How to freeze fresh mushrooms at home for the winter
It is important to learn how to freeze champignons, for those housewives who manage to do everything at work, and their homes are clean, comfortable, and the kitchen always smells delicious of freshly prepared food. With such housewives, everything argues precisely because they always spend their time correctly. Spent time to freeze champignons for the winter, and then saved it 10 times when making sauces, mashed soups, pies with mushrooms. There are at least four ways to freeze. We will evaluate them all now. But first, we will learn how to properly prepare the mushrooms.
Preparing mushrooms for freezing
Before sending mushrooms for long-term storage, you must first sort them out. Cut all the darkened areas of the caps and legs. Cut off the lowest parts of the legs. They can be in the ground, it is bad to wash it.
We will not soak the mushrooms, there is no need for excess liquid when sending them to the freezer shelf. You just need to rinse them with warm water, wash off the dirt from the legs and hats. Spread a paper towel rolled in several layers on the table, spread all the mushrooms on it in a thin layer.
The purpose of this action is to rid the product to freeze from excess moisture.
Container preparation
Let's figure out which container is best suited for storing mushrooms in the freezer, before learning how to properly freeze mushrooms. The main storage condition is the tightness of the package, a reasonable volume of one serving.
Re-freezing is prohibited. The thawed product must be consumed at one time. We select containers for storage according to this requirement. You can save the frozen product in the following container:
- Zip freezer bags.
- Soft plastic containers.
- Used sour cream jars.
- Small volume containers for single use.
I freeze in small rectangular containers. For tightness, I place the container in a regular plastic bag. I tie the bag tightly. This method is convenient for three reasons:
- Saving space, the container can be placed tightly to the very top of the shelf.
- The sticker with the packing date is clearly visible. I put it from the end of the container.
- Convenient to take out and defrost.
Freezing methods
How best to freeze fresh champignons is a reasonable question for any housewife. I was also interested in whether it is possible to freeze mushrooms that have not been heat-treated, it turned out that it is possible. Now I have successfully mastered the possible methods, I use all the options in my life, I use mushrooms: raw, boiled, fried.
Now I will tell you how it is easier to freeze fresh mushrooms in two ways.
How to freeze whole raw mushrooms
Not every mushroom can be frozen. First, let's decide on the size of the mushrooms. Large size does not fit exactly, only small and medium hats will suit. For mushrooms with a large cap, you should choose another storage option - with slicing.
Above, I have already told you how to prepare raw materials: wash, dry. Now I will share my way of freezing. I use baskets for a steamer. I have a great soft plastic steamer. Soft plastic baskets can be used for freezing food in the refrigerator, cooking and thawing them in the microwave oven, and for their intended purpose - steam cooking.
I put the mushrooms strictly in one layer at the bottom of the container. I put the container in the upper chamber. I read that you need to freeze mushrooms from 4 to 12 days, so I keep them in a quick freezer for 5-7 days, then I put them in bags or containers, send the whole frozen mushrooms to the bottom shelf of the freezer. Remember: you can store fresh frozen mushrooms for no more than a year at a temperature of -18 ° C.
Proper freezing of chopped champignons
We know how to freeze whole champignons for the winter, it's time to deal with chopped mushrooms. Chopped, frozen mushrooms are easier to use, they will go into soup, sauce, potatoes when frying (stewing) without thawing. Harvesting chopped tomatoes for the winter using the fast freezing method consists of 4 stages:
- Primary preparation of raw materials.
- The process of slicing mushrooms.
- Freezing process.
- Packaging.
We carry out the initial preparation of raw materials in the manner described above. We select whole specimens, preferably a large one. Cut into slices 3-4 cm thick. Place the slices on a pallet, cutting board or silicone baking sheet. The surface can be lightly greased with vegetable oil. The frozen food is easier to pull off the oiled surface. That's it, the frozen product is ready, you can put it in the freezer. Pack up in 4-5 days. Cut, fresh champignons are stored frozen for about a year.
Freeze fried mushrooms
It is better to fry and freeze all mushroom substandard. To mushroom substandard I refer to raw materials that have lost their shape, broken, large in size. Before frying, I cut all specimens into random pieces of approximately the same size.
I take a saucepan for frying. I have it of a large diameter, all the mushrooms are placed in it at once. I grease the bottom of the saucepan with oil (any). I fry the raw materials until the liquid is completely evaporated. I make a frying pan from the stove, let the mushrooms cool in a natural way, and pack it. I pack the fried mushrooms in strong bags, forming a layer of no more than 2 cm. Be sure to put a piece of paper with the date of preparation. It must be remembered that fried champignons are stored for no more than 6 months.
Boil champignons for freezing for the winter
You can freeze mushrooms at home in another way. The champignons can be boiled, and only then sent to freeze. Let's figure out the features of cooking. The first condition is to fill the prepared raw materials with cold water.
The second condition is to salt the water. There are no other conditions. After boiling the champignons, cook for 15 minutes, put in a colander, cool, sprinkle in containers. We put a piece of paper with the date of packing in the container and send it to the upper compartment of the freezer. After a few days, the container can be lowered into the lower compartment, the boiled champignons are frozen, ready to eat within 6 months.
Make your life easier. Cook high quality frozen mushrooms, they will speed up the process of preparing delicious dishes with the addition of champignons.
