How can you freeze oyster mushrooms for the winter at home
How to freeze oyster mushrooms is not difficult if you have a recipe proven by experienced housewives at hand. Oyster mushrooms are versatile mushrooms that are very often used in any dishes when frying, stewing, salting. The easiest and fastest way to preserve them for the winter is to freeze them.
Preparatory work
When asked whether it is possible to freeze oyster mushrooms, the answer is unequivocally positive. In frozen mushrooms, the set of vitamins and minerals remains unchanged, which cannot be said about the product that was salted or pickled. The method preserves the aroma and shape of freshly picked mushrooms. The main thing is to carry out this procedure correctly.
Mushrooms must be carefully examined and only good ones selected. If there are any defects, for example: yellow spots, cracks, then the product is not suitable for long-term storage. After defrosting, they will give the dish an unpleasant smell and bitterness.
Good mushrooms have a uniform brownish-grayish shade of caps and a pleasant aroma. It is better to buy mushrooms with small caps. This indicates that they are young, juicy and soft.
The legs of oyster mushrooms are rather harsh and do not contain nutritional components, so it is recommended to cut them off almost at the very cap.
Selected caps are thoroughly washed under running cold water. If there is no time to immediately freeze the product, then it is better not to wash or cut, but simply place it in the refrigerator. The washed parts are spread on a towel to drain the water.
Freezing methods
The easiest way is freeze mushrooms raw. You just need to wash them, dry them, cut them into small pieces and place them on a flat dish (a tray, cutting board will do). After that, oyster mushrooms are sent to the freezer for three hours. This step will prevent the slices from freezing into one lump.
The mushrooms can then be collected in one bag or distributed in plastic containers. To prevent the product from absorbing extraneous odors, you need to tightly close the container. They go to the freezer again. Fresh oyster mushrooms frozen in this way can be stored for up to 12 months.
Before freezing oyster mushrooms at home, you can boil them. The recipe is not complicated and does not require great culinary skills.
- Put a pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil.
- Mushrooms (2 kg are needed) are washed, cleaned, large caps are cut in half and added to boiling water. It is recommended to cook for 17 minutes.
- Then add 60 g salt, 2.5 g citric acid, put 4 bay leaves and 4-5 allspice peas. Boil for another 17 minutes.
- The boiled oyster mushrooms are thrown into a colander and wait time for the excess liquid to glass.
- The hats are spread in a thin layer on a board, bag or other flat surface. Place in the freezer for 3 hours.
- Once the caps are frozen, they can be distributed into separate containers for later storage.
Mushrooms frozen in this option can be used at any time. After defrosting, they are added to soups, pizza, potatoes.
Oyster mushrooms can be frozen and fried.
- The mushrooms are selected, washed and cut into small pieces.
- Put the chopped product in a frying pan with heated oil, sprinkle with salt.
- Fry until excess liquid evaporates.
- Once the dish has cooled down, you can distribute it into containers and send it to the freezer.
In order to keep track of shelf life, it is useful to indicate the date and time of filling on containers.
The product is also frozen in dried form. Oyster mushrooms are washed, cut into thin plates and sent to the oven (can be dried in the sun). Dried oyster mushrooms are very tasty according to the following recipe:
- the cut plates are distributed on a baking sheet and sent to the oven, preheated to 50 degrees for 5 hours;
- then the cut is spread on paper or towel and left in a room that is well ventilated;
- again, the dried product is sent to the oven for 6 hours at a temperature of 70 degrees.
If the dried slices break well, then they are ready for storage. If they have not reached a solid state, then they are again sent to the oven, preheated to 50 degrees. Dried and cooled foods are sent to the freezer, divided into portions.
Important conditions
In the freezer, mushrooms should be stored at a temperature of -18 degrees and above. Otherwise, the shelf life of the product will be reduced. At temperatures below -10 degrees, oyster mushrooms should be used within three months.
If necessary, a certain amount of mushrooms is taken from the freezer, transferred to a plate and placed in the usual section of the refrigerator.
Do not defrost at room temperature, as the taste changes for the worse.
If oyster mushrooms have undergone high-quality selection and purification for the winter before freezing, then the required amount of frozen product can be thrown into the cooking dish. In this case, you do not need to wait for defrosting.
Do not re-freeze the product. Therefore, for long-term storage in the freezer, it is better to choose a small container for portioning.
