Freezing oyster mushrooms at home
Freezing oyster mushrooms is one of the ways to harvest your favorite mushrooms for the winter.
Freezing oyster mushrooms at home
Freezing benefits
Among the methods of harvesting oyster mushrooms at home for the winter, they are considered the most effective, because:
- When stored in the refrigerator freezer at the proper temperature, frozen mushrooms retain their natural structure, integrity and color.
- If you properly freeze oyster mushrooms in the freezer, they will retain their food quality and natural smell.
The shelf life for frozen oyster mushrooms is 6 months for thermally processed and 12 months for freshly frozen ones. At the same time, it is easy to track the expiration date if you mark the packages with the freezing dates. The optimum storage temperature is -18 ° C.
Stored frozen, they act as a semi-finished product, convenient for the subsequent preparation of various culinary dishes. Unlike pickling and canning, it is possible to prepare the product by freezing in portions, which greatly facilitates subsequent use, limited by the amount required for one meal. The percentage of contained nutrients and biological value remains almost at the level of fresh ones.
Freezing preparation
For freezing in the freezer, specimens sorted according to the following criteria are suitable:
- without yellow spots and mechanical damage on the mushroom cap;
- fresh, without a pungent odor;
- not overgrown, young, with juicy white flesh, strong structure and gray-blue cap.
Overgrown mushrooms are not suitable for harvesting, since they are characterized by a hard-fiber structure and mushroom pulp that is fresh in taste, acquiring a rubbery, difficult-to-chew viscousness during the preparation process.
Fungal age is easily determined by the size of the cap. In an overgrown specimen, its diameter reaches 15-30 cm.
The leg of these mushrooms contains the least amount of healthy substances, they are inferior in taste to mushroom pulp and are tough in structure, therefore they are often not used for freezing, but are cut off completely or leaving short stumps.
Before freezing, oyster mushrooms are cleaned of excess debris by rinsing (but not soaking) in running water and subsequently drying thoroughly.
If it is not possible to freeze the mushrooms at home on the day of their collection or purchase, they are stored in the refrigerator, without first cleaning or washing, whole, not cut into pieces. This keeps it fresh.
The main ways to freeze mushrooms
There are several basic ways to freeze mushrooms at home.
Raw
Mushrooms can be frozen raw
Freezing fresh oyster mushrooms means preserving almost all nutrients and ensuring their suitability for food for a long time.
Raw ones are often frozen whole, cutting into pieces only large specimens.The product is spread on a tray or other flat container (plate, board) in an even layer and placed in a freezer for 24 hours.
At the end of the day, the mushrooms are taken out and packaged in portions in the required amount, subsequently sent for storage to the refrigerator for frozen products.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
Nowadays, the so-called shock freezing of products is very often used, which can also be used when freezing mushrooms, in particular oyster mushrooms. This type of freezing is good in that it does not cause changes in the structure of the products that are stored and frozen in this way, they practically do not differ from fresh ones after defrosting. To do this, the mushrooms are laid out on a flat surface in the freezer, which is turned on at full power. At such a low temperature, the mushrooms are kept for 1 hour, then placed in bags and sent to storage at the usual temperature for a freezer. By the way. Regular freezing means placing the product in a freezer at an ordinary temperature of -18 ° C.
If you freeze oyster mushrooms, then their preparation for this procedure is somewhat different from preparing for freezing mushrooms purchased in a supermarket. Mushrooms are cleaned of forest debris that could get on the surface of their caps and foliage, and then wipe with a dry cloth. Only very contaminated oyster mushrooms are washed under running water and allowed to dry on a towel.
Boiled
It is permissible to freeze oyster mushrooms at home after heat treatment, including boiling. This method allows you to eliminate doubts about the quality of freshness of mushrooms and is suitable for cases when their integrity is violated, and the appearance is lost.
Before boiling, they are cut into small pieces, then sent to boiling salted water and boiled for 5 minutes. The water is drained. The cooled mushrooms are packed in portions and placed in a refrigerator for long-term freezing, where frozen products are stored.
Fried
For lovers of fried oyster mushrooms for their subsequent use in pies, pancakes and pizza, the method of freezing mushrooms after their preliminary frying is suitable. Fry them in vegetable or butter for 20 minutes until the liquid secreted by the mushrooms has completely evaporated and a golden crust appears. Chilled ones are packed in portions and placed for long-term storage in a refrigerator for frozen products.
Conclusion
There are several ways to freeze oyster mushrooms at home for the winter. Each of them has its own advantages. You can freeze oyster mushrooms raw or boiled and fried. When stored in the fridge freezer, the mushrooms retain their gastronomic qualities and health benefits.
