Freezing rules for porcini mushrooms
Freezing porcini mushrooms is done in several ways. The product can be fried, boiled, or raw. Frozen porcini mushrooms are used for soups, side dishes, pies and stir-fries. They are rich in nutrients. There are many recipes for cooking with porcini mushrooms.
Freezing rules for porcini mushrooms
Freezing preparation
Freezing porcini mushrooms will help preserve all vitamins and minerals in their fruiting bodies. If the procedure is carried out incorrectly, taste is lost.
Initially, the product is cleaned, forest debris is removed from its surface. It can be foliage, needles, or earth. The rotten product is discarded. Small places with rot are cut and washed.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
The mushrooms collected with their own hands in the forest or purchased on the market are cleaned with a brush or a new sponge for washing dishes. Freezing begins with cleaning the mushrooms, so it is best to do it right in the forest so that excess forest debris in the form of leaves, soil or needles does not end up on the harvested crop. If, nevertheless, the contamination on the surface is critical, then it is better to rinse the mushrooms under the tap, but not soak.
Soaking porcini mushrooms will lead to a change in taste, since they actively absorb water and the quality of freezing decreases accordingly. The crop is washed and dried - laid out on towels and moisture is removed from the surface, perhaps with paper towels.
Freezing methods
So that in winter you can cook dishes from frozen porcini mushrooms, a number of rules are followed in preparing them for freezing. The process depends on the form in which the mushrooms will be:
- cheese;
- boiled;
- steam treated;
- fried.
The product is stored for 12 months. At the same time, the date of freezing must be written on the containers. Prepared cans are washed thoroughly, they should close well. This will help the boletus not absorb odors from the refrigerator.
Raw
To freeze fresh porcini mushrooms, harvest is used, no more than 6-7 hours from the moment of cutting. Otherwise, the resulting product will become tasteless and may deteriorate.
Further, the harvest is sorted according to the size of the fruit bodies into small and large. Small mushrooms are frozen completely, so they retain their appearance. Large boletuses are cut in any way convenient for you, usually into cubes. The smaller the pieces, the faster it freezes and is better absorbed by the body in the future.
The entire prepared mass is spread for several hours on a tray or baking sheet in one layer. The tray is left in the freezer for several hours. This procedure will help the mushrooms not to stick together later.
Distribute the crop in containers (containers, cans, packages). Ratio: 1 container = 1 serving for cooking. The mushrooms prepared in this way are placed in a freezer.
Boiled
Like raw, they are cut into cubes, small ones are left intact (0.5 kg). Boiling lasts no more than 15 minutes. Water (2.5 l) is salted, the foam is removed. Next, the cooked product is taken out and transferred to a colander.When all the unnecessary liquid drains, the boletus is laid out on a towel and dried.
The porcini broth is also frozen. It is boiled until thick and frozen. Used as a sauce for side dishes and main dishes.
The boiled porcini mushroom is cooled and transferred to prepared containers. it is more convenient because boiled mushrooms become more compact.
Steam treatment
This method preserves nutrients and vitamins as much as possible. Boletus preparation is similar to the previous methods. It is cut into small cubes.
Pour 100-200 ml of pure water into a saucepan and cover with a lid. The prepared mass is poured into a colander and steamed for up to 6 minutes over boiling water. If the mushroom is large, steamed for up to 9 minutes. The cooled mass is transferred to jars, or containers, and frozen in the freezer.
Fried
Fried mushrooms can be frozen
The porcini mushroom is cut into pieces of any size convenient for you. Fry in sunflower oil until golden brown over medium heat.
You can also bake. Spread the mushrooms on a baking sheet, greased with sunflower oil, and put in the oven. Stir regularly, cook until golden brown. If you overexpose the mass in the oven longer than it should be, the taste and juiciness will be lost.
Freezing secrets
There are 10 main freezing secrets:
- By moving the mushroom mass into the bag, a minimum of air is left. This preserves the smell and taste of the mushrooms and does not oxidize.
- The container is closed tightly so that the smell does not get to the boletus.
- Fried ones are stored less than cooked ones - 8 months.
- Mushroom sauce is frozen from small chopped mushrooms.
- If the boletus itself has lost its appearance during transportation, it is chopped finely, the taste and usefulness will not deteriorate.
- The healthier and stronger the crop, the better it is stored. After defrosting, flabby frozen white mushrooms lose their appearance and taste.
- Drying is a mandatory step in any of the freezing methods.
- Defrost only in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf. Otherwise, the product will become infected with bacteria. Boletus may not be thawed at all. Immediately prepare dishes from frozen white mushrooms.
- The thickness of the cubes for freezing is 0.5 cm.
- If there is a shock freeze function, it is used for pre-freezing. The procedure is carried out not for 3 hours, but for 30 minutes.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
When defrosting, you need to take into account which mushrooms were in the container - raw or thermally processed. It is generally not recommended to defrost raw porcini mushrooms - they are immediately sent to the prepared dish. But frozen boiled and fried mushrooms can be slightly defrosted in the refrigerator, but many chefs are sure that it is better to immediately send them out of the freezer into a frying pan and roast them under a tightly closed lid until completely defrosting.
Do not forget that already thawed mushrooms cannot be re-frozen.
Storage rules
There are two storage methods:
- permanent;
- with preliminary freezing.
The first method is easier, all the mushrooms are packaged in containers and placed in the freezer. In the second, use a tray, baking sheet, or pallet. Porcini mushrooms are laid out on a prepared surface and transferred to the freezer for 2-3 hours. Then they are placed in containers and frozen.
Other types of blanks
Harvesting of porcini mushrooms begins in August. They can be pickled for the winter. Classic pickling recipe:
- water - 200 ml.;
- fresh porcini mushroom - 1 kg;
- vinegar 6% - 60 ml;
- salt - 1 tbsp. l;
- allspice - 3 peas;
- black pepper - 10 peas;
- carnation - 3 buds;
- bay leaf - 3 pcs.;
- onions - to taste.
Wash the mushrooms, peel and boil for 30 minutes. transfer to a colander and let the water drain. At this time, a marinade is prepared - water is boiled, adding spices and vinegar. The boletus is transferred to the finished marinade and cooked for up to 10 minutes.
Banks are prepared with a volume of 1 liter or 0.5 liter. Onion rings are placed at the bottom of the containers and mushrooms are placed. Everything is poured with marinade.Sterilization is carried out for 30 minutes per 1 liter can, for 0.5 liters - 20 minutes. Roll up containers and turn upside down. Cover with a warm blanket until completely cooled. The cooled jars are stored in the refrigerator.
Conclusion
Mushrooms are frozen in different states: fried, boiled, steamed and raw. Steam treatment preserves all vitamins, smell and taste. The purchased crop is always processed in advance.
For frozen fresh porcini mushrooms the shelf life is 10 months, for fried it is less than 8. Fresh mushrooms are cut into cubes if they are large. Small boletuses are frozen whole. Frozen porcini mushrooms are used for making soups, side dishes, sauces.
