cyndiluwho_99
Assistant Cook
Can fresh mushrooms be frozen?
If so, do they need to be cooked first?
Thanks, Y'all!
If so, do they need to be cooked first?
Thanks, Y'all!
Freezing mushrooms
- Thread starter cyndiluwho_99
- Start date
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The National Center for Home Food Preservation has the how-to on Freezing Mushrooms.
cyndiluwho_99
Assistant Cook
Thanks, Michael.....by the way....Fort Worth is my hometown!!
bethzaring
Master Chef
yes, they need to be cooked before freezing, if you want to keep them for longer than a few days in the freezer. I have both sauteed them and steam blanched for 3 minutes. I prefer the steam blanching. It keeps them in their individual pieces and can easily be removed from the freezer bag as needed.
sparrowgrass
Head Chef
Drying mushrooms is an easy way to keep them. Just lay them out in a single layer on a towel or cooling rack, and turn them once in a while so both sides get exposure to the air. Especially easy this time of year, when the forced air heat dries the air out, but it is more tricky when the humidity is really high.
I do this when I pick more oyster or morel mushrooms than I can eat or when I go the mushroom farm up the road and buy more button mushrooms than I should.
I do this when I pick more oyster or morel mushrooms than I can eat or when I go the mushroom farm up the road and buy more button mushrooms than I should.
xmascarol1
Senior Cook
freezing mushrooms
The mushrooms that I freeze around here are the oak stump mushrooms gathered in the fall. I get plenty (sometimes a couple bushels) so I just wash them , and pack them in plastic freezer bags. When I thaw them, I just lest them drain, and then sautee them in butter and olive oil until the moisture is out and then add garlic, fresh ground pepper, and some red pepper flakes. They are really good and surely easier to get then those elusive morels around here.
The mushrooms that I freeze around here are the oak stump mushrooms gathered in the fall. I get plenty (sometimes a couple bushels) so I just wash them , and pack them in plastic freezer bags. When I thaw them, I just lest them drain, and then sautee them in butter and olive oil until the moisture is out and then add garlic, fresh ground pepper, and some red pepper flakes. They are really good and surely easier to get then those elusive morels around here.
Maverick2272
Washing Up
Timely post, wife has been bugging me about going Morel hunting (whenever that season starts) and wants to dry or preserve them so we can have them after the season ends. I don't know if she has looked this up or not, I haven't LOL.
xmascarol1
Senior Cook
morels
good luck finding enough to dry or freeze. Those babies are elusive and unless you're having great luck or know what you're doing, your chances are slim to none.
good luck finding enough to dry or freeze. Those babies are elusive and unless you're having great luck or know what you're doing, your chances are slim to none.
Maverick2272
Washing Up
She is on a garden group, and one of them lives south of us and goes Morel hunting every year. She invited us on a hunt, and I do think she told my wife a good place to look is under elms. Probably what makes it hard to find, but her friend did say she manages to get a pretty good batch every year.
We will see, might turn out to be another fad the wife gets into then abandons.
We will see, might turn out to be another fad the wife gets into then abandons.
xmascarol1
Senior Cook
hunting the elusive
Well, I'm surprised someone will let you come with them. Veteran hunters hardly ever let other people know where they look. Another place that's usually got morels is in an old apple orchard.
Well, I'm surprised someone will let you come with them. Veteran hunters hardly ever let other people know where they look. Another place that's usually got morels is in an old apple orchard.
How do you know which ones you can eat? I have at LEAST 40 oak stumps that go crazy with 'shrooms all summer, then there are a ton of teeny ones just growning in the grass. I've always wondered if I could eat them. So far I just mow them with the lawn
.xmascarol1
Senior Cook
how to determine oak stump mushrooms
Well, I wouldn't pick them unless you have someone who's a mushroomer and has picked them before. I think that's the best way to learn mushrooming is from somebody else. Even morels have "false" morels that some people are allergic to.
Well, I wouldn't pick them unless you have someone who's a mushroomer and has picked them before. I think that's the best way to learn mushrooming is from somebody else. Even morels have "false" morels that some people are allergic to.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
How do you know which ones you can eat? I have at LEAST 40 oak stumps that go crazy with 'shrooms all summer, then there are a ton of teeny ones just growning in the grass. I've always wondered if I could eat them. So far I just mow them with the lawn
Most likely the once you've seen are not good to eat. Kee moving them. Mushrooms are very bad if they are not edible. They can cause a lot of damage. It took me good couple of years before I really figure out how to choose the good ones. Of course I was 9 or 10 then and I went with my father to woods. He still goes nowadays. I usualy just do not have time. I get them after he comes home.
Much faster way of picking when they are in a basket.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
P.S. On freezeeng mushrooms, I've been doing for years. They are not as good if simply fresh frozen, but a lot of times I just use them for mushroom gravy and they are just fine. They may not be good for some other dishes because after defrosting they are sort of soggy(sp?). They do not have to be cooked.
