Using fresh vegetables or raw materials for food is convenient and pretty tasty, and healthy. And many people nowadays like to use freshly picked vegetables for their recipes. Mushrooms are one of those vegetables that people love to use in their recipes, and they taste great every time you eat them. But even if they taste great, there is still a limit to which you can eat them at a time. So, what can you do with the extra mushrooms? Can you freeze mushrooms?
Yes, you can freeze mushrooms to save them and use them later. And it is also relatively easy. You can freeze both freshly picked and canned mushrooms. And they also last a long time as well. And with the busy life of the UK, stored mushrooms are also a great touch to cooking as you can use them whenever you like.
Freezing mushrooms also means that next time when you see mushrooms on sale, you can buy as many mushrooms as you like and won’t have to throw any of them. So, use them in soup or add them to your pizza toppings or make any recipe with them without any worries. But how can you freeze them correctly? As of course, you don’t want them to get slimy and mushy. Or is it even a good idea to freeze them? Let’s discuss everything related to freezing and using frozen mushrooms in this article.
Which mushrooms can we freeze?
Freezing mushrooms is an easy task and is very helpful. And the good thing about freezing mushrooms is that you can freeze both raw and cooked mushrooms and that too without even worrying about them getting all mushy and slimy.
Cooked mushrooms are even better if you freeze them because you won’t have to cook them when you will de-freeze them. And there are multiple recipes that you can use to cook mushrooms. One of them is to cut mushroom the way you like. Then sauté it and add pepper or salt, whichever you like. And at the end, add them in a bag or package in which they will remain sealed and safe.
How can we freeze mushrooms?
Freezing mushrooms doesn’t require any significant processing or preparations. You can freeze mushrooms any way you like. You can store them in raw form or can freeze them after cooking them. There is no general rule of thumb that you’ll have to follow. And using the traditional freezing method is enough for mushrooms as well.
Freezing them like other vegetables is pretty much okay for mushrooms as well. But we will say that some freezing methods can improve the overall quality and freshness of mushrooms. And a few ways are as follows:
The first method is that you can freeze raw mushrooms after blenching them a bit. Blenching mushrooms can keep them fresh and easy for you to use even after de-freezing or thawing. This method means that you will have to put your mushrooms in boiling water, letting them stay there for a couple of seconds. After some seconds, transfer all mushrooms from boiling water to a cold bath, and in the last step, let all the mushrooms freeze in the freezer. This way, mushrooms will remain fresher even after a long time.
The second is a proper preparation method and is quite efficient as well. And all the steps to that method are explained below:
- Collect all the mushrooms you want to freeze. Or buy mushrooms from sale and store them in the freezer after preparing them with this method.
- Now let’s clean all the mushrooms. For that, use a soft cloth to clean all the mushrooms properly so that you won’t have to clean them after thawing. A tip while cleaning these mushrooms is that don’t use water for cleaning, as water can make mushrooms slimy.
- In the third step, check if your mushrooms are completely clean or not. If yes, then let’s cut them into proper usable sizes. And you can cut them in any way you want.
- Here comes the step of freezing all the sliced and cleaned mushrooms.
- You’ll have to use not a particular material for freezing mushrooms as you can place them on cookies sheets or throw them in a bag. And let them freeze completely.
- After some time, check if all the mushrooms are frozen or not. If yes, then put all the mushrooms in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer.
Following these steps can ensure you that your mushrooms will remain fresh even after months.
Guidelines for Freezer
Mushrooms will remain fresh if they are prepared and stored correctly. So, it is clear that you’ll have to make sure that your freezer is also working fine, as a consistent temperature is required to freeze mushrooms properly.
So, store your mushrooms in a good freezer bag. And select a perfectly working freezer. Another thing about the freezer is that there should be enough space available to store all the mushrooms.
How to thaw mushrooms
Frozen mushrooms are good and a great way to store a lot of mushrooms to use later. And in the UK, frozen mushrooms can save a lot of your time, which you’ll have to spend cleaning and slicing mushrooms. But how can you use frozen mushrooms? Using frozen mushrooms is just as easy as storing them was.
First of all, measure the number of mushrooms that are required for your recipe. Then, remove them from the freezer bag and let them de-freeze. There are two methods of doing that. The first method is that you allow them to stay in the fridge for a day or overnight, then you can use them in any recipe you want. The second method is to put mushrooms in a bowl and place them on a kitchen counter for a few hours. This way, you can prepare other material required for the recipe, and your mushrooms will automatically thaw themselves.
How long do frozen mushrooms last?
Frozen mushrooms can last for quite a long time, but it mostly depends on your freezer; as we mentioned previously, a constant temperature is required for mushrooms to freeze. And fluctuations in temperature can affect the quality of your frozen mushrooms.
But most of the time, frozen mushrooms last quite a long time, as long as a year. And even we had to give you a minimum; we can say that they can last six months.
Can you freeze mushrooms without cooking them first?
Yes, you can freeze mushrooms even without cooking them first. You can freeze raw mushroom any way you want. You can clean them and store them or slice them and add them to a freezer bag. And even after months, you can de-freeze them and can use them in your recipes.
Will cooking mushrooms kill bacteria?
Freshly picked mushrooms might have bacteria that can be killed by cooking mushrooms. It is the same as we boil water to kill bacteria and to purify it. However, mushrooms are grown in soil where there can be different harmful bacteria, insects, pests, or rodents that could contaminate it. So, it is always a good idea to use such mushrooms after cooking them.
Final Thoughts
Mushrooms are pretty delicious and are used in different recipes. But sometimes, it is hard to find good quality mushrooms. And if you have bought a lot of mushrooms, then throwing extra mushrooms can waste precious food as mushrooms are used in recipes like soups, pizzas etc. And in the UK, it is sometimes hard to find time to prepare mushrooms for meals. So freezing mushrooms is the right thing to do. And as freezing mushrooms would not spoil any taste, you can store as many mushrooms as you like.
And you can use even use mushrooms in their frozen state if you are going to cook them. And freezing them the right way will keep them fresh, and you use them even after months.
