Two best ways to freeze fresh champignons

Champignons are quite affordable: they can be purchased 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 mushrooms at home will not hurt the hostess. Firstly, this will allow her to create reserves for the winter, when forest gifts are as cheap as possible, and thereby save the family budget. Secondly, do not throw away excess product purchased at the store if not all mushrooms have gone into cooking. Moreover, this process will not take much time.

There are two ways to freeze fresh champignons at home: whole and sliced. The hostess will do the right thing, which part of the mushrooms will freeze as a whole, and part - after cutting them first. This will allow her to cook in the future, where both whole and chopped mushrooms are required. After all, it is impossible to defrost champignons before cooking, and it will not be easy to cut them frozen.

Tip
It is better to freeze champignons for the winter in small portions, so that in one package or container there is an amount sufficient to prepare just one dish, since they can not be re-frozen.

Freezing whole champignons

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

Next, you need to proceed according to the following algorithm.

Rinse the champignons well in warm water, having cleaned off the adhered dirt and grass.
Spread a towel, napkin or tablecloth on the table, put the mushrooms on it, leave them for 20 minutes, so that all the glass in the glass is absorbed into the fabric. Only in this case will it be possible to keep the champignons during freezing as smooth and beautiful as fresh ones. Otherwise, the water, expanding in them during freezing, will damage the fungi, and after cooking they will be watery.
Arrange the mushrooms in plastic bags.
Release excess air from the bags and close them tightly. If the bag is not equipped with a special fastener like a zipper, then it must be sealed or at least tied tightly.
It remains to place the bags in the freezer. If it has the function of quick freezing, then this mode should be turned on for 2-3 hours. In its absence, you will have to wait longer, but this will not affect the quality of the product.

The workpiece can be used safely for 12 months. Thaw the mushrooms before putting them in the dish, except when they need to be nicely laid out one at a time or strung on a skewer. In this case, a bag of mushrooms can be taken out of their refrigerator in advance, but still it is not worth it to completely defrost: just wait until the mushrooms can be easily separated from each other.

Freeze Chopped Champignons

How to freeze champignons after slicing? With such a preparation for the winter you have to tinker a little longer, but the result is worth it.

Rinse the mushrooms, spread them on a cloth, letting excess liquid drain.
Cut into plates of the desired width (optimally 2-3 mm).
Lay them on a tray or large dish in one layer.
Place in the freezer and wait until they freeze. In the quick freeze mode, they will be ready in an hour, without using it, you need to wait 3 hours at least. It is impossible to freeze chopped champignons right away in the container, or even less so in the bag, since in this case they will break and become ugly, it will be impossible to use them for preparing holiday dishes.
When the plates freeze, they must be carefully laid out in containers, tightly closed with lids and returned to the freezer.

Tip
Whatever method of freezing for the winter is chosen, it is possible to store mushrooms for no more than a year in the refrigerator, or rather in the freezer, so it makes sense to stick a sticker with the date on each container with them.

Pre-thawing chopped 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, carefully separate the mushrooms from each other. If they were initially frozen correctly: not together, but separately, as was recommended above, then this will not cause difficulties.

Washing and cutting mushrooms will not cause any particular difficulties for the hostess, will not take much time, meanwhile, the harvest will please for a long time. With proper freezing, champignons will retain a good look, taste and aroma. Cooking delicious meals with them will be pleasant and easy. In addition, this will allow a good save.

We recommend that you read the article on how to find out edible mushrooms or not edible