Mushrooms are fried, stewed, boiled, salted, pickled. And they can be frozen. This makes it possible to use it in winter ready-made. Fungi can be frozen raw, but it is better to rinse and boil them beforehand, since they have a lot of debris, sand, leaves, etc.
And also, because they will take less space in the freezer when cooked. Housewives have disagreements on how much to cook mushrooms.
Before freezing
If you want to buy mushrooms on the market, then you need to buy them with caution. After all, you do not know where before they were collected. They could grow near the roadway or in places where there is radioactive waste. And since fungi take in all the harmful substances, it is clear that there will be little benefit from them. It is better to collect it yourself, but you can do it if you are an understanding mushroom picker. It is important to know how to cook mushrooms before freezing. If you are not very versed in their types, then you can mistakenly collect poisonous or inedible specimens and poison the whole family.
How to prepare
How to cook forest mushrooms? First, they need to be sorted out, putting aside the old, wormy, wrinkled and stale. Stale people are those who have been lying for more than one day. You need to cook them on the day of collection. Some of them are suitable for pickling, and some are simply thrown away.
Mushrooms need to be cleaned of garbage. Such as stitches and morels, it is possible to boil only after preliminary processing. They have poisonous acid. However, after they are filled with water for an hour and a half, these substances leave. The water in which the morels were soaked can be drained, they are squeezed out a little, and pure water is added. How to cook wild mushrooms before freezing? Not less than half an hour, or even more.
How to sort mushrooms
Before freezing, they are sorted: white, russula, oily, boletus, boletus, mushroom, mushrooms and mushrooms are divided into old and young. Some are good for pies, others for soups and snacks.
And how much to cook mushrooms before freezing? They are cooked from five minutes (mushrooms), up to twenty minutes (boletus), thirty (russula), forty (boletus) and fifty minutes (boletus).
You need to know that mushrooms with a tubular structure are less dense than lamellar ones. Honey mushrooms and chanterelles are tough. Honey mushrooms hats freeze as a less rigid part. They cook longer than the rest. Boil to a boil, then pour the broth and, adding pure water, boil for about an hour. In the future, it is clear that the stiffness will depend on how much time to cook fresh mushrooms.
After boiling, the mushrooms need to be cooled, allowed to drain water and put in the freezer. For freezing, they are divided into small portions and placed in bags. You need to understand that after you take the fungi for cooking, you can not re-freeze them: they will deteriorate. In the freezer, they can be stored for no more than six months.
How much to cook mushrooms?
Before freezing, the hostess often arises this question. There is no definite answer to it. Some cook mushrooms for long, from five to ten minutes. The volume of mushrooms from this decreases, but then it will take longer to cook undercooked when cooking. The freezing process itself will not cause any particular difficulties. Now that we know how much to cook mushrooms before freezing, we will decide which ones are still better to be frozen raw and which ones we will cook.
In raw form, it is preferable to freeze good varieties of mushrooms: these are white, boletus, boletus, in general, those with a spongy surface under the hat. Chanterelles and honey mushrooms fall into the same category. It is not recommended to freeze these mushrooms for a simple reason: after defrosting, they will lose their taste and become watery.
In old mushrooms, the lower layer of the hat must be removed before freezing, in lamellar species - lamellae, in spongy species - the spongy part.
To make fungi stack more compactly in the freezer, it is recommended to cut them into small pieces. The smallest can be frozen whole. In winter, they are suitable for decorating the appearance of dishes.
To freeze, chopped mushrooms are scattered on the pallet with a thick layer and turn on the freezer at maximum temperature. After twelve hours, any fungi will be frozen. After that, they are poured into a package and put in a freezer, switched to normal mode.
Boiled
Before the mushrooms are frozen, they are boiled (at a specific time for each species). After cooking, they are thrown back onto the grate until water drains. Allow to stand for at least one hour. You can even crush them a little to drain water. After the mushrooms have dried, they are put in a strong plastic bag and sent to the freezer.
Attention! Mushrooms should not be re-frozen - they will make a tasteless watery mass.
For defrosting, it is better to transfer them to a refrigerator and leave them overnight. If they do not thaw, then they can be thawed repeatedly at room temperature.
Defrost them slowly in the refrigerator. There they will gradually move away from freezing, but in addition you still need to know the secrets - how much to cook mushrooms.
There are a couple of good ways to freeze.
The first way. Mushrooms are washed, cooled, placed in plastic bags, sealed and sent to freeze. After thawing, they are fried with onions and served to the table.
The second way. Take mushrooms, citric acid and salt. Mushrooms are peeled, washed, thrown into moderately salted and acidified boiling water and boiled for about five minutes. After cooling, dry and freeze. Store in plastic bags from which air is squeezed. After cooking, eat immediately, without leaving for later.