When it comes to "pickling" vegetables or mushrooms, two methods come into question: pickling in vinegar or fermenting the food through lactic acid fermentation. You can try both variants at home with the following recipes.

Mushrooms can be pickled with lactic acid or pickled in vinegar

Mushrooms in lactic acid

In lactic acid fermentation, the mushrooms are stored in the absence of oxygen, which allows the lactic acid bacteria naturally present on their surface to multiply and the mushrooms to ferment. You are free to choose which mushrooms you use, but they should be edible raw, as the mushrooms are not heated when they are pickled in lactic acid.

  1. Clean the mushrooms with a soft cloth or vegetable brush. Cut them into slices or pieces.
  2. Prepare a brine by boiling water and dissolving 20 g of salt per liter in it.
  3. Densely layer the mushrooms in sterile mason jars, add optional condiments like mustard or peppercorns, and baste with the cooled brine.
  4. Place a clean rock on top of the mushrooms to keep them submerged in the liquid.
  5. Seal the jars with new rubber rings and leave the mushrooms at room temperature for about 10 days until the lactic acid fermentation has started.
  6. Then store the jars in a cool, dark place for at least four weeks. When fermentation is complete, the mushrooms will keep for at least a year.

Mushrooms pickled in vinegar

With the following recipe you can preserve edible mushrooms of any kind for several months by pickling them in vinegar. Pickling forest mushrooms in vinegar has a long tradition, especially in Eastern Europe.

  1. Prepare sterile jars (boil out or sterilize in the oven). Jars with screw caps are just as suitable as swing-top jars or classic preserving jars.
  2. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into convenient pieces or slices. Small mushrooms can also remain in one piece.
  3. Boil the mushrooms in salted water for five minutes, after which they strain and pour into the prepared jars.
  4. Prepare a vinegar decoction by mixing one part white wine vinegar with two parts water, lightly salting it, bringing it to the boil and adding spices such as mustard seeds, vinegar seeds, juniper berries and bay leaves. You can also dissolve sugar in it to taste.
  5. Pour the boiling hot broth over the mushrooms and seal the jars immediately. In this way, the mushrooms can be kept for about half a year.
  6. To achieve a longer shelf life, allow the vinegar mixture to cool before pouring it over the mushrooms and sealing the jars. They are then boiled down in the oven at 98 °C for half an hour or in a dripping pan filled with water, so they can be stored for at least a year.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

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Vegetable garden