How to freeze mushrooms for the winter: tips

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Mushrooms differ from their mushroom counterparts in rich taste and aroma. No wonder they are so popular in our country. Mushroom soup, pizza, pies and, of course, young potatoes fried with mushrooms are, on the one hand, simple, but extremely appetizing dishes. In addition, mushrooms allow you to diversify the lenten menu.

So mushrooms are dried, s alted, marinated and caviar is made from them. And of course, every housewife wants to keep frozen mushrooms.

Do mushrooms freeze for the winter

Honey mushrooms, like many other products, are perfectly stored frozen. They have a dense structure, are not too watery and can be kept in sub-zero temperatures for about 12 months. So they retain their natural smell, taste and nutrients. And what is especially nice, this method of long-term storage requires much less effort than, say, traditional pickling. In addition, pickled mushrooms can not be put in all dishes due to harsh spices, while frozen mushrooms are perfect for soup, julienne, and pie.

Collection

Before you freeze mushrooms for the winter, you need to collect them. Experienced mushroom pickers can easily cope with this task, but beginners have to make more efforts. After all, it is important not so much to find mushrooms as to make sure that they are edible. The most reasonable solution is to choose a partner who is familiar with the topic and is an ardent fan of quiet hunting.

If this is not possible, then you should be doubly careful: a real honey agaric has a yellowish-brown hat, concave in young specimens, but flatter in adult specimens. On the back of the cap there are yellow or brown plates, on top of the mushrooms there is a plaque - spores. On the cut, mushrooms are white and have a pronounced, pleasant mushroom smell. On the leg must be a skirt in the form of a ring. Hats are scaly.

Important: at the slightest doubt, you must refuse to collect!

The beauty of mushrooms is that they grow up as a whole family. And if you find a good place, you can collect a couple of buckets of mushrooms, literally on the spot.

Collect honey mushrooms quickly, but carefully. Mushrooms cut or carefully unscrew, without jerking. The second way is preferable. It is necessary to avoid getting leaves and twigs into a bucket or basket - the less garbage, the less the mushrooms will wrinkle during transportation.

Sorting and cleaning

Before you freeze mushrooms for the winter, you need to carefully sort them out. Despite the fact that there are worm mushrooms in the forestare culled immediately, at home it is necessary to check each mushroom again for the presence of holes and larvae. Small mushrooms can not be cut, but large ones can be divided into several parts. Particular attention should be paid to the hat: if the stem of the mushroom is clean, this does not mean that the mushroom on top is just as good.

During the sorting, you can at the same time sort the mushrooms by size: mushrooms of the same caliber look more advantageous in any dish. In addition, smaller specimens can be cooked less.

Mushrooms also need to be cleaned of debris: sometimes it’s enough just to tap on the hat to shake off everything unnecessary, but more often the mushrooms are still washed in plenty of warm water and then dried on a towel.

How to freeze fresh mushrooms for the winter?

When freezing food, you want to keep it as fresh as possible. And therefore, eliminate or minimize heat treatment. And therefore, many are interested in how to properly freeze fresh mushrooms for the winter.

It's worth saying right away that it is possible to freeze mushrooms without heat treatment. So they will more fully retain their unique aroma, which they will later give to the dish. While pre-cooking some of the flavor is lost.

Recipe: sort and sort the mushrooms, wash them and soak for half an hour. Then dry on a towel and spread on a baking sheet in a single layer. Freeze in the freezer at a temperature of -18-20⁰С. After decomposing into portioned packages orcontainers.

An important rule: you need to freeze fresh mushrooms immediately, directly on the day of collection.

How to boil mushrooms for freezing?

A lot of people don't trust mushrooms that haven't been cooked. And although many housewives calmly store fresh-frozen mushrooms in the freezer, most prefer to pre-boil them.

The most incredulous cooks boil mushrooms twice: the first time they wait until boiling and cook for about twenty minutes, and then change the water, add s alt and dip the mushrooms in boiling water for another 10-15 minutes. Most people boil mushrooms once, the cooking time after boiling is 15-20 minutes. Some believe that these mushrooms should be boiled in a small amount of water (1 cup per 5-6 liter pot), no more than 10 minutes, with the addition of s alt and bay leaf. And this broth is subsequently also frozen and used to make soups and sauces.

Based on the fact that mushrooms are suitable for freezing and fresh, the cooking process is presented as a method of more compact storage of mushrooms: after heat treatment, they release a lot of water and lose a lot of volume.

How to freeze mushrooms for the winter in the refrigerator after boiling: recipe

After cooking, the mushrooms should be washed with cold running water (so they will cool immediately) and put in a colander. Allow time to drain off any excess water. Dry for 30 minutes on a towel. Arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer and place in the freezer. Pack in portion bags after completely frozen.

Caviar from honey mushrooms

How to freeze mushrooms for the winter? There are different recipes, but one of the most popular is the preparation of mushroom caviar. In the classic version, mushroom caviar is chopped mushrooms with spices and always with garlic, packed in jars.

But there are other ways. For example, to save space in the freezer, you can twist fresh mushrooms and store them in this form for 3-4 months. This product can be obtained at any time, fried and used as an addition to mashed potatoes or as a filling for pies.

There is another option, how to freeze mushrooms for the winter in the form of caviar. To do this, sort the mushrooms and soak them in cold water for 30-40 minutes. Then boil them in s alted water for 15-20 minutes. When cooking, do not forget to carefully remove the scale. After throwing the mushrooms on a sieve or in a colander, rinse them with cold water, allow time to drain all excess liquid.

After honey mushrooms, you need to twist, s alt and mix with a little good olive oil. Such caviar is immediately ready for use and does not require thorough heat treatment after defrosting.

Stir-fried mushrooms in oil: preparation and storage

How to freeze fried mushrooms for the winter? This is much easier to do than it seems: the mushrooms are boiled as for ordinary freezing, and then fried in a pan until all the liquid has evaporated and a light golden crust forms. Next, the semi-finished product must cool to room temperature, afterwhat mushrooms are laid out in portioned containers and poured with fat.

The disadvantage of this method of storing mushrooms is that such a product can be stored for no more than 3 months, while ordinary boiled mushrooms can be deep frozen for up to 1 year.

Freezing and storage

How to freeze mushrooms for the winter in the refrigerator after all preparations?

1. We freeze in the freezer, after setting the thermostat to the lowest temperature. For ordinary household freezers, this indicator does not exceed -25⁰С. You should be aware that frequent temperature fluctuations do not benefit the unit and shorten its service life.
2. After complete freezing, semi-finished products can be transferred to a warmer chamber with a temperature of -9⁰С. However, if possible, it is better to leave them in the deep freeze compartment, this increases the shelf life.
3. Ideally, you should have a separate freezer for deep-frozen products: this way you can not only maintain the ideal temperature, but also avoid the appearance of an extraneous smell from the mushrooms.
4. Store mushrooms and other convenience foods in a separate freezer compartment.
5. You need to know how to freeze mushrooms for the winter for the longest possible storage: remember that fried caviar or mushrooms are stored for no more than 3, maximum 4 months, while boiled ones are suitable for consumption even after a year.
6. Never re-freeze food, which is why it is so important to store mushrooms in the freezer immediately in portioned containers.
7. Sign packages. So you can immediately knowin what form are these specific mushrooms stored and how long have they been lying.

Cooking

It is important to know not only how to properly freeze mushrooms for the winter, but also how to properly cook them after defrosting. Here you should be guided by a simple rule: the less mushrooms were cooked before freezing, the more they need to be boiled (fried, stewed) in a dish. Otherwise, you can rely on your culinary imagination, as frozen mushrooms can be an ingredient in hundreds of different dishes.

So now you know how to freeze mushrooms for the winter. The recipes and tips are simple and easy for anyone to follow.

Happy quiet hunting and bon appetit!