HOW TO FREEZE OYSTER MUSHROOMS AT HOME

Many housewives are wondering how to freeze mushrooms in the refrigerator for the winter. And not everyone knows that not only freshly harvested product can be frozen, but also one that has undergone a certain heat treatment, for example, boiled mushrooms or fried ones. In order to simplify the solution of such a task, later in the article we will describe how to properly implement such a process so that the mushrooms after defrosting will not lose their taste, flavor and useful qualities.

Advantages of the method

At the current time there are many different ways to harvest mushrooms for home use at home. But the most popular is just frost. Thanks to this method, it is possible to preserve the natural aroma and special taste of mushrooms, and also not to damage their natural structure, which is especially important for oyster mushrooms. It is about them and will be discussed further. When a large number of mushrooms is gathered, or it turns out to get them at a good price, then knowledge of how to freeze fresh oyster mushrooms will be more useful than ever.

In frozen form, it is possible to store such product for a period. from 6 to 12 months, depending on their initial processing. They will be a kind of semi-finished product, which can later be used to prepare first and second courses, as an ingredient for filling pizza, pies and pancakes, as well as for cooking pies, etc.

Read also about the proper technology of drying oyster mushrooms.

Comparing the freezing of products with other storage methods, for example, with drying or canning, the first method has many advantages:

This method can be implemented in a relatively short time, the process is not difficult, and the product can be stored in the freezer for quite a long time.
Thanks to this method, you can preserve the taste, color, aroma and structure of mushrooms.
The content of vitamins, sugars and minerals in frozen foods is almost the same as freshly harvested.

To understand the full value of this method of harvesting mushrooms, it is enough to compare canning with freezing.

The first option takes about 40% of the biological value of fungi, and freezing takes less than 20%. Also convenient for the hostess will be the possibility of small portions. Without problems, you can freeze 100-200 grams of mushrooms, so that later it would be more convenient for the family to cook for one meal, and in the case of canning, this option would be impractical and difficult to implement.

Important! As baby food, canned mushrooms are not recommended, while frozen mushrooms are almost the only healthy method of harvesting such a product.

How to choose mushrooms for freezing

Before sending oyster mushrooms in the freezer, you need to carefully select suitable mushrooms.

At the time of purchase should inspect the product for the presence of yellow spots on the cap. If these do occur, then the mushrooms will not be suitable for freezing, because in the process of cooking the taste and smell they will not be the most pleasant.
It is also recommended to pay attention to the smell of mushrooms, which will be the most reliable indicator of their freshness. If you have a sharp, unpleasant aroma, you should not buy the product.
Still need to pay attention to the presence of cracks on the caps. If they are, then this will also indicate that instances are not fresh.
Legs of oyster mushrooms contain a very small amount of useful elements, besides, they are unappetizing and most often tough. So you need to pay attention to how well the mushrooms were cut. The legs of high-quality oyster mushrooms should be either completely cut or be completely short.
The age of oyster mushroom can be determined by the size of its cap. Overgrown mushrooms are not as useful for the human body as young ones, and besides, they usually have fresh, fibrous pulp, which, after cooking, becomes practically “rubbery”. It is better to buy young mushrooms, which contain more vitamins. Such oyster mushrooms are juicy and soft, and their flesh is white.

Did you know? Cultivate and use in food in large quantities oyster mushrooms began in Germany in the postwar period. At that time, the country experienced economic difficulties. These mushrooms were a great helper in a hungry time. By its composition, such a product is very much like meat.

How to prepare before freezing

Before freezing oyster mushrooms at home, you need to know how properly prepare the mushrooms for such a process.

To begin with, you should double-check the mushrooms for damage, leaving only high-quality specimens for freezing. A healthy product should have a uniform grayish-blue color.
If it is not possible to freeze them on the day of purchase, then you can temporarily leave the mushrooms in the refrigerator. It is important not to cut them and not to wash, so that they stay fresh longer.
Before freezing, you need to clean the product from debris, rinse them under running water and dry thoroughly. It is not worth freezing wet specimens, as their structure can be damaged and the nutritional quality of the pulp will be reduced.

Learn how to freeze for the winter mint, greens, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, apples, tomatoes, carrots, corn, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green peas, eggplant, pumpkin.

Ways of freezing: step-by-step instruction

Consider the most popular methods of freezing oyster mushrooms. It should be understood that the duration of storage depends on the method of freezing the product, as well as its pre-treatment. It is recommended to put a sticker on each bag of frozen mushrooms, where to indicate the date of freezing. This technique will help to track the usefulness of food.

Important! Repeated freezing of thawed mushrooms is unacceptable. Therefore, it is recommended to distribute the product into several small portions, each of which will be enough to prepare one meal.

Fresh

Answering the question whether it is possible to freeze raw oyster mushrooms, it is worth answering that it is not only possible but also highly recommended. Such mushrooms will be the most useful, and can be stored for a long time. The harvesting process consists of a series of simple steps:

First you need to determine in what form the mushrooms will be stored. If necessary, you can cut them in advance, but it is best to leave them in a holistic form. Only large specimens should be cut, and only if there is not much space in the freezer.
Next you need to prepare trays or flat large plates.
Raw trays should be spread on raw mushrooms in an even thin layer and sent to the freezer for 24 hours. The temperature regime in the freezer for this period should be set to the maximum cold indicator.
The next day, you need to get the products from the freezer and pack them in portions. Bags should be tied and put back into the chamber, but the temperature can already be maintained, which is usually installed.

We advise you to read about the benefits and dangers of mushrooms: champignons, ceps, honey agaric oil, oil mushrooms, mushrooms.

Boiled

Also some hostesses prefer boil oyster mushrooms before freezing them. Whether it is necessary to do this - everyone decides for himself. But this method allows you to hedge, if there are doubts about the freshness of the original product. Also, this method is suitable for those cases when the mushrooms for some reason broke or lost their appearance.

First you need to clean and cut the mushrooms into pieces.
Then boil the water and throw the prepared product into it. Cook oyster mushrooms should be no more than 5 minutes.
Next, let the mushrooms cool down, drain the excess water.
Now it remains to decompose the boiled product into containers or food bags and send them to the chamber to freeze.

Familiarize yourself with recipes for harvesting white mushrooms for winter (freezing), milk mushrooms and oil.

Fried

Roasted oyster mushrooms can also be frozen. Implementing this method is no less simple, like the previous ones.

First of all, clean and rinse the mushrooms.
Next, fry the product in vegetable oil for about 20 minutes. Exact time will need to adjust yourself. It is necessary to fry them until then, until all the excess moisture evaporates.
Next, the mushrooms should be left to cool, then packaged in packages and send to storage in the freezer.

Mushrooms prepared in this way will be an ideal ingredient for making fillings of pies, pancakes, pizza, etc.

Did you know? Oyster mushrooms always grow in groups. At the current time, the maximum accumulation in one place of these specimens was recorded - 473 pieces.

Shelf life

Store frozen mushrooms should be exclusively in the freezer when temperature -18 ° C. The useful life of freshly frozen specimens can reach a year, while those that have been heat-treated remain somewhat smaller.

It is recommended to label the containers, where to indicate the method of preparation, as well as the date of preparation. Thus, it will be possible to track the timeliness of the fungi.

In order not to be mistaken in the choice of mushrooms, familiarize yourself with the characteristics of mushrooms: white, chanterelles, honey agaric, syroezhek, milk mushrooms (aspen, black), wave, boletus (red), mokhovikov, podgruzhdkov, morels and lines, pigs, black truffle. Remember that sham-bearers, pale toadstool, satanic mushroom are dangerous.

How to defrost

There is several ways to defrost oyster mushrooms. It should be chosen based on the availability of free time, as well as starting from the current situation.

The most useful and correct method is slow defrosting. It takes a lot of time, but allows you to preserve the structure of the product and its taste. It is necessary in the evening to shift the bag of frozen oyster mushrooms into the refrigerator, and in the morning you can start cooking after they thaw out naturally. It is advisable to put them in a colander so that excess water can drain and the mushrooms are not watery. This may take about another 2-3 hours.
More rapid, but somewhat less useful, is defrosting of mushrooms in the microwave. It is necessary to set the defrost mode and heat the product.
If the mushrooms were cleaned before freezing, then they can be simply thrown into boiling water and boiled there. In this case, they will not get a lot of excess fluid.

Important! Thawed oyster mushrooms can not be left in the refrigerator, and you need to immediately cook. Otherwise, the product will quickly become unusable due to exposure to pathogens and bacteria.

As you can see, freezing the mushrooms at home is not at all difficult. Any mistress will cope with such task. Having spent quite a bit of time, it will be possible to successfully use such a kind of semi-finished product during the winter for preparing various dishes.