Dried chaga helps treat cancer, diabetes, stomach ailments, infections, psoriasis, and dozens of other diseases. The mushroom strengthens the immune system, increases mental activity and body tone. Collect properly and dry at home. It costs at least 80 rubles per 100 g with no guarantee of freshness and quality. But a valuable medicine can be collected and dried by yourself. We will talk about this in this article.
Correct collection of chaga
Chaga can be found in mixed forests or birch groves. It is a parasitic fungus that lives on the trunks of deciduous trees and feeds on their cell sap. However, only the birch species has medicinal properties.
Raw materials are collected at any time of the year.
It is more convenient to harvest when there is no dense foliage, which complicates the search for mushrooms.
There is an opinion that during the spring sap flow and the preparation of birch for winter, mushrooms absorb the maximum amount of nutrients. Therefore, the main preparations for chaga are made in autumn and spring.
Collection rules:
- Environmental friendliness. Mushrooms quickly accumulate toxic substances: radionuclides, heavy metals, etc. Therefore, chaga cannot be collected in forests located near industrial enterprises, factories and motorways.
- Choice. Chaga, cut from live or freshly cut trees, has good qualities. Do not pick mushrooms that are dry or close to the ground. The amount of nutrients in them is greatly reduced.
- Cut. Mushrooms are chopped down with an ax, cut with a sharp knife or saw at the base. They are immediately cleaned of birch bark, pieces of wood, cobwebs and insects.
Chaga is often confused with tinder fungus, which also grows on birch trees. The tinder fungus has a hoof-like shape, the mushroom has a velvety or smooth surface of a light shade. Always oval or round in shape with a dark surface, numerous tubercles and cracks.
Why you need to dry the mushroom
The healing properties of chaga are due to the content of: melanin, betulin, sterols, carboxylic acids, phenols, amino acids, flavonoids, micro- and macroelements.
In the cut mushroom, enzymatic and oxidative reactions are accelerated. Raw materials quickly lose nutrients, darken and can become moldy. Therefore, it needs to be processed faster.
For this, various methods of drying are used. This is a complex biochemical process during which moisture evaporates from the mushroom under the influence of high temperature. Can dry out naturally.
You can't dry it anyhow.
For the preservation of the main active substances, the temperature should not exceed 40 ° C, and in order for moisture to evaporate, the relative humidity of the air should not be more than 55 percent.
Raw materials are cleaned before drying. With a sharp knife, remove the dark bark, birch particles, a light loose base at the place where the mushroom adheres to the tree trunk. The result should be a hard and tawny piece of raw material. It is cut into small pieces 5-6 cm in diameter.
Since the mushroom is very hard, it cracks when pierced. Therefore, it will not work to dry it on a thread in a suspended state. Chaga is dried only unfolded.
Methods for drying birch mushroom
According to the requirements of the pharmacopoeia, the residual moisture in chaga after drying should not exceed 14%. It is difficult to control this indicator at home. At an average temperature of 40 ° C and low humidity, drying will take 7-10 hours. Since the time spread is large, it is better to focus on the external signs of chaga. Well-dried pieces are wrinkled, black with a dark brown core, odorless.
Drying in dryer
For better drying of the mushroom, it is recommended to use the VOLTERA 1000 Lux device. This is the best way to artificially dry chaga. The device keeps the exposed temperature, provides air flow and moisture removal. The dryer operating mode is designed for drying taking into account the maximum preservation of nutrients.
For drying, pieces of chaga are laid out on trays of the dryer and the temperature is set to 40 ° C. During the process, the top and bottom trays are swapped every 1-2 hours.
The disadvantage of this method is only conditional - the dryer must be purchased. But she quickly justifies the money invested, especially on farms with their own garden. Chaga is a rather specific mushroom for drying in a dryer. It is much easier to dry onions, carrots or potatoes in it.
Drying in the oven
The raw materials laid out on a baking sheet are placed in the oven. The oven door is left ajar to remove the evaporated moisture.
The advantage of this drying method is its availability, there is a stove with an oven in any home. Cons - it is difficult to control the temperature and ventilation, the oven will be busy for 7-8 hours, heat comes out of the half-open door. Even with careful control, it loses more nutrients than when processing in an electric dryer.
Peppers and pumpkin are excellently dried in the oven.
In the Russian oven
You need to light the stove in advance. When the furnace cools down to t + 50 ° C, coals and ash are removed from it.
Place on a baking sheet. They are placed in the oven on previously prepared supports or bricks so that the bottom of the baking sheet does not come into contact with the bottom of the oven.
During drying, moisture is actively evaporated from the raw material, which must be removed from the oven. Therefore, the flap is placed on a stand, leaving a small gap at the bottom for air flow from the room. The upper part of the damper is tilted back slightly to remove moist air.
The stove pipe is slightly opened by 2/3 of the valves, as the raw material dries, they are gradually closed, 15-20 before the end of drying, they are closed tightly.
Pros - drying in a Russian oven is more gentle than processing in the oven. Cons - labor intensity and duration.
The oven must be flooded, wait until it cools down, control the plug and the temperature for 7-10 hours.
Not all ovens keep warm for a long time, they may not dry out.
Natural drying at home
In summer it is convenient to dry on the veranda or balcony. In autumn and winter, next to heating devices. For this, the raw material can be placed on a windowsill or table next to the battery.
Best drying conditions:
- air temperature - + 18-25 ° С;
- air humidity no more than 55%;
- without access to sunlight;
- regular ventilation of the room.
The approximate drying time is 14-20 days. All this time, the raw materials are periodically turned over and checked. Chunks of mold are taken away and discarded until it has spread to healthy mushrooms.
The advantages of natural drying are low cost, availability, maximum safety of active substances. Cons - the duration and complexity of controlling the process. In regions with high air humidity, raw materials can quickly become moldy.
Dried chaga is stored in tightly closed glass jars or paper bags in a dry and darkened room.
Mushrooms should not be placed next to foods with specific odors or chemicals. Raw materials quickly absorb any substances. The mushroom retains its beneficial properties for up to two years.
It is used to prepare infusions, alcoholic tinctures, teas, butter and even kvass. The medicine is especially valuable for cancer patients after chemotherapy, it helps to recover and prevents the appearance of metastases. There are no analogues among natural remedies.