How to pickle white milk mushrooms hot for the winter - a simple recipe

Milk mushrooms differ in appearance, but this is not the only difference. Unlike black milk mushrooms, it is better to pickle white milk mushrooms using a hot method. The point is the juiciness of the mushroom. Black milk mushrooms can be salted cold, because they are juicier and there is less fuss with them. White ones are a little drier, and they need to add brine from time to time, or immediately salt them hot.

The most difficult thing about salting white milk mushrooms is cleaning them. These mushrooms grow in mixed forests, emerge after rain, and, as a rule, they are simply covered with dry leaves, moss and other forest debris.

To clean white milk mushrooms, you need to put all the mushrooms in a deep basin and fill them with plenty of cold water. Besides the fact that forest debris can be washed off better with this method, there is another meaning to this. The milky juice in milk mushrooms is quite bitter, and soaking for at least 3 hours is a necessity. Ideally, it is better to soak milk mushrooms for a day and change the water from time to time.

After you have washed and soaked the mushrooms, you need to boil them.

Boil water in a saucepan, add a little salt, and add all the mushrooms to the boiling water. How much milk mushrooms should be cooked is a somewhat incorrect question. After all, different numbers of mushrooms and different sizes affect the cooking time. Be guided by the mushrooms - as soon as they begin to settle to the bottom, you can finish cooking.

Drain the water from the mushrooms, place the milk mushrooms in a colander and rinse under cold running water. While the mushrooms are draining, prepare the brine.

Here we need to say one more difference between white milk mushrooms and black ones. White milk mushrooms themselves are more spicy, pungent, tart and aromatic. They need less spices, or you can even do without them and use only salt. This is a matter of taste, but it is necessary to know about this peculiarity of white milk mushrooms.

Place the milk mushrooms in clean (sterilized) jars, topping them with currant leaves, garlic slices, and black peppercorns. Do not add milk mushrooms to the very top, because you still need to pour brine into the jar. Boil regular drinking water with salt in a saucepan.

For 1 liter of water – 3 tbsp. l. salt (heaped).

You don’t need to cook the brine for a long time, and just boil it and dissolve the salt. Pour the hot brine over the mushrooms and close the jars with plastic lids. If there is any brine left, do not discard it yet. Shake the jars a little to raise air bubbles that could hide between the mushrooms. If necessary, add brine; the milk mushrooms should be completely covered with brine.

That's all, the salting of white milk mushrooms is finished. You can take the jars of pickles to the cellar or pantry, and after a week, take a sample from the mushrooms.

Watch the video on how to pickle white milk mushrooms using the hot method: