How to freeze honey mushrooms for the winter at home
Honey mushrooms are very tasty mushrooms. They are ideal for both pickling and freezing. Frozen honey mushrooms are universal in their use. You can fry them, make soups from them, make caviar or mushroom sauces. Read about all the intricacies of properly freezing honey mushrooms for the winter in this article.
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How to prepare mushrooms for freezing
Honey mushrooms grow in families, and in one place you can collect a decent amount of mushrooms. Mushrooms should be cut a few at a time, at a short distance from the ground, so as not to touch the earthen lump. It is better to clear mushrooms of debris immediately upon collection.
At home, honey mushrooms need to be sorted and sorted first. Only fresh, strong mushrooms without signs of damage are suitable for freezing. Mushrooms are also sorted by size. Small ones are frozen whole, and large ones are cut into several pieces.
Next, the mushrooms need to be washed to remove various debris and small insects.
See video: How to clean and sort honey mushrooms:
Watch the video: The Marmalade Fox will tell you how to clean honey mushrooms quickly and effortlessly
Is it possible to freeze raw honey mushrooms?
Many people ask the question: “Is it possible to freeze raw honey mushrooms whole?” Of course it is possible, and even necessary.Honey mushrooms frozen in this way do not lose their attractive appearance. They can be stewed, fried, added to soup, or used to make mushroom goulash, that is, cooked in the same way as freshly picked mushrooms.
There is no need to wash honey mushrooms before freezing them raw. There is no need for excess moisture here. If the mushrooms are very dirty, you can simply wipe them with a damp towel. As a last resort, mushrooms are rinsed under running water and then dried thoroughly on paper towels.
Next, they are laid out on a tray or cutting board covered with cling film in one layer. They are kept in the freezer for some time and then poured into bags or containers for long-term storage.
How to cook honey mushrooms for freezing?
Another way is to freeze boiled mushrooms. To do this, pre-washed mushrooms are dipped in boiling water and cooked for 10 minutes.
Then the mushrooms are transferred to a colander to allow excess liquid to drain. After the mushrooms have cooled completely, they are packaged in bags. It is important that a single portion of mushrooms is placed in one bag, since re-freezing mushrooms is unacceptable.
See video: How to cook honey mushrooms for freezing
Watch the video: The Marmalade Fox will tell you how to freeze mushrooms - preparing honey mushrooms for the winter
Freezing fried honey mushrooms for the winter
Frozen fried honey mushrooms are a semi-finished product completely ready to eat. To prepare such mushrooms, you need to place clean honey mushrooms in a frying pan and fry for 20 minutes with the addition of oil.
Next, the fried honey mushrooms are transferred to a sieve to drain excess fat, cooled and packaged in portioned bags. In this case, it is necessary to release as much air as possible from the bags.The packaged mushrooms are placed in the freezer.
How to properly defrost honey mushrooms
Raw honey mushrooms are defrosted for 8 hours in the main compartment of the refrigerator, and then at room temperature. Thawed honey mushrooms are lightly dried with a paper towel and subsequently used for preparing various dishes.
Honey mushrooms, frozen in fried or boiled form, do not require preliminary defrosting.
Frozen mushrooms can be stored for 6 months, and at a freezer temperature above 18 ºС - up to 1 year.