Milk mushroom is a famous and popular mushroom among mushroom pickers. It is traditionally customary to salt or pickle it. In cold salting, its dense structure is preserved, the mushrooms turn out crispy and very tasty. But it is impossible to store the preparations for a long time in a city apartment, and pickles frozen on the balcony are only suitable for making soups or pies. Mushrooms soften and are of little use as an independent dish. For large harvests, pickles can be placed in jars, but storage in the refrigerator requires space. Therefore, the freezing method can be used to preserve mushrooms.
Features of freezing milk mushrooms
The quality of the product can be preserved as much as possible by quickly cooling it at -30 °C, but at home only the capabilities of the freezer are available, where the temperature cannot be lower than 15-18 °C. With this freezing method, large ice crystals destroy the cellular structure of the product. Is it possible to freeze lamellar mushrooms containing milky juice under such conditions?
The breast has a dense body and, it would seem, should freeze perfectly. But the presence of bitter milky juice requires soaking. In addition, in the forest they are traditionally hidden under a layer of fallen leaves, so in any case they will have to be washed thoroughly before being sent for storage.
All this raises fair questions about whether it is possible to freeze milk mushrooms without significant losses in quality and taste. The experience of mushroom pickers suggests that there are several methods that allow you to freeze milk mushrooms, but not fresh.
Before frozen mushrooms subjected to heat treatment, as a result of which a triple effect is achieved:
- microorganisms located on the surface of the raw material are destroyed;
- part of the cell sap goes into the broth, bitterness disappears;
- the volume of raw materials is reduced by 10-15%.
Fresh milk mushrooms are a perishable product that requires processing on the day of collection or the next day. Therefore, freezing milk mushrooms is suitable as an additional way to preserve a valuable harvest. Small-sized specimens are selected for pickling, and overgrown ones can be cut and frozen.
The general rules boil down to the following steps:
- sorting by types and sizes;
- cleaning and washing of raw materials;
- heat treatment;
- packaging of cooled raw materials into bags;
- freezing.
It is necessary to take into account the volume of the freezer and the fact that once frozen milk mushrooms cannot be subjected to this process again. The volume of containers or bags in which the product is packaged must accommodate a small amount of product, designed for one-time preparation.
Methods for preparing mushrooms for freezing
The freezing recipe comes down to choosing how you prefer to heat the mushrooms. They can be boiled or fried. Let's try to answer the question of how to properly freeze milk mushrooms in the refrigerator.
Freezing boiled milk mushrooms
The sorted mushrooms are thoroughly washed and dipped in boiling water. From the moment the water boils, boil them for 10-15 minutes. Under the influence of temperature, the protein begins to coagulate and harden, and the structure of the mushrooms is better preserved. Next, they are thrown onto a sieve and allowed to drain as much water as possible. The cooled semi-finished product is packaged in containers and placed in the freezer. Alternatively, the prepared mushrooms are placed in cold salted water, boiled for 5-10 minutes from the moment they boil, dried, and placed in bags.
Freezing fried milk mushrooms
This recipe involves frying milk mushrooms in a frying pan with the addition of vegetable oil and spices. This way you can process mis-graded and too large specimens by cutting them into small pieces. Another option for preparing mushroom raw materials for freezing is frying without oil, in its own juice.
In both cases, raw mushrooms are placed in a deep frying pan and fried for 20-30 minutes, trying to evaporate the moisture as much as possible. During frying, active processes of protein and carbohydrate breakdown and the formation of new substances begin in the product. The products have a more pronounced taste and aroma.The fried mushrooms are cooled and frozen in portioned containers.
Freezing salted milk mushrooms
As an option to save the harvest, there is a way to freeze salted milk mushrooms for the winter. In this case, you will have to forget about the elastic structure of the mushroom. After defrosting, they will become soft and can be used to make soups or as a filling for pies.
In this case, the salted mushrooms are placed on a sieve and lightly squeezed, trying to reduce the amount of moisture as much as possible. Place into containers and freeze. To speed up the process, the mushrooms are washed from the brine, preferably with boiled water, dried, packaged, and stored in the freezer.
These freezing methods imply that mushroom products must be fresh. Only in this case can the blanks be safely stored for up to six months. Mushrooms removed from the chamber must be defrosted during cooking.
