Autumn is considered the classic time for mushrooms, when many people, armed with baskets and bags, flock into the woods to look for porcini mushrooms, chestnut boletus and chanterelles. In fact, the tasty fruiting bodies can be found in almost every season, as long as you know where and what to look for: the coveted oyster mushrooms, for example, are typical winter mushrooms that can mainly be found between December and March. Meadow mushrooms, on the other hand, are best looked for during the summer months, while morels only thrive from April to May.

Mushrooms should be cleaned and possibly blanched and frozen

Why should mushrooms be preserved by freezing?

Well, you don't always have an appetite for mushrooms - and certainly not for large quantities if the search success was huge again, especially with mushrooms or chanterelles. With a good yield, not all mushrooms can of course be processed fresh, which is why the question of their preservation arises. If you now have a freezer (not a freezer compartment! This is not suitable for this purpose!), you can pursue your passion for collecting mushrooms all year round and always freeze fresh mushrooms in stock. In comparison to other preservation methods, deep-freezing is the quickest and gentlest option. Not only are the nutrients preserved better, the mushrooms also stay fresh longer and cannot spoil as quickly as a result of any mistakes (e.g. a leaking lid when preserving).

Which mushrooms are suitable for freezing - and which are not?

Meadow mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, porcini mushrooms and chanterelles are particularly good for freezing. But many other forest and meadow mushrooms can also be preserved in this way, except for the giant puffball (Langermannia gigantea, between August and October on fertilized meadows and pastures), which becomes bitter, the ice mushroom (Pseudohydnum gelatinosum, also known as "trembling tooth") and the Reddish jelly cones (Tremiscus helvelloides, between July and October on calcareous, shady forest soils). These three exceptions should generally not be preserved or even kept longer, but freshly prepared and consumed.

Blanch chanterelles before freezing

Basically, you should freeze the mushrooms as fresh and raw as possible. Blanching beforehand only makes sense for a few types in order to remove the bitter substances. After cleaning and slicing, chanterelles, Krause hens and the genuine stimulating hen (also "Edel-Stimulant", Lactarius deliciosus) should be swung in boiling salted water for about a minute (it is best to hold the mushrooms in a metal sieve in the boiling water) and then immediately quenched in ice water. To do this, simply add a few ice cubes to a bowl of cold tap water and briefly hold the sieve with the cooked mushrooms in there. Now dry the mushrooms well with a clean kitchen towel and freeze them immediately.

Preparation: Clean and cut the mushrooms

However, before you freeze freshly picked (or store bought) mushrooms, you must first wash them thoroughly and then cut them into bite-sized pieces. Forest and meadow mushrooms in particular require a lot of attention, as they are often dirty or even eaten by maggots and/or snails, in contrast to the already pre-cleaned supermarket mushrooms.

Pre-cleaning in the forest

So that you have less work cleaning at home, pre-clean the mushrooms you find in the forest. Cut larger specimens in half lengthways to check for possible maggot infestation. Cut away scuff marks and damaged areas on the spot and carefully brush away the worst of the dirt.

Mushrooms - with a few exceptions - do not wash!

In general, almost all mushrooms are cleaned by thorough brushing with a soft mushroom or vegetable brush. You can also tackle stubborn dirt with a toothbrush or a clean kitchen towel. On the other hand, you should not wash most types of mushrooms or only if they are really very dirty - or you have collected so many mushrooms that cleaning them with a brush would take too much time. Species like the curly hen (Sparassis crispa) and other hen mushrooms grow around blades of grass, needles and grains of sand, so be sure to wash them under running water. Afterwards, however, it is important to dry them off just as carefully.

Cut mushrooms properly

If you want to freeze mushrooms, you have to cut them during preparation. Since frozen mushrooms should be prepared immediately rather than thawed, cut or slice them into bite-sized pieces or slices before freezing, depending on the species and how you intend to use them. Smaller fruiting bodies (as is often the case with chanterelles) do not need to be cut at all, but can remain whole.

Pack and freeze mushrooms

Now fill the prepared mushrooms in small quantities in suitable containers - for example, plastic jars that seal well or freezer bags - and freeze them in the freezer at at least minus 18 °C. If your appliance has a shock freezing function, use it. You can also freeze mushroom dishes that have already been prepared, but you should cool them down quickly in an ice water bath (without direct contact with the water!) immediately after preparation and freeze them immediately.

tips

Freshly frozen mushrooms can be kept for at least six months - provided you keep them at a temperature of at least minus 18 °C. Prepared mushroom dishes, on the other hand, can be stored in the freezer for a maximum of two to three months.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

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