Canning & Pickling Mushrooms

Preserving and Pickling Mushrooms

Pickling in Vinegar

Suitable for: button mushrooms, porcini, chanterelles

Basic recipe for 1 kg mushrooms: 500 ml white wine vinegar, 500 ml water, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, bay leaf, pepper, mustard seeds.

1. Blanch mushrooms for 3 min., drain
2. Bring the brine to a boil, simmer mushrooms for 5 min.
3. Fill into sterilized jars, pour hot brine over them
4. Shelf life: 12 months, cool and dark

Preserving in Oil

⚠️ The BfR advises against preserving and storing mushrooms and vegetables in oil. Oil excludes oxygen – precisely the environment in which Clostridium botulinum thrives. The common rule "always keep covered with oil" protects against mould, not against botulism.

If you still want to do it:

1. Blanch mushrooms, drain on a cloth for 24 h
2. Layer with herbs and garlic
3. Cover completely with olive oil
4. Keep refrigerated and eat no later than the day after making them (BfR)

Canning (Boiling in Jars)

⚠️ Mushrooms are low-acid – an automatic canner does not make them spore-free, not even after 90 minutes. Safe preservation requires a pressure canner (121 °C); without one, heat twice to 100 °C, one to two days apart (BfR: lowers the risk considerably, does not eliminate it).

1. Sauté mushrooms, season with salt, fill preserving jars three-quarters full
2. Pressure canner per manufacturer instructions – or twice for 90 min. at 100 °C, one to two days apart
3. Shelf life: 12 months
4. Heat right through before eating

Details: "Safe Canning: Avoiding Botulism"

Always sauté chanterelles briefly before freezing them – frozen raw, they turn bitter.

Sources

• German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR): Rare but avoidable: questions and answers about botulism, as of 12 Nov 2025, accessed 4 Oct 2026

The sources support individual statements in this article. The organisations named have neither reviewed nor endorsed it.