Two best ways to freeze fresh mushrooms

Champignons are quite affordable: you can buy them all year round. However, fresh mushrooms are stored in the refrigerator for no more than 4 days, so the answer to the question of how to freeze champignons at home will not hurt the housewife. Firstly, this will allow her to create reserves for the winter, when forest products are as cheap as possible, and thereby save the family budget. Secondly, do not throw away excess product purchased in a store if not all the mushrooms were used to prepare the dish. Moreover, this process will not take much time.

There are two ways to freeze fresh champignons at home: whole and cut. The housewife will do the right thing by freezing some of the mushrooms whole, and some by pre-cutting them. This will allow her to prepare dishes in the future that require both whole and chopped mushrooms. After all, you can’t defrost champignons before cooking, and they won’t be easy to cut when frozen.

Advice

It is better to freeze champignons for the winter in small portions, so that one bag or container contains an amount sufficient to prepare just one dish, since they cannot be re-frozen.

Freezing whole mushrooms

In order to freeze fresh champignons whole, you need to select only medium-sized and even ones. Therefore, mushrooms collected or purchased in a store must be sorted and sorted.

Next you need to proceed according to the following algorithm.

1. Rinse the mushrooms well in warm water, removing any adhering dirt and grass.
2. Lay a towel, napkin or tablecloth on the table, place mushrooms on it, leave them for 20 minutes so that all the water drains and is absorbed into the fabric. Only in this case will it be possible to keep the champignons as smooth and beautiful as fresh ones when frozen. Otherwise, the water, expanding in them during freezing, will damage the mushrooms, and after cooking they will be watery.
3. Place mushrooms in plastic bags.
4. Release excess air from the bags and seal them tightly. If the package is not equipped with a special fastener like a zipper, then it must be sealed or at least tightly tied.
5. All that remains is to place the bags in the freezer. If it has a quick freezing function, then this mode should be turned on for 2-3 hours. If it is absent, you will have to wait longer, but this will not affect the quality of the product.

The preparation can be used safely for 12 months. You should not defrost mushrooms before putting them in a dish, except in cases where they need to be beautifully arranged one at a time or strung on a skewer. In this case, you can take the bag of mushrooms out of the refrigerator in advance, but you still shouldn’t allow it to completely defrost: just wait until the mushrooms can be easily separated from each other.

Freezing sliced ​​champignons

How to freeze champignons after cutting? You will have to tinker a little longer with this preparation for the winter, but the result is worth it.

1. Rinse the mushrooms, place them on a cloth, allowing excess liquid to drain.
2. Cut into plates of the required width (optimally 2–3 mm).
3. Place them on a tray or large platter in a single layer.
4. Place in the freezer and wait until they are frozen. In the fast freezing mode, they will be ready in an hour; without using it, you need to wait at least 3 hours. You cannot freeze sliced ​​champignons immediately in a container or, especially, in a bag, since in this case they will break and become ugly, and it will be impossible to use them for preparing holiday dishes.
5. When the plates are frozen, they need to be carefully placed in containers, tightly closed with lids and returned to the freezer.

Advice

Whatever method of freezing for the winter is chosen, housewives need to know how long fresh champignons can be stored in the refrigerator: no more than 4 days, and the freezer extends their life for a whole year, so it makes sense to stick a sticker with the date on each container with them.

Preliminary defrosting of sliced ​​champignons before cooking is not required. If you want to beautifully arrange them on top of a casserole or other dish, just open the lid of the container and carefully separate the mushrooms from each other. If they were initially frozen correctly: not together, but separately, as recommended above, then this will not cause any difficulties.

Washing and cutting mushrooms will not cause any particular difficulties for the housewife, it will not take much time, but the preparation will delight you for a long time. When properly frozen, champignons will retain their good appearance, taste and aroma. It will be pleasant and easy to prepare delicious dishes with them. In addition, this will allow you to save a lot of money.