Chanterelles are a universal product that can not only be fried fresh, but also frozen for the winter. To achieve optimal results from this approach, you need to know how long to cook chanterelles before freezing. If you neglect the preliminary processing stage, the component will become very bitter, which will affect the quality of the final dish. It only takes 15-20 minutes to boil the chanterelles.. The procedure itself is not difficult, although it does involve certain specifics. Immediately after this, you can begin the freezing process, which can also be based on various technologies.
Is it possible to freeze chanterelles without boiling them?
Unfortunately, chanterelles, like all other types of mushrooms, spoil quite quickly after the harvest is harvested. Of course, they can be prepared for the winter in the form of canned food, but the taste and properties of the product will noticeably suffer from this. The best option is freezing, which will preserve the product in its original state. Ideally, for this you should use not only fresh, but also very young mushrooms. Then you won’t have to waste time boiling them.
In this case, the freezing process will look like this:
- We select small mushrooms that have not yet straightened their caps. We cut off the lower parts of their legs, clear the caps of debris and rinse them in cold water.
- Place the chanterelles on a towel to remove all excess moisture.
- If preserving the shape of the mushrooms is not a priority, simply put them in plastic bags and put them in the freezer.
- If you want to prepare beautiful, separately frozen elements for the winter, then first lay them out in one layer on a large tray, which we place in the freezer. After a couple of hours, we take it out and pack the products in plastic bags.
- Mushrooms should not be kept frozen for more than 6 months, so the bags should be labeled with the date and method of freezing. It is best to consume the preparations within 3 months after processing.
In order not to rack your brains over how to freeze chanterelles of unknown age, you should simply soak them in milk for 30-40 minutes. In this case, the product will acquire the necessary softness and at the same time no unpleasant bitterness will appear in its taste. It is recommended to pre-cut old and large mushrooms into pieces and soak for 1-1.5 hours.
How to properly boil chanterelles before freezing?
You won’t have to spend too much time pre-processing mushrooms if you act strictly according to plan and do not perform unnecessary actions. Properly boiled chanterelles can then not only be covered for the winter, but also used as a component for a salad, pie or an original side dish.
Particular attention should be paid to how to boil dried mushrooms. They must first be soaked for at least three hours. Only after this they are washed several times, sorted and boiled for no more than 20 minutes.
How to freeze large chanterelles?
When working with large chanterelles, you need to pay attention not only to the time of boiling them, but also to a number of other important points:
- Mushrooms must be soaked in milk, sour cream or cream, even if they are very young and fresh.
- Such chanterelles should not be cooked whole, but first cut into large pieces. It is best to separate the elements along a vertical line so that each part of the cap gets a part of the stem.
- After the product is crushed, it must be washed again in cold water.
- Mushroom slices can be filled with either cold or boiling water. In the second case, the benefits from the components will be slightly less, but the texture will be more delicate.
- After boiling, the water needs to be salted at least a little, boil the elements for 15 minutes, regularly skimming off the foam.
- Before freezing such preparations for the winter, they should be placed in a colander, then placed on a waffle towel and held until they cool completely and the water is removed.
After such preparation, all that remains is to pack the mushrooms in containers or plastic bags and put them in the freezer.
Method of freezing mushrooms directly in broth
If you plan to freeze the chanterelles in order to prepare mushroom soups all winter, then it is best to do this using the broth in which they are cooked. In this case, the components are also boiled for 15-20 minutes, after which the liquid is not drained. Cool the entire resulting mass, distribute it into containers, fill it with the remaining broth and send it to freeze. There is no need to defrost this product! It is simply added to the prepared dish.
It is worth considering that, regardless of the processing method, thawed chanterelles (even if they were initially fresh) cannot be re-frozen. Repeated processing negatively affects both the chemical composition of the product and its gastronomic characteristics. By the way, it is necessary to defrost mushrooms only at room temperature. Using a microwave or hot water in this case is detrimental to the product.
