Mushroom freezing is an easy and quick way to cook processed foods, which can then be used in various dishes if necessary. However, not everyone knows that it is possible to carry out such a procedure not only with fresh oyster mushrooms, but also with boiled and even fried. But, of course, for freezing in any form, mushrooms must be properly prepared.
Why is freezing good?
Freezing is the most popular method of harvesting mushrooms for the future. It is with this method that they retain their original taste and smell. You can store raw frozen mushrooms of this type for about a year, and boiled or fried for 6-7 months. From such blanks you can cook any dish: starting with soups and ending with pizza.
Freezing is also considered the fastest method, since, for example, canning oyster mushrooms takes much more time and takes a lot of effort.
Frozen mushrooms retain most of the vitamins and minerals found in fresh ones. While canning takes away from mushrooms about 40% of nutrients.
It is also very convenient that you can freeze a portion, which is necessary for one preparation of a dish, and in the case of canning, it is often impossible to calculate the required amount, and excess mushrooms remain. Mushrooms that were stored frozen can be eaten even by children, while canned mushrooms can be dangerous.
How to choose oyster mushrooms for freezing?
For frozen workpieces, it is important to carefully select the mushrooms. When buying or collecting it yourself in the forest, pay attention to the appearance of each mushroom:
- Oyster mushrooms should not have yellow spots or any damage on the hats.
- Do not use a mushroom with a pungent, unpleasant odor. It is not suitable for freezing, nor for eating immediately.
- There should be no cracks on the hats. They talk about stale.
- When buying, pay attention that the mushrooms have almost no legs or are very short. When picking mushrooms on their own, cut them off by the hat, since the legs of oyster mushrooms are usually tasteless and stiff.
- Too big hat at the mushroom means that it is old. Such mushrooms are not so healthy and usually tasteless. While young oyster mushrooms contain many vitamins, minerals, micro and macro elements, and they are soft and tasty.
- All mushrooms should be a gray-blue uniform color.
Freezing
Fresh oyster mushrooms
If you decide to freeze this type of mushroom, but want to do it a few days after purchase or collection, put temporarily unwashed and uncut mushrooms in the refrigerator. And when you decide to freeze, once again check each mushroom so that it is not rotten and damaged.
Rinse oyster mushrooms with cool water and put on a paper towel so that all the liquid from them is glass. Then cut the mushrooms into small pieces or slices and lay them again on a napkin or towel in an even layer so that they dry out.
Transfer oyster mushrooms to a board or tray and place in the freezer from -18 degrees for four hours. This must be done so that the mushrooms do not stick together in a continuous layer. Then put them in bags or in a container, and place them in the freezer.
Boiled
You can freeze and boiled oyster mushrooms. To prepare them you will need:
- 2 kilograms of oyster mushroom;
- 2 tablespoons of salt;
- 5 bay leaves;
- half a teaspoon of citric acid;
- black pepper - 4 peas.
Boil water in a saucepan. Throw peeled and chopped mushrooms in boiling water. Let them boil for another 15 minutes, and then pour in all the spices. Stir and let simmer for another 15 minutes. When the mushrooms settle to the bottom of the pan, remove them from the heat and put in a colander.
Be sure to wait until all the water drains from them, for this it is better to shift the mushrooms on a wooden cutting board. Then transfer the oyster mushrooms to a tray covered with parchment or cling film. In this form, put them in the freezer for 3 hours. After freezing, divide the mushrooms into portions of the size you need and put in bags or plastic containers, put in the freezer.
Fried oyster mushrooms
To freeze fried oyster mushrooms, they must be properly cooked:
- Peel oyster mushrooms, wash well and cut into pieces (use about 2 kg).
- Preheat a pan pre-oiled with sunflower oil.
- Put the oyster mushrooms in a hot pan.
- Salt and fry until all the water from the mushrooms evaporates.
- Wait for the oyster mushrooms to cool and divide them into portions by plastic containers. Place in the freezer.
You can see how to properly prepare the mushrooms and freeze them in the following video clip:
Freezing rules
Mushrooms retain all their useful properties when frozen, if done correctly:
- It is important to understand that mushrooms are not subject to repeated freezing, therefore, they should initially be frozen portionwise. In this case, if you need to cook some dish with oyster mushrooms, you can immediately take how much you need and defrost.
- Mushrooms need to be frozen in the freezer at -18 degrees.
- When freezing, write on the bag or container the date of freezing, and in what form the mushrooms were frozen (fried, boiled, cheese).
How to defrost oyster mushrooms?
The most useful way is slow defrosting. It takes more time, but retains all the beneficial properties of mushrooms.
To do this, put the mushrooms in the refrigerator for about 12 hours. After defrosting completely, put them in a colander and place a bowl under the bottom so that excess water flows into it.
Remember that you can not store defrosted mushrooms in the refrigerator, they must be cooked immediately. Otherwise, dangerous bacteria appear in them, and you risk poisoning.
You can defrost oyster mushrooms in the microwave in auto defrost mode, but this method is not so useful.
If unprepared mushrooms are well cleaned before freezing, then you can simply put them in boiling water and cook.
It is absolutely not difficult to freeze oyster mushrooms; for this, no special devices or recipes are required. This method will make it possible to eat mushrooms at any time of the year, while preserving the most beneficial substances and vitamins in them.