Chaga mushroom: rules for collecting and drying birch chaga - harvesting chaga at home

How and when to collect chaga

It is believed that birch chaga can be collected all year round, but in summer this is problematic due to the leafy mass, which makes it difficult to find chaga, and in winter - due to deep snowdrifts. Traditional healers claim that chaga concentrates the maximum amount of useful substances in the spring, before the greenery blooms, or in the autumn, after the leaves have fallen.

Watch the video from the channel “Health - Life!” — Chaga beneficial properties and uses

In order to cut chaga from a tree, you need to arm yourself with a sharp, thick knife or a small hatchet. Useful growths cling quite tightly to the trunk, which makes the procedure for collecting chaga quite labor-intensive.

It is necessary to distinguish the birch mushroom from the pest growth of the tinder fungus. Chaga always has an irregular shape and black color. The tinder fungus has the shape of a hoof and differs from chaga in lighter shades. At the same time, it can be separated from the birch trunk without much effort by hand.

You should not collect chaga from dead trees or growths located close to the ground. It is believed that the most useful product is located as close to the top of the tree as possible.

It is also better to collect chaga in birch groves, and not on lonely growing trees. It is believed that the mushrooms located on birch trees in a “company” contain much more useful substances.

Preparing chaga for drying

The collected raw materials should be prepared as follows:

• pieces of chaga are beaten with a sharp knife, getting rid of the light, loose part that was in contact with the wood;
• using an ax, remove the hard black bark covering the top of the chaga;
• the brown inner part is cut into pieces no larger than 3 - 5 centimeters in diameter.

Watch the video from the “Tactical+” channel about the proper collection, cutting and brewing of birch chaga

How to dry birch mushroom

The main and most correct way to dry chaga is natural, without the use of special heating devices.

The prepared pieces are laid out in a small layer on paper and placed in a dry, well-ventilated room. Also, it is important to protect raw materials from direct sunlight.

In summer, chaga can be dried on verandas or under a canopy, and in winter it can be placed on window sills, protected from the sun, not far from heating radiators. Natural drying time is 2 – 3 weeks.

You can also dry chaga in the oven.Drying time is reduced to 8–10 hours, but the risk of losing some of the nutrients remains. The oven is heated to a maximum temperature of 50 degrees, and the door is kept ajar.

Modern electric dryers can also cope with the task of quickly drying birch chaga. To do this, the unit is heated to a temperature of 40 degrees and the raw materials are dried for 7 - 8 hours, periodically rearranging the trays in places for more uniform drying.

How to store chaga

Dried raw materials can retain their beneficial properties for two years. This is only possible if it is stored correctly. Chaga is placed in paper bags or cardboard boxes. You cannot store medicinal mushrooms in containers with tightly screwed lids, as chaga must “breathe.”