Preserving your Fresh Mushrooms

Preserving your Fresh Mushrooms

Over the next two weeks we are going to explore the many ways of preserving your fresh mushrooms. From Blanching to Pickling, we will take a look at how, why and the pros and cons of these preserving methods.

Today we are going to start with blanching.

How to Blanch Mushrooms
Blanching is the handiest way to preserve large amounts of mushrooms. First you should start with washing the mushrooms. Place them in a colander and run cold water over them to remove any particles of peat moss. Next, plunge the clean mushrooms directly into a pot of boiling water. Remove mushroom after 3 minutes with colander and plunge into cold water, this will immediately stop the cooking process. Once cooled, the mushrooms should be rinsed and then place in plastic freezer containers. Make sure to leave enough headspace, about 1 inch, in the container so it does not rupture. Small 8 oz containers work great as they are usually enough to drop into any recipe. Label containers with the date and pop into the freezer.

Uses
Blanched mushrooms are great when they are used in soups, stews, and pasta sauces. Prep is as easy as removing from the freezing and dropping the frozen mushrooms into the pot. There is no need to defrost before hand.

Pros
- Blanching stops enzymatic action and prevents mushrooms from turning into mush.
- Very easy to do large amounts of mushrooms in a short period of time.
- Very convenient to use, just place the frozen mass directly into cooking pot.
- Holds the mushrooms flavour well.

Cons
- Blanched mushrooms are not of the quality to fry or sauté or crisp.
- Usually limited to “One Pot Cooking” type meals.