains and still warm weather promote their growth. How many different mushrooms can you find in the forest: chanterelles, honey mushrooms, boletus mushrooms, milk mushrooms. There are only several types of milk mushrooms: white, yellow and black. White and yellow are easy to recognize, they have a light shade, but what does black look like? It is much darker in color, ranging from dirty olive to black-brown. In addition to the shade of the caps, milk mushrooms also differ in the presence of fibers around the cap. The caps themselves in young species are curved down; the older the mushroom, the larger the cone-shaped depression appears in the center. Black milk mushrooms grow in groups. Raw black milk mushrooms are eaten only when salted or after a long soaking.

How to pickle white milk mushrooms for the winter?

There are many recipes for pickling milk mushrooms at home, but there are two main ones: with boiling or “hot” pickling and without – “cold”.

What is needed to pickle mushrooms for the winter:

• Milk mushrooms, any kind - black, white, yellow;
• Coarse salt.
• Depending on your taste preferences, you can add:
• Peppercorns;
• Carnation;
• Horseradish leaves;
• Black currant leaves;
• Bay leaf.

Before pickling mushrooms, they need to be properly collected. It is better to collect them in forests located away from highways and industrial buildings. For pickling, it is better to choose familiar, young and non-wormy species.

Don't put off processing them for too long. The optimal solution is to carry out processing immediately after harvesting. Leaves and dirt need to be removed from the mushrooms. After cleaning the mushrooms, they should be thoroughly washed in clean water several times. Heavily contaminated mushrooms should be soaked for several hours. The dirt will come off much easier. And finally, rinse in running water.

“Hot” recipe for pickling milk mushrooms

Freshly cut raw milk mushrooms have a bitter taste. Bitterness can be removed with coarse salt. In addition, it perfectly absorbs excess moisture. For the best effect when pickling mushrooms for the winter, it is better to place them under pressure.

Where do you start salting milk mushrooms using the hot method at home? Of course, from boiling. To do this, place mushrooms in a pan, no more than half its volume. They need to be boiled in brine, in the proportions of one level tablespoon of salt per five-liter pan with mushrooms. After the water boils, foamy scale will begin to appear. It needs to be cleaned constantly. The milk mushrooms cook quickly, after boiling for another 10 minutes.

Mushrooms should not be cooked for a long time, otherwise they will become boiled, so after the allotted time, they must be drained through a colander and allowed to cool slightly.

While they are cooling, you need to pick up a pan and plates or a lid for pickling. The latter are necessary for oppression. How to choose the right pressure? It should be slightly smaller than the diameter of the pan. It is better to choose an enameled pan.

The dishes have been selected, the mushrooms have cooled, it’s time to start pickling. Horseradish or currant leaves, dill, and peppercorns are placed on the bottom of the pan. How many? It's a matter of taste, go by it. But you definitely need to add salt. First, a layer of pre-boiled milk mushrooms is placed, caps down, followed by a layer of salt. Its quantity depends on how long the milk mushrooms will be stored. If you plan to use them within several months, then add less salt. If you plan to store the mushrooms all winter, then it is better to add more salt. Before use, soak in cool water.

After all the mushrooms are laid in layers, horseradish or black currant leaves are placed on top.

But you also need to place mushrooms in jars correctly. First you need to thoroughly wash and sterilize them. The drained brine should be brought to a boil and cooked for several minutes. Place milk mushrooms in a jar. They must be completely in brine, otherwise mold may appear over the winter. To avoid this, you can add a little vegetable oil.

It must be remembered that when storing milk mushrooms in the refrigerator, the brine increases in volume. Therefore, at first you need to place plates under the jars or place them in a plastic bag.

The recipe for hot pickling of milk mushrooms is simple, but it turns out very tasty. You can eat such mushrooms within a week. But you cannot store an open jar for a long time, and the mushrooms in it should always be in brine.

How to pickle milk mushrooms in a cold way?

Cold pickling of mushrooms for the winter implies the absence of heat treatment, that is, there is no need to cook them. But this method differs in the time of salting; it lasts for one or two months at a temperature not exceeding 10 degrees.

The preparatory stage is the same as when salting milk mushrooms using the hot method: the mushrooms are cleaned, washed, and only whole and unspoiled ones are selected.

On the bottom of an enamel pan, add bay leaves, allspice, dill, garlic, horseradish roots and leaves, cloves, cumin, black currant twigs and leaves, and cherry leaves to taste. You should not add a large amount of spices; they can overwhelm the taste of the mushrooms.

Next, the mushrooms are laid out with their caps facing up. Each layer is sprinkled with coarse table salt. How much salt should I add? Approximately 40-50 grams per kilogram of milk mushrooms. A clean non-synthetic cloth is placed on top, a plate or lid is placed on it, and pressure is applied. If milk mushrooms are salted in jars, the pressure can be a bottle or several plastic bags of water nested inside each other. The juice secreted by milk mushrooms under pressure increases every day, and the mushrooms, on the contrary, settle. Raw, dry mushrooms can be added in layers to the same container until it is full.

There is another way to cold-salt milk mushrooms at home. With it, every few layers are again sprinkled with spices and salt. When all the milk mushrooms are placed in the pan, cooled boiled water is poured. A circle is placed on top and oppression is laid. The brine should completely cover the mushrooms. When they settle, you can add fresh ones. After the container is completely filled, it is tightly closed and placed in a cool place.

How many different recipes for dishes with salted milk mushrooms. They can be served as a separate dish, with unrefined sunflower oil or with sour cream and onions and boiled potatoes. Or you can fry them or add them to soup. In any form they are very tasty.

Therefore, stock them up for the winter for future use. Don't miss the moment of mushroom picking.

And Bon Appetit!

Milk mushrooms are best suited for pickling. They not only look attractive, but also taste delicious. There are several variations of such blanks. Even before salting milk mushrooms, you need to familiarize yourself with all the recipes and choose the most suitable one. By following the recipe exactly, you will be able to prepare crispy and aromatic mushrooms that can decorate any table.

Milk mushrooms are best suited for pickling

Milk mushrooms, like most other mushrooms, can be pickled not only hot, but also cold. If the first option allows you to speed up the salting process, then in the second case the mushrooms remain as crunchy as possible, which is also important.

This cooking method ensures the safety of the product even at room temperature. That is why housewives, despite certain difficulties, often resort to using this recipe.

Required Products:

• 2 kg of milk mushrooms;
• 80 g salt;
• 2 liters of water;
• 50 g garlic;
• 10 g allspice;
• 5 g cloves;
• 5 g bay leaves.

Cooking steps:

1. Water must be poured into a saucepan, add salt and spices, and heat on the stove.
2. The mushrooms should be sorted out, washed well and added to the same pan and boiled.
3. After boiling, they need to be cooked for another 25 minutes, remembering to skim off the foam.
4. The garlic must be peeled, finely chopped and poured into the pan after it is removed from the stove.
5. Boiled milk mushrooms should be placed in another pan, pour brine into it and put under pressure, move to a cool place for 24 hours.
6. After this, the mushrooms along with the brine need to be boiled and placed in sterile, already dry jars, filled to the top with brine, and sealed tightly.

Wrap the mushrooms in jars and store them in a pantry or cellar after cooling.

Cold salting method

You can quickly salt freshly picked milk mushrooms thanks to this recipe. They will not only be flavorful, but also crispy. The most difficult thing is to wait until the mushrooms are ready, because you really want to take a sample quickly.

Milk mushrooms occupied an important place in traditional Russian cuisine, although throughout the world they are considered inedible. They were used to prepare salads, appetizers, soups and pies. To preserve mushrooms for the winter, they were most often pickled. These mushrooms have a rather unusual taste. In addition, they are healthy because they contain protein.

Dry milk mushroom

The breast has a large funnel-shaped cap. Dry milk mushroom differs from its relatives in that it lacks the milky juice characteristic of other species.

These mushrooms are fried, boiled, baked, but pickling reveals their taste best. Salting can be done in two ways - cold and hot. There should not be a long gap between picking mushrooms and processing them; it is best to deal with them right away.

Preparation

Salting dry milk mushrooms begins with the process of cleaning them. This stage is the most difficult. You will need a dish sponge and a scrap toothbrush. First of all, the soil and foliage are washed off the mushrooms. After this, you need to change the water and do more thorough cleaning. To do this, you need to go through all the dark places with a sponge or brush, constantly changing the water. In addition, it is important to get rid of all darkening and rot.

Soaking

You can choose any recipe for pickling dry milk mushrooms. But in any case, you can’t do without soaking. Place the mushrooms, caps down, in a suitable container and fill with cold water. They must be kept there for at least three days. In this case, the water should cover them completely, for which you can use a small press. At the very end of soaking, the water needs to be slightly salted.

You can determine the correct soaking of milk mushrooms using the folk method. You need to take a piece of mushroom, cut it and try the cut on your tongue. If the mushroom is properly soaked, it will not taste bitter.

Hot salting

Hot salting of dry milk mushrooms makes them soft, without a characteristic crunch. But this method of salting helps preserve the original shape of the mushroom and its color.

Fresh milk mushrooms are cleaned of debris, washed in water, changing it several times. After preliminary preparation, boil the mushrooms for 20 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to place them in a wide bowl.

For pickling, you need to prepare a brine, for which you take 2 tbsp per 1 liter of water. l. salt, black and allspice (10 peas each), several bay leaves, currant leaves.

Boiled mushrooms are dipped into boiling brine using a slotted spoon and cooked for about half an hour. Then horseradish root and a head of garlic are added.

After the pan is removed from the heat, you need to put pressure on the mushrooms and leave them like that for 3-4 days, then put them in jars, cover with cabbage leaves on top and seal with lids. The mushrooms will be ready in a month.

Hot salting of dry milk mushrooms in jars for the winter

For a kilogram of milk mushrooms you need to take 3-4 cloves of garlic, two tablespoons of salt, 10 black peppercorns, 10 blackcurrant leaves, dill.

Hot salting of dry milk mushrooms for the winter begins with their preparation. Thoroughly washed mushrooms are placed in boiling salted water and cooked for five minutes. Mushrooms that are too large can be pre-cut into pieces.

The jars are sterilized, a small amount of salt is poured onto the bottom, and two peppercorns are added. A little salt, 2 peppercorns, dill, blackcurrant leaf are poured into the bottom of a sterilized jar, then the mushrooms are placed tightly in layers, sprinkling each with salt and spices. Pour in the water in which the milk mushrooms were boiled. The jars are closed with boiled plastic lids. After they have cooled, put them in the refrigerator. You can try in a month and a half.

Cold Ambassador

Salting dry milk mushrooms in a cold way is a little more complicated. The mushrooms are thoroughly cleaned and washed, cut into slices and placed in a suitable container. Fill with running water and place under pressure for three to five days. The water is changed every day.

After the specified period, the mushrooms are removed and sprinkled with salt. Then they are laid out in a salting dish in layers with salt, adding horseradish and garlic. The dish is covered with gauze, on which they lay it out. This is used to prevent the mushrooms from becoming dark. The milk mushrooms are placed under pressure; they must be completely covered with brine. After a month, the mushrooms are transferred to sterile jars and filled with brine. Salting dry milk mushrooms in a cold way makes the mushroom more aromatic and juicy. In addition, after this treatment it will remain clean and snow-white.

Salting in a barrel

Consider a recipe for pickling dry milk mushrooms in a barrel. For ten kilograms of mushrooms, take 0.5 kg of salt, garlic (4-5 heads), dill stems, horseradish, cherry and currant leaves. In addition, sterile gauze is needed to cover the barrel, the circle of wood and the oppression.

After soaking and washing the milk mushrooms, place them in a barrel. The mushrooms are sprinkled with salt, spices and leaves are added, and the top is covered with horseradish leaves. Sterile gauze is laid out on top of the barrel, on which a wooden circle is placed and pressed. If not enough brine is released, you need to select a heavier pressure. The mushrooms are infused in the cellar for about a month, after which they can be tasted. If necessary, the salting period can be extended.

If a layer of mold appears on the surface of the barrel, it must be removed entirely, the gauze must be changed, and the circle and pressure must be sterilized.

Pickling in a jar

Pickling dry milk mushrooms for the winter in a jar is not much different from pickling in a barrel. The mushrooms are thoroughly washed and placed in an enamel pan, filled with water. A wooden circle or plate is placed on top, on which oppression is placed. The oppression should not be too heavy. The dishes with mushrooms are put in a cool place. The mushrooms are soaked for three days, the water must be constantly changed.

After the specified period, the mushrooms are sorted and cut, if necessary. Glass jars for pickling are thoroughly washed and doused with boiling water. It is best if the jar has a wide neck.

The milk mushrooms are laid in layers, rubbing each mushroom with salt. To avoid oversalting the mushrooms, the amount of salt should be about three percent of the weight of the mushrooms. If there is too much salt, the mushrooms will have to be washed before eating.

Layers of mushrooms are layered with horseradish and garlic. On top of the last layer of mushrooms, place a clean, coarse cloth folded in half, with a horseradish leaf, cherry and currant leaves on it. Then they put a circle and put pressure on it.

Containers with milk mushrooms should be stored in a cool place for a month. After the pickling time has passed, take the greens and cloth out of the jars, cover them with lids and put them in the refrigerator. If the top layer of mushrooms becomes moldy, they must be washed with running water.

So that pickling dry milk mushrooms for the winter does not turn out to be a failed experiment, you need to choose the right dishes. You can use a wooden, glass or stainless steel container, which must first be thoroughly washed. For pickling, use large ones. When sending milk mushrooms for pickling, it is advisable to place them with their caps down. At the same time, the shape of the mushroom is preserved.

If the salting of dry milk mushrooms was a little unsuccessful and the mushrooms turned out to be over-salted, they are soaked in milk, while the delicate structure of the mushroom is preserved. Take the required amount of mushrooms and place them in milk for two to three hours. If this was not enough, the procedure can be repeated using fresh milk. You should not be alarmed by the purple or green tint that the milk mushroom may acquire; this is due to a chemical reaction. Mushrooms soaked in milk are washed with running water. When soaked in water, the mushroom may lose its consistency, in addition, this negatively affects their taste.

Pickling dry milk mushrooms is a great way to preserve mushrooms for the winter. Milk mushrooms, salted in any way, can be added to soups and salads. You can also serve it as a snack by adding onions and sunflower oil.

How to pickle milk mushrooms at home - hot and cold methods of pickling

Milk mushrooms, although they are classified as conditionally edible mushrooms, are in fact a delicious delicacy that is not a shame to put even on the holiday table. You just need to be able to correctly distinguish, collect and prepare them.

The most favorite mushroom pickers and remarkable in taste are white milk mushrooms (aka raw, aka real) and black (gypsy, nigella). These are lamellar, rather large mushrooms with dense (“fleshy”) brittle flesh, fundamentally differing only in the color of the cap with pubescent edges curved inward - its color varies from yellowish-white to dark brown. Both species are found in deciduous and mixed forests, hide in moss or grass, love bright places, and usually “live” in groups.

How to salt milk mushrooms for the winter

Their collection season begins in mid-summer and ends only at the end of September. And then the most interesting part begins - salting and marinating milk mushrooms. They won’t go into soup or into a frying pan fresh because of the acrid, bitter milky juice, but canned in a tub or jar to delight gourmets on cold winter days – for a sweet soul. White and black milk mushrooms are salted exactly the same.

FACT! In addition to white and black milk mushrooms, their “relatives” are also used for pickling - oak and aspen milk mushrooms, podgruzdi, and volnushki. They can be salted together with milk mushrooms or separately.

Today we will present to you the most popular, simple, quick and delicious ways to pickle milk mushrooms so that they remain tasty, crispy and aromatic. Write down how to properly salt milk mushrooms for the winter!

Soaking and boiling milk mushrooms before salting

Let’s make a reservation right away - before cooking, all milk mushrooms need to be thoroughly cleaned, washed, cut off the legs (they don’t go into pickling, only the caps with “stumps” about 1 cm long), and then long-term soaking (2-5 days) or boiling ( 5-30 minutes). The last two procedures are designed to cleanse mushrooms of the poisonous milky juice, which gives them bitterness.

Soaking milk mushrooms is used before cold salting, boiling is part of hot salting.

Soak the milk mushrooms in cold salted water (1 tablespoon of salt per 1 liter of water) under slight pressure, otherwise the light mushrooms will float to the surface. It is recommended to change the water several times during soaking - the foam that forms on the surface of the water will “tell you” about the need for this process.

After several days, when the soaking process is over, the milk mushrooms will greatly decrease in size. Before further salting, you can try a cut of the mushroom on your tongue - there should be no bitterness left in it.

IMPORTANT! Wooden, glass and enamel dishes are suitable for soaking and subsequent salting of milk mushrooms. It is not recommended to use galvanized and clay dishes.

Boiling milk mushrooms is part of the hot pickling method; depending on the recipe, it takes from a few minutes to half an hour (see below). Afterwards, the water is drained, and the mushrooms are washed in cold water and placed in a colander.

In addition, there is a mixed method of pickling - both with soaking and blanching of milk mushrooms.

After salting, milk mushrooms are stored in brine in the cold (0-5 °C), but under no circumstances are they frozen. If the amount of brine is insufficient, add cold boiled water.

There are two radically different ways to deliciously pickle milk mushrooms - cold and hot. In the first case, the mushrooms turn out to be more elastic and crunchy and do not change their color. The second method is considered safer (remember, these mushrooms are conditionally edible), plus pickling is much faster.

Both methods, in turn, have different variations in recipes, consisting in the duration of processing of mushrooms and a set of spices. We offer you step-by-step recipes for pickling milk mushrooms at home.

The easiest cold way to salt milk mushrooms

Ingredients: 5 kg of fresh milk mushrooms, 0.3 kg of coarse salt (not iodized!).

Salting process

Cleaned and soaked mushroom caps (large ones are cut into pieces, small ones are left whole) are placed in a deep container in layers, and each layer is generously sprinkled with salt. After laying out the layers, a pressure circle is placed on the salted mushroom mass and a heavy load is placed, which should “compress” the milk mushrooms as much as possible. Place the container in a cool place (up to 16°C).

Before serving, milk mushrooms salted in this way must be rinsed to remove any possible excess salt.

How to salt milk mushrooms with spices (cold classic method)

Ingredients: 5 kg of fresh milk mushrooms, 0.2 kg of coarse salt (not iodized!), cherry and black currant leaves (20 pcs.), dill umbrellas (5 pcs.), horseradish leaves (5 pcs.), black pepper and allspice peas ( 10 pcs.), bay leaf (5 pcs.).

Salting process

Cherry, horseradish and currant leaves and some dill umbrellas are placed at the bottom of a deep container. Spices are mixed. Then pieces and small caps of peeled and soaked mushrooms are placed in this container in layers of 5-10 cm, and each layer is generously sprinkled with a mixture of spices. The top is covered with another layer of leaves. Then a pressure circle is placed on the mushroom mass and a heavy load is placed, which should “compress” the milk mushrooms as much as possible. Place the container in a cool place (up to 15°C).

The mushrooms can be left in this container for the entire pickling period (at least 1.5 months), or after a few days they can be mixed and placed very tightly, without voids, in sterilized glass jars, which should be closed with lids and left in the same cool room until end of the process.

IMPORTANT! If mold appears on a wooden pressure wheel, gauze or the walls of the dishes during storage or salting, they are washed with hot salted water.

How to salt milk mushrooms in a barrel (in Altai, cold method)

Ingredients: 5 kg of fresh milk mushrooms, 0.2 kg of coarse salt (not iodized!), 5 bay leaves, 20 g of garlic, 20 g of dill, 10 g of horseradish, 20 g of allspice, 5 pcs. carnations.

Salting process

A wooden barrel (preferably oak) is prepared - it is thoroughly cleaned inside and out, scalded with boiling water and dried. All spices are mixed. Pieces and small caps of peeled and soaked mushrooms are placed in a barrel in layers, and each layer is generously sprinkled with a mixture of spices. The top layer is covered with gauze (cotton fabric), a pressing circle is placed on it and a heavy load is placed, which should “compress” the milk mushrooms as much as possible. Place the container in a cool place (up to 16°C).

If the process goes well, after a couple of days the pressure circle should be covered with juice. If this does not happen, the load should be replaced with a heavier one. If the barrel is not filled to the top, you can add new mushrooms collected and processed as described above within 3 days.

Milk mushrooms are salted in this way for about 1.5 months.

Ingredients: 5 kg of fresh milk mushrooms, 0.1 kg of salt (not iodized!), 5 bay leaves, 10 cherry and currant leaves each, 2 heads of garlic, 20 g of dill, 20 g of allspice and black peppercorns, 5 pcs. carnations.

Salting process

Peeled and chopped milk mushrooms are boiled in salted water for at least half an hour, then the mushrooms are thrown into a colander to drain off excess liquid. During this time, a brine is prepared in another container - spices (except garlic and leaves) are poured with water and brought to a boil. After boiling, add boiled milk mushrooms and cook everything together for about half an hour. At the end of cooking, add garlic cloves and berry leaves, carefully mixing them into the mushroom mixture.

Mushrooms, drenched in the brine in which they were boiled, are placed under oppression for 3-5 days and placed in a cool place. After this, place the mushrooms in sterilized glass jars (adding 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to each top), close them with lids and leave them in the same cool room until the end of the process, which will take about 2-3 weeks.

ON A NOTE! Some housewives, before putting the milk mushrooms into jars, boil them again in brine for about 5 minutes and roll them up hot.

How to salt milk mushrooms with soaking and boiling (mixed method)

Ingredients: 5 kg of fresh milk mushrooms, 100 ml of vegetable oil, 0.2 kg of coarse salt (not iodized!), black currant leaves (20 pcs.), black pepper and allspice peas (10 pcs each), bay leaf (5 pcs.) .

Salting process

Peeled mushrooms are cut and soaked in cold salted water for one and a half days. Then the milk mushrooms are washed under running cold water, blanched in boiling water with vegetable oil for 5-7 minutes, and placed in a colander to drain excess liquid. Spices are mixed. Then the pieces and small caps of the prepared mushrooms are tightly placed in sterilized glass jars in layers of 5-10 cm, interspersed with leaves and sprinkled with a mixture of spices (you can add a little brine in which the milk mushrooms were boiled). Afterwards, oppression is applied and the jars are sent to a cool place for 12-20 hours. Then the jars are covered with lids and placed in the refrigerator. Milk mushrooms salted in this way will be ready in 1-1.5 months.

Ingredients: 5 kg of fresh milk mushrooms, 0.2 kg of salt (not iodized!), 1 kg of onions.

Salting process

Peeled mushrooms are cut and soaked in cold water for 2-3 days. Then prepare a brine (50 g of salt per 4 liters of water), into which the mushrooms are sent for another 12 hours. After this, the milk mushrooms are taken out, washed in running water and lightly dried. Now it’s the turn of the onion. It is finely chopped, sprinkled with the remaining salt and added to the mushrooms. All together again put under the press for 2 days, stirring the contents every 7-10 hours.

Then the mushrooms are tightly placed in sterilized jars, filled with brine, covered with plastic lids and stored in the refrigerator. Milk mushrooms with onions salted in this way will be ready in 1-1.5 months.

Salted milk mushrooms are a wonderful appetizer that is appreciated by many. Why buy canned milk in the store when you can pickle milk mushrooms at home to your liking? Do you have any favorite mushroom recipes?Add to my selection

How to properly collect and pickle milk mushrooms - several proven methods

Collecting milk mushrooms is a pleasure for both beginner and experienced mushroom pickers. This is because they grow in large groups. In our country you can find several types of these mushrooms: real (raw), black, yellow, aspen and pepper.

How to collect milk mushrooms

These mushrooms cannot be confused with any other. However, milk mushrooms have several doubles and imitators. They differ in color and so-called hairy patches along the edges of the cap. As a rule, they are not as luxurious as those of the real milk mushroom. Tight, fragile loads, for example, are just pretending. They have a smooth and dry head, without hair and not so fragrant. A real milk mushroom produces the finest beads of sticky, honey-like, pungent-smelling juice. It sparkles on the curved eyelashes of the plates.

The first place in terms of aroma and taste is rightfully occupied by real or raw milk mushrooms. It has a creamy yellow or white cap. On it, in turn, there are slightly watery places. On the folded edges you can see the edge. The milky juice is white; in air it turns yellow-sulfur. You need to look for real milk mushrooms in pine, birch and birch forests from Europe to Siberia. The yellow mushroom is located in spruce-fir and simple spruce forests. The cap of this mushroom grows in diameter from 5 to 15 centimeters. You can find such milk mushrooms in the Far East and Europe. By the way, the mushroom is conditionally edible. It is eaten only in salted form.

In August, the real hunt for black milk mushrooms begins. It can be found in birch and mixed forests. It differs from its relatives in size. The cap of the large black milk mushroom can grow up to 20 centimeters in diameter. It is fleshy and dense, brown, almost black in color. Black milk mushrooms are first boiled and then salted. Almost simultaneously with the black milk mushroom, the aspen milk mushroom begins to grow. It appears in August-September in damp aspen forests. Its difference: a whitish cap with brownish or reddish spots. Pepper milk mushroom got its name for a reason. They can be used as a substitute for seasoning. This mushroom can be dried, crushed and seasoned with all kinds of dishes, like mustard. Of course, most often you can stumble upon a raw milk mushroom. If there are frequent but not heavy rains in the summer, then you need to wait for the harvest of milk mushrooms. You can go on a quiet mushroom hunt in early September. There are two main ways to pickle milk mushrooms. Let's look at both.

Cold salting of milk mushrooms

First, you need to prepare the mushrooms. If you decide to use the cold salting method, then at the preparation stage the milk mushrooms need to be soaked in water. This is necessary in order to get rid of the bitterness in these mushrooms. First of all, you need to thoroughly wash the mushrooms, clean each one of dirt, leaves and soil, and also cut off the wormy parts. Very often, mushroom pickers cut off the legs of milk mushrooms. By the way, they can be eaten separately. For example, fry. After the milk mushrooms are washed clean, they need to be placed in a spacious container (where you will soak the mushrooms) with the caps down. There is no need to waste time on this event. You need to soak milk mushrooms for 2-3 days. In this case, the water should be changed every day or even twice a day.

Grandma's recipe

For cold pickling, you should learn the following formula: you need to take 4 percent of the salt from the total weight of the mushrooms. In other words, for one kilogram of soaked milk mushrooms we store 40 grams of salt. Traditionally, wooden (preferably oak) barrels are used for pickling mushrooms. But if you plan to pickle a small amount of milk mushrooms, then an ordinary glass jar will do. And the main thing here is to arrange the mushrooms correctly. At the very bottom of our container we pour a layer of salt, then add currant, horseradish, cherry leaves for flavor, as well as chopped garlic cloves (1-2 cloves are enough), even dill stems, preferably with the tops. Place mushrooms on top of the greens. Attention! Hats down. And then sprinkle black pepper on top (2-3 peas per layer is enough) and salt. For a piquant taste and if desired, you can add a bay leaf to the jar with the future delicacy. Next we make another layer. That is, we repeat the entire procedure described above again. And so on until the jar is filled to the brim. The mushrooms are covered with cherry and currant leaves on top.

Next, place a lid on the mushrooms (preferably smaller than the neck of the jar) or a plate (if you did not use a jar as a container, but a wider dish). We put a load on top. For example, a container of water, a weight, or another fairly heavy object can serve as it.

After everything is packed, we place the container in the basement or refrigerator. You can taste the most delicious salted mushrooms in just a month or a month and a half. This method is suitable for different types of milk mushrooms. How to salt milk mushrooms, cold or hot, is up to the housewife to decide.

Hot salting of milk mushrooms

This method of salting milk mushrooms will take much less time. It is usually used if there are no conditions for soaking mushrooms or, for example, in hot weather, when it is necessary to process mushrooms as soon as possible. There are two ways to boil mushrooms. And which one to resort to will be best shown by the number of mushrooms. If you have a few mushrooms at your disposal, you can boil them in portions. And each portion must be placed in new water so that the bitterness is completely removed from the mushrooms. Cooking should take at least 20 minutes. After this, the mushrooms should be washed in cold water, then drained in a colander or sieve, and then placed in a container, sprinkled with salt. As in the previous method, you will need about 40-50 grams of salt per kilogram of mushrooms.

The mushrooms must be seasoned with onions, horseradish, garlic and dill, and the container must be covered on top and a weight placed on the lid. The dish only needs to be kept in the cold for 6-8 days. After this, the hot-salted milk mushrooms can be served.

But if there are a large number of milk mushrooms, they must be placed in mesh containers, which are most often used for blanching and are made of stainless steel, and boiled in them for 15-20 minutes in salted water.

Foam will form during cooking. Don't forget to remove it regularly. Place the boiled mushrooms on a wire rack and let the water drain. Then the milk mushrooms should be salted in the same way as described in the cold salting method. It is only necessary to add 6 percent of salt from the total weight of the prepared milk mushrooms. In this case, the milk mushrooms will be salted only after 20-25 days. This method is better for salting black milk mushrooms.