How to freeze porcini mushrooms for the winter: recipes for proper cooking

Today quick freezing is one of the first places in the organization of product storage. Consider how to freeze porcini mushrooms. Housewives often choose this method, since long-term frozen storage allows you to preserve the natural taste, and all useful substances and trace elements remain almost unchanged.

Preparatory stage

Purchased or self-assembled mushrooms are carefully cleaned of forest debris with a soft brush or washcloth for dishes. Collecting them near the highway is not recommended, as mushrooms absorb harmful substances from engine exhaust.

It is advisable not to wash the gifts of the forest. You should resort to such a procedure if there is too much dirt: the mushrooms are lightly rinsed under a tap or washed in water acidified with vinegar. Do not soak for a long time, as their structure resembles a sponge that quickly absorbs moisture. To freeze porcini mushrooms for the winter, the presence of liquid is highly undesirable, so the product must be dry before freezing.

Fresh frozen storage

You can freeze porcini mushrooms fresh. Sorting is preliminarily carried out, large specimens are cut into several small slices. Small ones can be used to prepare interesting festive dishes, and divided into parts, add to goulash or cook soup.

Ready mushrooms are laid out in special containers or bags for freezing food. Wash the plastic containers thoroughly and hold them over a pot of steam for 2 to 3 minutes.

If during the preparatory work the mushrooms were rinsed, it is better to spread them out at some distance from each other, otherwise they will freeze. It is advisable to sprinkle them with citric acid so that the mushrooms do not lose their color.

After 12 hours of cooling in the refrigerator, they can be transferred into bags of about 200 - 300 g, after squeezing out the air, and in this form they can be placed in freezers for storage. Before preparing a dish with mushrooms, you do not need to defrost them: the blank is placed directly from the bag in a frying pan or in a soup pot.

Frozen mushrooms are not recommended to be re-frozen. This not only reduces their taste, but in some cases leads to poisoning. If it is necessary to defrost one refrigerator compartment, the packages must be transferred to another for this time. Freezing raw mushrooms should not be done in case of frequent power outages.

Small specimens can be washed thoroughly, cut into small pieces of garlic, put everything in a plastic bag and send it to the freezer.

Methods for freezing boiled specimens

In response to the question of how to properly freeze porcini mushrooms for the winter, it is often advised to harvest them boiled. This method has an advantage over fresh frozen storage - such a blank takes up less space. This is especially true for families who use a small refrigerator. In addition, specimens after cutting out wormholes and those that have lost their attractive appearance are suitable for this option.

Mushrooms are cut into large slices and boiled for 5 - 10 minutes in lightly s alted boiling water. Longer cooking is not recommended. After that, they are thrown back into a colander to glass the liquid. The total volume should decrease by about 3 times.

After complete cooling, you can fill special containers or plastic bags. Mushrooms frozen in this way are added to soups or gravies.

Freezing stock

The water in which mushrooms were boiled is used for cooking. It is pre-boiled to thicken the liquid, and then frozen in ice molds.

After boiling, the mushrooms are placed in jars and poured with broth. In this form, frozen porcini mushrooms are stored for about 1 year. When necessary, you can put the contents in a saucepan, and in 10 minutes you will have an almost ready broth.

Cooking in own juice

Mushrooms retain even more nutrients when they are boiled in their own juice. To do this, they are placed in a saucepan with a thick bottom or a deep frying pan and covered with a lid.When heated over low heat, after a few minutes, the process of evaporating the liquid will begin. It is recommended to heat the dishes not much, only up to +70 degrees.

Gradually, the volume of mushrooms will decrease three times, which will be a signal of readiness. After cooling, the contents of the pan, along with the liquid, are poured into special plastic bags. You can also add chopped greens, ground allspice, and then tightly close the containers.

To avoid problems, it is better to put in the bag when freezing the amount of mushrooms that is required to prepare one dish so that you do not have to freeze them again.

Sauteed mushrooms

Before freezing porcini mushrooms for the winter, you can pre-fry them in a pan. Peeled mushrooms are cut into cubes and placed in a frying pan without a lid. Gradually, they begin to release liquid, and after about 20 - 30 minutes, the water should completely evaporate.After that, you can add vegetable oil.

Frying is carried out until a golden crust is formed. Then they are laid out in a colander and allowed to drain excess fat. Packages are placed only after complete cooling. Packed in portions, in an amount sufficient for cooking. Store in the freezer of an ordinary refrigerator.

Frozen mushrooms will not lose their taste for 1 year. The temperature in which they should be placed for long-term storage should be around -18 - 20 degrees.

Frozen porcini mushrooms usually do not require defrosting before cooking. But if necessary, they are first kept for 5 - 6 hours in the refrigerator, and then placed for further defrosting in a room with a temperature of +20 - 23 degrees.

How to use

Recipes for cooking fresh-frozen mushrooms recommend pre-boiling them before frying. Those specimens that were boiled before being placed in the freezer can be immediately thrown into the pan or into the pot for making soups.

If the mushrooms were fried before freezing, they can be served with gravy. If cooking with vegetables, fry onions with carrots cut into strips.

Then add sour cream to the pan and simmer the vegetables until almost cooked, only then add the mushrooms. After a few minutes of simmering, the mushroom sauce will be ready.

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