How to freeze mushrooms. Harvesting mushrooms for the winter in the refrigerator - how to freeze in a conventional freezer

Frozen mushrooms will delight you with a delicate aroma and bright taste all year round. Knowing how to freeze mushrooms for the winter, you will always have a healthy natural product on hand without chemical additives. You will learn all the details of the process from this article.

How to prepare mushrooms for freezing

You need to freeze clean and strong mushrooms. The ideal choice would be white, honey mushrooms, boletus, boletus, boletus, chanterelles and champignons. They do not need to be soaked to remove the bitter milky juice. You also need to consider:

• it is better to freeze mushrooms with whole caps and legs;
• they need to be prepared for freezing immediately on the day of collection;
• after washing, the mushrooms must be dried so that a lot of ice does not form during freezing;
• for freezing, plastic containers or plastic bags are suitable.

When frozen, mushrooms retain a maximum of useful substances and vitamins. This way of preparing them will not take much time and effort.

How to freeze mushrooms: basic methods

There are several popular freezing methods:

• to harvest raw mushrooms, they need to be laid out on a tray at a small distance from each other and sent to the freezer for 10-12 hours. Then they need to be distributed into bags or containers for easy storage;
• you can cook boiled mushrooms. In this case, after defrosting, you will not need to spend a lot of time on their preparation. You need to boil the mushrooms for 30-40 minutes, then let them cool completely and pack the product in bags;
• chanterelles are advised to pre-soak and fry. Soak them in salt water at the rate of 1 liter of water - 1 tbsp. l. salt. This will help rid the chanterelles of bitterness. It is better to fry them in vegetable oil without salt, all the liquid should boil away. After that, the mushrooms need to be cooled well and sent for storage in the freezer;
• freezing in broth is considered the original way. Mushrooms must first be boiled well, let them cool completely. Lay a plastic bag in a small container, the edges of which should cover the walls of the container. Pour the broth with mushrooms into the bag and put it in the freezer for 4-5 hours. When the liquid is completely frozen, carefully separate the bag from the container and send it back to the freezer. This freezing option is perfect for making mushroom soup.

Such frosts should be stored at a temperature not higher than -18ºС for no more than one year. After defrosting, mushrooms must be cooked immediately; they cannot be left in the refrigerator for a long time.

All the same mushrooms that you pick in summer and autumn are suitable for bookmarking for the winter: from chanterelles to porcini, the main thing is that they are edible.

Attention! It is best to defrost raw mushrooms by placing them in the refrigerator. Then they will be just like fresh, just out of the woods.

Rule number 3: freeze boiled or stewed mushrooms

If you are afraid of freezing fresh mushrooms and want to make sure, then boil them before freezing. Not very long - up to 5 minutes. Most often, mushrooms intended for frying are frozen in this way. This method is also suitable for broken, lost their appearance, but fresh and tasty mushrooms.

To prepare the mushrooms, drop them, peeled and cut into pieces, into boiling water for 5 minutes. Then let cool, drain in a colander and arrange in food bags or containers.

Calculate the number of mushrooms in the package so that you can use one package for cooking one dish. As a rule, half of the small packages are obtained - from 300 g to half a kilogram, and half - with a larger weight, from 500 g to 1 kg.

You can also freeze. To do this, clean, prepared mushrooms are fried in a small amount of vegetable oil for 20 minutes until all excess moisture has evaporated. Completely cooled mushrooms are laid out in bags and frozen.

The season of "quiet hunting" should not pass by our freezer. Because - alas, but in winter we are unlikely to find fresh boletus, chanterelles and mushrooms in supermarkets. We will buy factory-frozen mushrooms or eternal ones, like the Egyptian pyramids, champignons and oyster mushrooms.

But! If we make a little fuss and defeat our own laziness for a short time, then ... then we put the mushroom stocks in the freezer, freeze them according to the rules and in the winter

Rule number 1: clean, fresh, young

Our mushrooms, no matter how we freeze them, should be fresh, clean and, if possible, not broken. Much depends on this - both the appearance of the product after defrosting, and the quality. Therefore, mushrooms need to be collected, bought, exchanged, begged - fresh. Maximum - yesterday's assembly.

Attention! When cleaning mushrooms, don't soak them too much. The mushroom easily absorbs water, which will turn into ice in the freezer. Why do we need water in the mushroom?

Rule number 2: freeze fresh mushrooms

It is easiest to freeze mushrooms whole and fresh. After cleaning, they are put in the freezer on a flat surface, and after a few hours they can be poured into a prepared bag or container. Mushrooms, mushrooms, wild mushrooms, boletus, boletus, chanterelles will be ideal mushrooms for freezing in this way.

We need the fungus to be strong, then even after defrosting they will keep their shape and decorate any dish.

Attention! It is best to defrost raw mushrooms by placing them in the refrigerator. Then they will be just like fresh, just out of the woods.

Rule number 3: freeze boiled or stewed mushrooms

Rule number 4: keep the temperature

Frozen mushrooms for the winter can be stored at -18 ° C for up to a year. After completely defrosting the mushrooms, use them immediately, and in no case leave them for “later” in the refrigerator.

Pie from the editor

If there are mushrooms at home, whether fresh or frozen, then after 40 minutes my family and friends are already groaning over the baking sheet, choosing the most delicious piece for themselves. The dough in this pie is called "bulk" and takes no longer to cook than scrambled eggs.

Needed for the test: 2 eggs, 0.5. Art. sugar, 1 cup sour cream, 1.5 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon soda, a pinch of salt.

You will need for the filling: 500 gr. frozen mushrooms slices, 1 large onion, 200 gr. chicken liver, frying oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Boil the chicken liver and scroll through a meat grinder (I do this in advance if I can). Defrost mushrooms, chop into very small pieces and fry with onions. Connect with the liver, pepper and salt lightly.

We combine the ingredients for the dough, mix thoroughly and pour into a greased form or a baking sheet with high sides (I have a glass one), spread the filling - part of it will fall, part will remain on top.

Bake on medium heat for 30-40 minutes. The sour cream dough is very good. The slight sweetness of the dough and the salinity of the mushrooms give an unusual taste!

Mistresses have been harvesting mushrooms for the winter for a long time. At first, this took the form of drying, salting and pickling, but recently, such a method, which came from industrial mushroom growing, as freezing, has been added to them.

Its benefits are obvious. It:

1. does not take much time (and for a modern woman who is forced to combine work in her life, and sometimes more than one, and the house is perhaps one of the main advantages).
2. allows you to keep the mushrooms in their original form with all their useful properties and taste.
3. gives confidence that they will not deteriorate during the entire period of storage. As you know, mushrooms are perishable products, and such confidence is not superfluous at all.
4. finally, it provides housewives with an excellent semi-finished product, from which you can cook anything at any convenient time - from first courses to appetizers, salads and pie fillings.

In addition, compared to traditional methods of harvesting mushrooms, freezing mushrooms makes it possible to preserve them for a much longer time than pickling or pickling. For example, pickled mushrooms can be stored for no more than six months, pickled - no more than a year, and frozen - a year or even more.

However, with all the recognized ease, this procedure has a number of very important nuances, non-compliance with which will lead, at best, to damage to the product. It would not be an exaggeration to say that mushrooms, traditionally included in the human diet, have their own “character” and, despite the similarity of the general freezing technology, require a special approach in detail. In addition, not all mushrooms can be frozen. Therefore, before engaging in such harvesting, you need to know how to properly freeze mushrooms for the winter at home.

Freezing mushrooms include:

1. chanterelles.
2. White mushrooms.
3. mushrooms.
4. mushrooms.
5. boletus.

Each of these mushrooms has not only its own qualities and characteristics, but also cooking methods, therefore, it seems to us, it would be right to consider the features of their freezing separately.

Such useful chanterelles...

Therefore, it is not surprising that chanterelles are well-deservedly popular among mushroom pickers and lovers of delicious food at any time of the year, especially in winter, when there is an acute shortage of vitamins and you often want to eat “something tasty”. However, if you decide to make yourself such a tasty and healthy stock for the winter, then you should do this immediately after collecting the chanterelles. Their preparation is as follows:

1. sort and sort the mushrooms. First of all, only young, strong chanterelles that have not yet straightened their hats are subject to freezing. Be sure to separate small specimens from large ones - they are frozen in different ways. If they are in the same package next door, then during subsequent cooking, large chanterelles will become bitter.
2. cut off the bottom of the stem and carefully clean the hat from dirt and debris.
3. rinse the selected mushrooms well under running water, paying special attention to the lower part of the cap, where debris most often accumulates.
4. after washing, spread the chanterelles on a towel that absorbs liquid well and dry them. These mushrooms absorb moisture well, which is why, when frozen, they lose much in taste and quality, so their good, almost perfect drying is an indispensable condition for high-quality harvesting for the winter.
5. after drying, they should be laid out in a single layer on a pallet and put in the freezer for at least two hours. In order to avoid sticking together, chanterelles are recommended to be frozen individually in several stages.
6. then put them in plastic bags or plastic containers, seal them tightly, sign with the date, and send them back to the freezer.

Large chanterelles can be frozen like this:

1. rinse freshly picked mushrooms in cold, preferably running water, removing all dirt and debris. To make cleaning easier for yourself, you can pre-soak them for a short while.
2. Separately cut each mushroom into several pieces. The easiest way is to cut off the cap from the stem and cut them into slices of about 6 mm. thick. In addition to convenience in work, it will also save a lot of storage space and allow you to prepare more mushrooms for the winter.
3. put all the parts in a large saucepan, pour cold water and boil until boiling, then salt and cook for another 15-20 minutes. During cooking, before and after using salt, it is imperative to remove the foam, which can also contain particles of unwashed debris.
4. Throw the mushrooms in a colander, cool quickly under cold water and let dry. Some housewives claim that you can dry the chanterelles directly in a colander, but it would be best to put them on a towel and wait until all the water is absorbed into it.
5. after drying, arrange the mushrooms in containers, close, sign and put in the freezer for freezing. If it is supposed to use bags for storage, then the next day the mushrooms can be transferred to them from containers. When using an enameled tray, it is advisable to lower its bottom for a couple of seconds in hot water, then transfer the chanterelles stored in it to the intended bags.

Some housewives also manage to freeze stewed chanterelles, putting them in a jar along with the sauce in which they were stewed, pouring sour cream on top, closing the lid and sending them to the freezer.

There is no need to defrost chanterelles. If they are necessary for making soup, then they can be used directly frozen, if they are supposed to be fried, then you need to put them in boiling water for a few minutes, and then in a colander, let the water drain and put in a pan. Chanterelles are best served with vegetables, as these mushrooms are rich in protein.

How to freeze porcini mushroom

The reputation of the white fungus in the mushroom kingdom and its environs is akin to the reputation of Caesar's wife, who, as enlightened people know, is always above all suspicion. It is enough to mention only the fact that even in the "Domostroy" (XVI century) only it was called the common species word "mushroom", all other edible mushrooms have their own names that have survived to this day - milk mushrooms, mushrooms, etc. White mushroom, or boletus, is known almost throughout the CIS from the Kola Peninsula to the Caucasus and Belarus to the Far East, and despite its uneven distribution (in some areas it is common, in others less often, in some places it does not exist at all) , it is called by different names everywhere. The most likely reason why it became “white” is due to the distinctive feature of its pulp to retain a snow-white color even after heat treatment.

Researchers of Russian dialects know about two dozen synonyms, many of which have been preserved in the language since ancient times and no longer lend themselves to either explanation or analysis of origin. In some areas where the white fungus is not found - on the Yenisei and Olonets, in Kargopol and in some areas of the Tver and Vologda regions - this name is used to name other edible mushrooms growing in pine or mixed forests - for example, boletus, boletus, saffron mushrooms. In Central Asia, "ceps" are called steppe oyster mushrooms. It can be assumed that in this way the inhabitants of these regions indicate their attitude to these mushrooms, putting them on the same level with the mushroom in terms of their importance in local cooking and taste. Even in the Crimea, where the white mushroom is well known, the same name with the addition of the adjective "mountain" (mountain white mushroom) is called a giant talker.

The boletus itself, in addition to its traditional, or "typical" form, depending on the season of appearance and the characteristics of the climate and mycorrhiza, has 17 more forms. This allows us to consider it almost the most common mushroom on Earth, since it can be found in all its varieties in most parts of the world. Judging by the range of its growth and the fact that all 18 forms of porcini fungus are recognized as edible and useful, it can also be assumed that it is used in cooking by various peoples. In addition to the presence of useful elements and amino acids in it, it is believed that the regular use of boletus:

1. reduces weight.
2. stimulates digestion, and in this respect even surpasses meat broth.
3. improves thyroid function.
4. increases efficiency and general tone of the body.

Boletus can also be attributed to medicinal mushrooms. It is known that in the past, an extract from his bodies was used to treat frostbite, and today substances with tonic antitumor properties have been found in it.

Several facts eloquently testify to how highly valued the white mushroom is even by Europeans harmful to food:

1. special mushroom tours to Finland are organized for Italians (in Italy there are restrictions on picking mushrooms and berries, the observance of which is strictly monitored by the so-called "forest police").
2. in 1987, according to official sources, more than a thousand tons of boletus were sold in France and Germany, and over 2,300 tons in Italy.
3. the harvest of porcini mushrooms in Italy does not satisfy the demand of the local population so much that most of them are imported from abroad.

In the Russian people, the porcini mushroom has long been called with honor "dear mushroom", "noble mushroom", "king of mushrooms", and it is no coincidence that in folklore there is a saying "porcini mushroom - colonel to all mushrooms." It is not surprising that among the mushrooms to be frozen, it occupies one of the first places, if not the first, and you can even freeze it in raw, boiled or fried forms. By the way, it is the white mushroom frozen for the winter that is considered the most useful (of course, after eating freshly picked mushrooms).

As in the case of chanterelles, freezing raw mushrooms does not seem to be a particularly difficult and time-consuming task and is carried out in the following way:

1. select mushrooms. It is best to use young specimens for freezing - they are much tastier than old ones and keep their shape better.
2. thoroughly clean them of dirt and debris, remove all rotted areas with wormholes.
3. put the mushrooms in a colander and rinse quickly under running water. Like chanterelles, it is not recommended to keep them in water for a long time, since the white fungus also tends to absorb moisture well, which subsequently destroys its structure and spoils the taste.
4. dry the mushrooms on a towel until all moisture is gone from them.
5. Divide dried mushrooms into small portions so that one is enough to prepare one dish. Re-freezing porcini mushrooms (as well as others) is not recommended, otherwise they will lose their taste and turn into porridge.
6. cut the mushrooms into medium-sized cubes - about 1x1 cm.
7. slightly dry them, spreading them on a wire rack. This is done so that the pieces are not covered with people, and the mushroom mass itself remains crumbly even when frozen.
8. after drying, arrange the mushrooms in portioned bags or containers so that there is no extra space left, and close them tightly.
9. send to the freezer and maintain the temperature at -5, which will allow you to store these mushrooms for a very long time.

Boiled porcini mushrooms require a little more attention and are frozen like this:

1. selected mushrooms should be sorted and thoroughly cleaned, then washed and dried, as if frozen raw.
2. cut into small cubes or slices.
3. Pour water into a saucepan, add one or two pinches of salt, put on fire and bring to a boil.
4. place chopped mushrooms in boiling water and cook them for 10-12 minutes.
5. then put them in a colander, let the water drain and wait until the mushrooms cool to room temperature. If even after cooling they remain damp, lay them out on a wire rack or towel until they are completely dry.
6. after the mushrooms are completely dry, arrange them in bags / containers, seal them tightly and send them to the freezer.

Experienced housewives on various Internet forums are often advised to store some frozen mushrooms - for example, porcini or boletus mushrooms - separately from other frozen foods - the same meat or fish. This is due to the fact that these mushrooms tend to absorb the tastes and aromas of foods that are in their neighborhood. It makes sense to apply the same precautionary measure in relation to other mushrooms.

Finally, a very popular type of harvesting for the winter is freezing fried mushrooms. It is attractive because in this case the housewives receive an almost ready-made dish that can be served at the table at any time, or a ready-made filling for pies, pies, pizza and dumplings. This dish is made according to the following recipe:

1. we clean freshly picked mushrooms from debris and dirt, remove all coarse parts and wormholes. In this case, you can use a brush with a hard bristle to clean the hat and legs.
2. cut the prepared mushrooms into small cubes.
3. take 2-3 onions, peel and also cut into cubes. Some housewives add onions already in the process of using the mushroom semi-finished product after defrosting it, however, it has been noticed that the use of onions during freezing makes porcini mushrooms more fragrant and juicy.
4. take a voluminous frying pan, add odorless vegetable oil to it, heat and fry the onion, stirring, until a transparent golden state.
5. put mushrooms in a pan, mix with onions, add a little salt (but this, in principle, is not necessary - you can add salt to taste after defrosting) and fry over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Mushrooms should be brought to such a state that all the juice has evaporated from them, so do not cover the pan with a lid.
6. As soon as the mushrooms acquire a golden color, we transfer them to a deep plate and let them cool completely.
7. after cooling, the whole mass is laid out in containers prepared in advance, tightly closed with lids and frozen in the freezer until we need them.

Defrost porcini mushrooms in such a way as to keep them whole, tasty and healthy. To do this, a couple of hours before preparing the dish, a portion of frozen porcini mushrooms should be transferred from the freezer to the refrigerator, wait until they thaw, and rinse under running water. Further actions depend on the form in which the mushrooms were frozen: if raw, then they should be boiled in salted water for 5 minutes, adding a few different spices to taste - bay leaf or allspice. Boiled or fried frozen mushrooms are immediately ready for consumption. The main thing to remember is that they should not be re-frozen in any case (as, indeed, other mushrooms).

Features of freezing milk mushrooms

Everything connected with the load is a separate and extremely interesting story. In the West, it is little known and is often considered inedible, while in Russia this mushroom has long been considered the best of the category of conditionally edible mushrooms and the only one suitable for salting. Pies with milk mushrooms were frequent dishes at dinner parties of tsars, boyars and patriarchs back in the days of Muscovite Rus', and even common people willingly ate it. Dishes from milk mushrooms gained particular popularity during church fasts, similarly to lenten dishes from porcini mushrooms, which were used in Catholic countries. In Russian folk culinary, a mushroom (it is also a real mushroom or “white”, “raw”, “wet”, “right”) has been used since the 9th century, and even this word itself has an Old Slavic origin from the church word “Gruzdia”, which means "pile", and characterizes the property of the fungus to group in colonies. Indeed, it is almost impossible to meet a mushroom growing alone, or at least away from a homogeneous team.

On the other hand, it is not for nothing that it is classified as conditionally edible mushrooms. Despite the content of very useful substances and vitamins in it, everything spoils the bitter milky juice contained in its pulp, which is why the milk mushroom acquires bitterness, therefore the main goal of all treatments before various methods of harvesting, be it salting or freezing, is to get rid of bitterness . As soon as this goal is achieved, you can do whatever you like with mushrooms, especially since its dense fruiting body does not allow moisture to be absorbed so that later it, expanding in voids, destroys its structure.

In a sense, the mushroom can be called a universal mushroom, since it can be frozen in the following forms:

1. scalded.
2. boiled.
3. fried.
4. stew.
5. and also in the form of a cold salted milk mushroom.

The easiest way - freezing scalded mushrooms - looks like this:

1. the collected milk mushrooms should be soaked for a while, so that later it would be easier to clean them of dirt and forest debris.
2. after cleaning, scald well with boiling water. With this effect, the bitterness of the fungus is neutralized.
3. then sort the mushrooms, cut the large ones into pieces, and leave the small ones whole.
4. Arrange them in containers and send them to the freezer.

However, most housewives prefer to freeze milk mushrooms in more traditional forms, one of which is boiled. In this form, they are harvested according to the following technology:

1. as in the first case, milk mushrooms should be thoroughly washed from all kinds of debris.
2. Pour cold water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
3. place mushrooms in boiling water. This helps to solidify and fold the protein and better preserve the structure.
4. when the water boils again, the mushrooms should be boiled in it for no more than 10 minutes, then put in a colander and let the water drain. For better preservation, it also does not hurt to dry them a little.
5. after drying, milk mushrooms are laid out in containers with a hat down - so they can be less damaged - sign and sent to freeze in the freezer.

You can also freeze fried mushrooms, following this recipe:

1. washed and peeled mushrooms cut into small pieces.
2. put them in a pan, poured with vegetable or butter and salt to taste.
3. cover and fry for 20 minutes. In the last minutes, the lid should be removed to evaporate as much moisture as possible.
4. turn off and let the mushrooms cool, then transfer to containers, sign and place in the freezer.

You can also roast the mushrooms in the oven in their own juice without adding oil or fat. To do this, they should be laid out on a baking sheet and placed in a cabinet with a temperature of +180, stirring occasionally until all the water has evaporated, then cooled to room temperature and frozen, decomposed into containers. It is said that milk mushrooms prepared in this way completely retain their inherent taste and aroma.

If in the future it is supposed to use frozen milk mushrooms for cooking first courses, you can resort to freezing them in stew. It is done like this:

1. wash the mushrooms, cut them and boil in salted water for 10-15 minutes.
2. drain the broth, add spices to taste, pour a small amount of boiled water, cover and simmer for another 15 minutes, adding browned carrots with onions or other vegetables if desired.
3. cool the resulting mass, decompose into containers, close with lids, date and freeze. Unfortunately, such a semi-finished product is stored the least - only about three months - therefore, most likely, it will not last until the end of winter.

Finally, the last way to freeze mushrooms is to freeze cold pickled mushrooms, but it is used only when there is no room for storing salted mushrooms in the house. To do this, drain the brine from the mushrooms, squeeze lightly so that as little liquid as possible remains in them, and freeze in the usual way. But, unfortunately, frozen-salted mushrooms cannot boast of elasticity and therefore are suitable only as a filling for pies or for making okroshka.

The longest - up to 8 months - frozen milk mushrooms are stored at a temperature of -18 degrees and below. There is no need to defrost them before use.

Preparation for the winter of mushrooms

Ryzhik is a “relative” of the milk mushroom, because, like him, it belongs to the mushrooms of the milky genus, however, unlike the milk mushroom, it is highly valued not only in Russia, but also in European countries. Even its Russian name is borrowed by some foreign languages ​​- for example, German and Hungarian. This alone is evidence of the attitude of Europeans to camelina, some species of which are recognized as delicacy.

In addition to taste, this mushroom is also valued for its benefits. Camelina contains a huge amount of B-vitamins, ascorbic acid, ash substances, beta-carotene (its presence gives the fungus a characteristic bright reddish color), fiber and saccharides, as well as mineral salts of many of the most important substances for humans that affect the functioning of many organs and the condition of hair, nails and skin. In terms of the amount of amino acids and protein, these mushrooms are quite comparable to meat, due to which, despite the calorie content, they are the main protein food for vegetarians and those who are fasting or dieting. In addition, mushrooms are considered medicinal mushrooms due to the presence of the natural antibiotic lactrioviolin in them, which inhibits the growth of many pathogenic bacteria, so they are often used to treat various diseases, including tuberculosis.

That is, there are exactly “a thousand and one reasons” for freezing these most useful mushrooms for the winter, when a person is especially acutely aware of the lack of various substances. They are usually frozen raw on the same day as they were collected, as follows:

1. to begin with, freshly picked mushrooms are sorted. Freezing mushrooms should be young, strong and the freshest, wormy, damaged or lethargic should be removed.
2. the selected mushrooms are thoroughly washed using a soft foam sponge (preferably new), and quickly rinsed under running water - preferably one at a time - so that they do not have time to soak in moisture.
3. lay out a kitchen towel on the table, spread the washed mushrooms on it and give them time for final drying.
4. dried mushrooms are laid out on a pallet in one layer so as to exclude contact with each other, then placed in a freezer and using the maximum sub-zero temperature. If there is a maximum freeze function, you can use it.
5. after 10-12 hours, you should check the degree of freezing by pulling out the pan and knocking the mushrooms against each other. If the sound resembles the sound of tapping pebbles, then the mushrooms can already be placed in various containers, tightly closed, labeled and sent back to the freezer - this time for storage. However, mushrooms can be stored only for six months at -18.

The mushrooms remaining after sorting can also be used for freezing, but separately from the whole ones. To begin with, they are carefully examined for the presence of damaged places that are cut out and thrown away, while the remaining parts suitable for storage are cleaned of debris, rinsed, dried and frozen in the manner described above with one difference: incomplete mushrooms should be checked already 5-6 hours after they are stay in the freezer. This is due to the fact that they freeze faster than whole and strong mushrooms. Boiled and stewed mushrooms are frozen in the same way, adding a little refined oil during their processing.

Features of freezing boletus

Boletus is another mushroom that is very common in the forested part of Eurasia and North America and almost the only one that can be found in the tundra and forest tundra. It grows, as the name implies, near birches, and even in the tundra chooses dwarf birches as neighbors. True, they look very funny next to each other due to the fact that the boletus is often taller than such a birch, so the inhabitants of these areas sometimes jokingly call it “overbirch”.

This mushroom has nine varieties, and all of them have not only excellent taste, but also very valuable properties. The dietary fibers included in their composition contribute to the removal of harmful substances from the body, the protein contained in the boletus is surprisingly easy to digest and assimilate, and a small amount of calories (only 20 kcal per 100 g) allows them to be used by those people who are on a diet . Phosphoric acid is also present in these mushrooms, without which the production of enzymes responsible for the normal functioning of the musculoskeletal system is impossible. And in general, the regular use of boletus in food has a beneficial effect on the human nervous system, regulates blood sugar levels and alleviates the symptoms of renal pathology. Simply put, boletus mushrooms are among the mushrooms that you need to include in your diet at any time of the year, especially in winter, and, of course, freezing them will be the best helper in this.

However, before this procedure, boletus should be carefully sorted and sorted. Mushrooms with wormholes and rot are not suitable for freezing - they must be removed and thrown away. It is best to freeze small young specimens, from which the most delicious dishes are then obtained. After selection, they should be thoroughly cleaned of all debris and washed in warm water at least three times, then dried on napkins or paper towels, and only then proceed to freezing them. Like some other mushrooms, boletus can be frozen raw, boiled and fried.

Raw boletus is frozen like this:

1. place the prepared mushrooms on a flat surface in the freezer and freeze well. The freezing time depends on the amount of mushrooms and the temperature in the freezer.
2. after the mushrooms are frozen, fill a container or bag with them, close it and put it back in the freezer - this time for storage.
3. storage temperature should be no higher than -18 degrees.

The main condition for such a freezing of mushrooms is their almost perfect integrity. If the hat is even slightly damaged, this mushroom is best used for other purposes. You need to defrost boletus on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, where they will thaw gradually, without violating their integrity.

Boiled mushrooms are frozen according to the following method:

1. peeled specimens should be cut into small slices, put in a clean saucepan, pour water and put on fire. Cooking time depends on the size of the slices, but usually it does not exceed 40 minutes.
2. after they are cooked, drain the broth and dry them by laying them out on a towel or leaving them directly in a colander.
3. while the mushrooms are drying, rinse and dry the plastic containers.
4. arrange the boletus in a container, close tightly and send to the freezer.

Finally, the third way is to freeze fried mushrooms. They do it like this:

1. rinse boletus thoroughly.
2. without drying, cut them into small slices using a sharp knife. You need to cut the mushrooms in such a way that when frying they will decrease in volume.
3. heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan and put mushrooms in it, you can even with a slide.
4. fry, stirring with a wooden spatula, until the mushrooms are fried to the degree you need. You don't need to add salt.
5. when the boletus are fried, cool them, arrange them in containers and put them in the freezer.

Defrost boletus in the same way as other mushrooms.

Conclusion

We have told you about how to freeze only some of the most popular mushrooms. Mushrooms, boletus, boletus, morels remained outside of our attention ... All of them are edible and useful in every respect mushrooms that can - and even need to - be frozen so as not to deprive yourself of the pleasure of enjoying a mushroom delicacy for the New Year, Christmas or just an ordinary winter weekday. Mushroom dishes will surely become a pleasant addition to your winter table, the main thing is to freeze them correctly, following some simple general rules:

1. never freeze mushrooms of different species together. Milk mushrooms should be stored separately from boletus mushrooms, and chanterelles - separately from boletus mushrooms. If there is not enough space in the freezer, it is better to give preference to any one type, and not try to "shove the non-shove".
2. mushrooms must be sized, separating large from small and whole from damaged. This is due not only to the fact that the technology of their freezing is somewhat different from each other, but also to the fact that the time for freezing large chopped mushrooms differs from the time spent on freezing small specimens.
3. mushrooms should be frozen in such portions that one is enough to prepare one dish. It is categorically not recommended to re-freeze mushrooms, otherwise, instead of a suitable semi-finished product, you will get who knows what.
4. all mushrooms before freezing in any form must be cleaned of debris.

Well, we will definitely return to the features of freezing honey mushrooms, butter, boletus, morels and some other valuable mushrooms ...

The traditional way of preparing mushrooms for the winter is to freeze whole or chopped mushrooms directly in the freezer. Everything is simple here. To do this, we select fresh, young, healthy mushrooms, clean them, cut them if necessary and put them in the refrigerator for storage. The shelf life with this method is 6-8 months. But with this method of freezing, a large space of the refrigerator is occupied. This is appropriate when you have a separate large freezer. And if not? Below are three simple but effective ways to freeze mushrooms for the winter. These methods will help not only to balance the place in the freezer, but also significantly save time during further cooking.

Blanching (or scalding) mushrooms

This method allows you to preserve the color, structure and taste of mushrooms as much as possible, kills bacteria, and allows 100% cleaning of mushrooms from dirt. Blanched mushrooms keep in the refrigerator for up to 12 months. They are great for cooking first courses. For example, if you are preparing mushroom soup, throw the required amount of frozen blanched mushrooms into the pan 20 minutes before the end of cooking and that's it, you will not need more additional actions with mushrooms.

To prepare mushrooms for the winter by blanching, we need a large saucepan. Pour water into the pan at the rate of 5 liters per 1 kg. fresh mushrooms and put on fire. While the water is heating, prepare our mushrooms, wash and cut into slices of the required size. As soon as the water boils, pour the mushrooms into the water and wait for it to boil again. After boiling, we wait 2 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and filter the mushrooms through a sieve. Leave the mushrooms to cool in cold water. We filter the cooled mushrooms and loosely (so that it does not open from expansion during freezing) we lay out in a pre-prepared container (containers, freezer bags, jars). It is advisable to select the container capacity from the planned quantity for the preparation of one dish.

The ideal container for freezing mushrooms (and not only) is a package made of kraft cardboard, which is 100% natural material. Inside, such a package is fully laminated, due to which it has moisture and grease resistance, additionally providing a higher safety of the product compared to plastic or polypropylene containers. The transparent window in these boxes is also environmentally friendly, made of biodegradable film based on cornstarch. You can buy kraft cardboard containers in online store(for example, in this store).

Mushroom Steaming

Compared to blanching mushrooms, this method allows better preservation of flavor and a better texture. To preserve the color of the mushrooms, it is necessary to soak them for 5-7 minutes in water with the addition of citric acid (based on 1 liter of water, 1 teaspoon). We will need a pan with a lid and a grate that provides a distance of 4-5 cm from the bottom of the pan (you can use, for example, a pan with special grates for cooking Buryat national dishes, or something like a double boiler). Pour 3 cm of water into the pan, so that it does not cover the holes on the grate, put the mushrooms on the grate, close the lid tightly and put on fire. After boiling, the mushrooms should be steamed for 3 minutes. If you are using whole mushrooms, the steaming time should be increased to 5-6 minutes. Take out the mushrooms, cool in cold water, strain, put into prepared containers. Remove the containers from the freezer. The shelf life of such mushrooms is up to 12 months. The use of frozen and steamed mushrooms is versatile, in most mushroom recipes.

Roasting mushrooms

The method consists in quickly frying the mushrooms in a small amount of oil over high heat. Due to the presence of oil in the recipe, the shelf life is reduced to 8 months, but the densest structure of the fungus is obtained.

• add 2 tablespoons of olive oil or refined sunflower oil to the pan;
• heat the oil over medium heat;
• lay out a thin layer of pre-finely chopped mushrooms;
• fry for 3-5 minutes;
• cool;
• lay out in containers;
• put in the refrigerator.

Kira Stoletova

People in the summer-autumn period do a lot of homework for the winter. The methods chosen for this are very different: salt, sour, marinate. To store vegetables and berries all winter, many began to use freezers. Freezing mushrooms is also practiced by housewives.

Raw mushroom preparation

Tubular mushrooms can be frozen, but they do not need to be boiled. The fact is that the bottom cap layer is porous and absorbs a lot of water. If such mushrooms are boiled, then in winter, after defrosting, a shapeless watery mass will be obtained. There is another option for harvesting: boil the mushrooms, and then squeeze them well and let the water drain. In this case, frozen fruit bodies will keep their shape and look more appetizing in the dish.

Fruit bodies (except small ones) are divided into parts. Everything is put in a colander for several hours and dries up, or raw mushrooms are dried with a towel. The prepared mass is distributed into packages (containers) and frozen. The temperature in the freezer should be from -18 ° C and below. At high temperatures, it will not be possible to freeze mushrooms for the winter, the fruits will begin to rot. So that the fruiting bodies do not stick together, they are laid out in a thin layer on a flat surface and held until hardened in the chamber. After a few hours, frozen mushrooms are placed in a container or bag.

The variety of fresh fruiting bodies, the date of freezing and the shelf life of frozen mushrooms are written on the container. The container is completely filled. The less air there is inside, the longer the frozen mushrooms will last. The same goes for packages. The remaining air should be squeezed out of them so that the freezing is of high quality.

Preparation of boiled (fried, stewed) mushrooms

There are different ways to freeze mushroom mass. Fruit bodies can be boiled, stewed, fried and even baked.

For cooking, the mushroom mass should be carefully sorted out, sorted by type, size. Then cut into pieces. Boil for 5-10 minutes in boiling water. The leg of the fruit bodies is tougher, it is cut into smaller pieces. It is better to throw away the blue or blackened leg. Frozen fruit bodies should be clean and firm.

Move the boiled mushrooms to a colander, let dry. When cool, squeeze them lightly, divide into pieces and put in bags. Food frozen in this way takes up much less space in the chamber than food in containers.

The remaining mushroom broth is poured out, and the liquid in which white and redheads were boiled is used for cooking. Some do freeze stewed mushrooms. For this you need:

• clean products;
• wash;
• boil in salted liquid;
• add spices, vegetables;
• simmer ¼ h;
• cool;
• pour into containers along with the liquid to the very top so that there is no air left;
• place in the freezer;
• set -18 ° C and below;
• shelf life in the freezer is no more than 3 months.

Freezing forest mushrooms for the winter is also carried out in a fried form. In this case, both tubular and lamellar types are used. Processing is as follows: the mushroom mass is cleaned of debris, washed several times with water; then cut into plates or cubes, fried for 20 minutes until golden brown in a small amount of vegetable oil, without spices. Freeze chilled.

Such mushrooms are ready to be eaten immediately after being removed from the chamber. They are added to soups, salads, stewed cabbage, fried potatoes, make stuffing for pies and more.

Mushrooms baked in the oven on a baking sheet are well stored in the freezer. They are laid out in an even thin layer, vegetable oil is not used. After baking, the mushroom mass is cooled and frozen in portioned bags. Many people use plastic containers, cups and so on.

Such mushrooms in a conventional freezer do not deteriorate for about 3 months. The shelf life is extended under certain storage conditions: maintaining the desired temperature and integrity of the package. Only young, unspoiled by insects and rot fruiting bodies are subject to freezing. Quality products will last much longer.

Defrost Rules

You need to take care of defrosting fresh mushrooms in advance. Prepare a bag with fruiting bodies by putting it overnight on the bottom shelf in the refrigerator. The next day, it is enough to hold the frozen mushrooms at room temperature for an hour. In this case, it is advisable to place them in a colander with a tray so that the melted liquid does not spread.

Defrost preferably in this way. Otherwise, many useful substances will be lost. Boiled or fried fresh-frozen fruits are immediately added to prepared dishes. Additional processing is not needed.

If you need to quickly defrost a mushroom bag in time, put it in a colander and put it under a stream of cold water. Another way is to use the microwave. It has a defrost mode, but this is not the best technology.

freezing mushrooms for the winter

Mushroom storage / How to freeze mushrooms for the winter

FREEZING MUSHROOMS, MUSHROOMS | Irina Belaja

Conclusion

The freezer is suitable for storing all types of mushrooms, but most of all - for porcini, boletus, redheads, chanterelles, mushrooms and champignons. Proper harvesting of fresh mushrooms will allow them to retain their beneficial properties for the whole winter. Therefore, their freezing must be approached with knowledge of the matter. If the mushrooms were frozen correctly, then their shelf life in the refrigerator reaches a year or more.

Fresh champignons in winter are no longer a curiosity. Even in this cold season, mushrooms can be easily found in any store and, as an option, stock them up in the summer and prepare them for future use in various ways.

The gifts of nature can be frozen or pickled, the main thing is to do everything right. And how to freeze fresh champignons is not a problem, because they are a non-capricious product and will not cause much trouble.

This mushroom also boasts folic acid. It helps the fair sex to normalize and maintain hormonal balance. It is practically absent in many plants and animal meat.

Content vitamins A, C and part B vitamins in champignons improve the functioning of the immune system.

These gifts of nature, with constant use, have a positive effect on the cerebral cortex, improving its work and memory.

It would be nice to stock up on such a miracle so that you can enjoy delicious and healthy dishes all year round.

Is there a danger

Forewarned is forearmed! Surely, before preparing mushrooms for the winter, someone has a question whether these mushrooms are completely safe. It turns out that freezing champignons in a home refrigerator is just one of the most effective and safe ways of harvesting used by housewives.

Champignons are saprophytic mushrooms. The main source of nutrition is glucose, it is best absorbed by them. Hydrolysis of hemicellulose is a secondary source of nutrition. The substrates for champignons are wheat straw, tree sawdust and corn stalks. In general, these fungi feed on dead organic tissues, so they do not contain any substances that are toxic and harmful to humans. So there is no doubt that you can freeze champignons!

Preparing champignons before freezing

Freezing mushrooms for the winter at home does not require anything special. But following some rules will help to do everything right, and the result will be beyond praise:

The champignons are washed and cleaned, now you need to put everything. The process is not time consuming, but there are some tricks.

How to properly pack

This delicate product requires a certain attitude and it is better to process it faster. Before you freeze champignons at home, you should listen to some tips:

Properly frozen mushrooms are stored in the freezer for up to a year.

How to keep fresh mushrooms

With a shortage of time and a large harvest, questions arise: is it possible to freeze mushrooms raw, because it would be so elementary. In fact, mushrooms must necessarily undergo the preparation described above (washing, cleaning, packaging).

There are no restrictions on whether fresh mushrooms can be frozen. Champignons are harvested in any form. But when putting in a bag or in a container, you need to sign what kind of mushrooms they are, so that when you remove them from the freezer, you can understand what kind of dish to cook from them. If broken, you can put them in minced meat, and whole ones can be fried.

You can also freeze the product in boiled form. Here you have to work a little.

Preparation of boiled product

The advantages of such a preparation are that when removed from the freezer, you can immediately cook something delicious.

Cooking boiled mushrooms is done as follows:

• take the necessary container, preferably enameled (if there is none, a metal one will do);
• mushrooms are poured with cold salted water and simmered for 5-10 minutes (the time depends on the size of the product);
• ready-made champignons are thrown into a colander;
• after cooling, they are laid out in bags or containers, then sent to the freezer.

Store such blanks up to 6 months. Frozen boiled champignons go well with potatoes, pasta, pot dishes, etc.

Freeze with broth

If, after boiling the product, the hand does not rise to pour out the fragrant liquid, then it can be frozen. There are some tricks:

• champignons are boiled in salted water, allowed to cool;
• in the prepared container, put a tight food-grade plastic bag so that its edges extend beyond the boundaries of the container;
• the broth is carefully poured along with the product, the bag is tied and all this is put in the freezer;
• when the liquid freezes, the bag is removed from the container and put back into the freezer with a briquette.

There is nothing laborious in such operations. But there is a basis for fragrant soup.

Fried champignons

Is it possible to freeze champignons in a home refrigerator in raw and boiled form - this is already clear. But if you want to cook fried ones in the same way? There are no problems in this either, because mushrooms in any form are perfectly preserved.

Necessary preparations for harvesting:

After frying, the cooled mushrooms are laid out in containers and placed in the freezer. A big advantage of fried mushrooms is that water evaporates during processing, and the volume decreases. So they won't take up too much space in the freezer. There is no need to defrost them before cooking - you can immediately put the mushrooms in the pan. Store such a product for up to three months.

You can cook julienne, stew, lasagna and much more from frozen fried champignons, and harvesting mushrooms for the winter in this way is very simple, there would be a desire. This is a very convenient storage method, thanks to which both useful substances and excellent taste are preserved.

Attention, only TODAY!

In pursuit of various recipes for preserving mushrooms, many people forget that wild mushrooms can be kept fresh with conventional freezing. , the Country of Soviets will tell you.

The rules for freezing any product state that only fresh, clean, not spoiled products are subject to it. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting low-quality frozen fruits, vegetables or mushrooms, which, after defrosting, can only be thrown into the trash.

Before freezing mushrooms for the winter, carefully sort them out.. Clear them of earth and leaves. It is also not recommended to use wormy mushrooms for freezing. It is best to select young, hard mushrooms for this purpose.

There are several types of freezing fresh mushrooms for the winter. You can freeze fresh, not boiled mushrooms. It is best to freeze white, Polish, mushrooms, champignons, chanterelles, boletus and boletus in this way. They can be frozen raw because these mushrooms are very strong.

Wash the mushrooms in water to remove any dirt, but you can not do this, and just remove all the leaves, grass and earth from their pulp. If you still washed the mushrooms, then it would be advisable to dry them on a towel or napkin so that they do not stick together in the bag when frozen. Put dry mushrooms in a plastic bag in a thin layer and put it in the freezer.

In the same way, you can freeze butternuts, but they must first be cleaned of the skin. It is best to defrost raw mushrooms by placing them in the refrigerator.. Then they will be just like fresh, just out of the woods.

If you are afraid to freeze raw mushrooms for the winter, you can pre-boil them in water for 5 minutes. Most often, mushrooms intended for frying are frozen in this way. After all, here you can use not small hard mushrooms, but mushrooms of any size. If you have very large mushrooms, you can cut their caps into several pieces.

After you have boiled the mushrooms, let them cool, put them in a colander to drain excess liquid from them. Now they can be laid out in food bags and tightly tied. Release excess air from the bag, it is useless to us and will only take up space in the freezer.

Because thawed boiled mushrooms are an excellent place for the reproduction of various pathogenic bacteria, expect that you could use one package of frozen boiled mushrooms to prepare one dish.

You can freeze not only the mushrooms themselves, but also the mushroom broth. To prepare such a broth, you can take any mushrooms, except for dark species. The broth must be poured into containers, after putting food bags into them. Now you can pour the cold broth over the containers and place them in the freezer. After the broth is completely frozen, it must be removed from the container and stored in a bag in the form of a neat briquette. After defrosting, the broth is immediately ready for making mushroom-based soups.

To prepare the broth, you can use not only mushrooms, if desired, you can add carrots and onions.

You can also freeze fried mushrooms.. To do this, clean, prepared mushrooms are fried in a small amount of vegetable oil for 20 minutes until all excess moisture has evaporated. Completely cooled mushrooms are laid out in bags and frozen.

By the way, so that the mushrooms do not lose their sweet taste and aroma when frying, mushrooms can be fried on a baking sheet in the oven. For such roasting, even sunflower oil is not required, and the mushrooms themselves are cooked in their own juice.

Frozen mushrooms for the winter can be stored at -18 ° C for up to a year. After completely defrosting the mushrooms, immediately subject them to heat treatment and in no case leave them for later in the refrigerator.

We hope that the tips on how to freeze mushrooms for the winter will be useful to you, and you will be able to enjoy dishes from fresh forest mushrooms for a very long time.

You need to dry and freeze mushrooms fresh, just picked. The best thing is to pick mushrooms yourself, and not buy in the market or even worse on the road. You do not know when and where they were collected, how they were stored. And mushrooms instantly absorb all harmful substances if they grow or simply lie near cars.

Before processing, the mushrooms need to be sorted out, once again check whether poisonous or inedible mushrooms have fallen into your “prey”. All stale, heavily wormy, mashed mushrooms should be set aside. Some of them, by the way, can be used in salting, and some will have to be thrown away. But for drying and freezing, mushrooms must be selected.

What does fresh mean? White and boletus will live in the refrigerator after assembly for a maximum of a day, and then if you collected young and strong ones. Boletus boletus is best processed on the day of collection. Chanterelles will be able to "hold out" in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

All mushrooms must be cleaned of twigs and dirt, carefully cut off the ground on the leg. For drying and freezing fresh mushrooms, it is better not to wash them. They absorb water very well, therefore, they will dry poorly and may become moldy, and when frozen, the water will turn into ice.

How to freeze mushrooms

Method 1. Raw

White, boletus, boletus and all mushrooms with a sponge under the hat - it is better to freeze fresh. This will keep them fresh and supple. When boiled, these mushrooms will become watery and lose a lot of taste after defrosting. In the same way, you can freeze mushrooms and chanterelles.

To save space in the freezer, mushrooms should be cut, the smallest ones are best left whole, in winter they can decorate your dishes.

Spread the mushrooms in a thin layer on a tray or bottom of the freezer, which is turned on to the maximum so that the mushrooms freeze very quickly. After 12 hours, mushrooms can be poured into a bag and the freezer returned to normal mode.

Method 2. Boiled

Before freezing, mushrooms must be boiled, in accordance with the recommendations for the preparation of each type. For example, mushrooms need to be boiled for at least half an hour, otherwise they can cause an upset in the body. After cooking, put the mushrooms in a colander and let drain. For a long time - half an hour, or even an hour. You can squeeze the mushrooms a little more with your hands to remove excess moisture.

Then put the mushrooms in a tight bag or container for freezing and put in the freezer.

Important! Mushrooms cannot be re-frozen - you will get a tasteless watery porridge at the exit.

It is best to defrost mushrooms slowly - just transfer to the refrigerator and leave overnight. If not defrosted, then you can defrost at room temperature.

Advice: If you are afraid that large white and boletus will turn out watery, after freezing, cut off their sponge.

How to dry mushrooms

White ones are usually dried, but aspen mushrooms are excellent in dried form, sometimes butter and chanterelles are also dried.

Mushrooms for drying should be coarsely chopped: they will dry out 3-4 times. Small mushrooms can be dried whole. If the mushroom is medium, then just separate the hat and leg.

Method 1. Under the sun

If the balcony faces the sunny side and the street is hot, then you can dry the mushrooms just in the sun. String them on strings and hang them in the sun. The main thing is that they are blown by the wind. They will dry out in three to four days, but if the weather deteriorates, you can dry them in the oven.

Method 2. In the oven

It is necessary to put the mushrooms on a baking sheet in one layer, open the oven door so that there is air access, you can turn on the convection mode. Put the oven at 70-80 degrees and dry for several hours. It can be done in several steps, but do not close the oven door.

Method 3. In the oven

If there is a stove in the country, then the most convenient thing is to dry it in it. Especially in the fall it has to be heated often. To dry one batch, you will need several fireboxes: first, the mushrooms will need to be placed in an already cooled oven, in the oven it should be about 50 degrees. And leave for 3-4 hours - the mushrooms will dry up, they will become soft, but the juice will no longer be released. In the next furnace, the mushrooms must be dried at a temperature of 70-80 degrees. When they become dry and brittle, they are ready.

Attention! Do not put mushrooms in the oven during the fire and immediately after it, otherwise everything will burn.

It is best to store dry mushrooms in a dry place in a glass or ceramic jar. You can grind some of the mushrooms in a coffee grinder, they will be useful for sauces and flavoring dishes, and they will take up much less space.

Before cooking, mushrooms should be washed well and soaked in hot water for 2 hours. After soaking, the water must be changed, boiled in new water.