How to freeze oyster mushrooms will not be difficult if you have a recipe on hand, tested by experienced housewives. Oyster mushrooms are universal mushrooms, which are often used in any dishes for frying, stewing, and pickling. The easiest and fastest way to preserve them for the winter is to freeze them.
Preparatory work
To the question of whether it is possible to freeze oyster mushrooms, the answer is definitely positive. In frozen mushrooms, the set of vitamins and minerals remains unchanged, which cannot be said about a product that has been pickled or pickled. The method allows you to preserve the aroma and shape of freshly picked mushrooms.The main thing is to carry out this procedure correctly.
Mushrooms need to be carefully examined and only good ones selected. If there are any defects, for example: yellow spots, cracks, then the product is not suitable for long-term storage. After defrosting, they will give the dish an unpleasant odor and bitterness.
Good mushrooms have a uniform brownish-grayish tint to the caps and a pleasant aroma. It is better to buy mushrooms with small caps. This indicates that they are young, juicy and soft.
The stems of oyster mushrooms are quite harsh and do not contain nutritional components, so it is recommended to cut them off almost at the very cap.
The selected caps are thoroughly washed under running cold water. If you don’t have time to immediately freeze the product, then it is better not to wash or cut it, but simply place it in the refrigerator. The washed parts are distributed on a towel to drain the water.
Freezing methods
The easiest way is freeze mushrooms raw. You just need to wash them, dry them, cut them into small pieces and place them on a flat dish (a tray, a cutting board will do). After this, the oyster mushrooms are placed in the freezer for three hours. This step will prevent the cut pieces from freezing into one lump.
Then you can collect the mushrooms in one bag or distribute them into plastic containers. To prevent the product from absorbing foreign odors, the container must be tightly closed. Go back to the freezer. Fresh oyster mushrooms frozen in this way can be stored for up to 12 months.
Before freezing oyster mushrooms at home, you can boil them. The recipe is not complicated and does not require great culinary skills.
- Place a pan of water on the stove and bring it to a boil.
- Mushrooms (you will need 2 kg) are washed, peeled, large caps are cut in half and added to boiling water. Cooking is recommended for 17 minutes.
- Then add 60 g of salt, 2.5 g of citric acid, add 4 bay leaves and 4-5 allspice peas. Boil for another 17 minutes.
- Place the boiled oyster mushrooms in a colander and wait for the excess liquid to drain.
- The hats are distributed in a thin layer on a board, bag or other flat surface. Place in the freezer for 3 hours.
- Once the caps are frozen, they can be distributed into separate containers for further storage.
Mushrooms frozen this way can be used at any time. After defrosting, they are added to soups, pizza, and potatoes.
Oyster mushrooms can be frozen and fried.
- Mushrooms are selected, washed and cut into small pieces.
- Place the chopped product in a frying pan with heated oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Fry until excess liquid evaporates.
- Once the dish has cooled, you can distribute it into containers and put it in the freezer.
To track shelf life, it is useful to indicate the date and time of packaging on the container.
The product can also be frozen in dried form. Oyster mushrooms are washed, cut into thin slices and sent to the oven (can be dried in the sun). Dried oyster mushrooms are very tasty using the following recipe:
- the chopped plates are distributed on a baking sheet and the oven is preheated to 50 degrees for 5 hours;
- then the slices are distributed on paper or a towel and left in a well-ventilated room;
- again the dried product is sent to the oven for 6 hours at a temperature of 70 degrees.
If the dried slices break down well, then they are ready for storage.If they have not reached a solid state, then they are again sent to the oven, preheated to 50 degrees. Dried and cooled products are sent to the freezer, divided into portions.
Important Terms
In the freezer, mushrooms should be stored at a temperature of -18 degrees or higher. Otherwise, the shelf life of the product is reduced. At temperatures below -10 degrees, oyster mushrooms should be used within three months.
As needed, a certain amount of mushrooms are taken from the freezer, transferred to a plate and placed in a regular section of the refrigerator.
Do not defrost at room temperature, as the taste changes for the worse.
If oyster mushrooms for the winter have undergone high-quality selection and purification before freezing, then the required amount of frozen product can be thrown into the prepared dish. In this case, there is no need to wait for defrosting.
The product cannot be re-frozen. Therefore, for long-term storage in the freezer, it is better to choose small containers for portion distribution.
