Chanterelle mushrooms are delicious wild mushrooms. They can be used in all sorts of dishes. Make a cream sauce with them and add them to a chicken dish. They go well in pasta and risotto, and you can simply have creamed chanterelle mushrooms on toast.
Try them in a mushroom and wild rice soup or add them to an omelet. However, what if you have too many to use before they spoil? Is it possible to freeze them for use later? Mushrooms generally don’t freeze that well because they have a high water content,
However, chanterelle mushrooms freeze much better than most mushrooms and in this article, we will tell you how to freeze chanterelle mushrooms.
How To Freeze Chanterelle Mushrooms
1. Clean the mushrooms.
Clean the mushrooms thoroughly, getting into all the nooks and crannies. You don’t want to freeze dirty mushrooms.
2. Sauté the mushrooms.
It is important that you cook the mushrooms before freezing them otherwise they won’t taste particularly good. Lightly fry them in either butter or oil for between five and ten minutes.
3. Cool down the mushrooms.
Transfer the mushrooms to a cold bowl to speed up the process. Don’t put them in the freezer while they are still warm because they will bring up the temperature and other food may start to defrost and eventually, spoil.
4. Flash-freeze the chanterelle mushrooms.
Put a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray and lay out the mushrooms. Make sure that they aren’t touching each other. This will ensure that the mushrooms don’t stick together when they are bagged up. Put the tray in the freezer and freeze. It should take a couple of hours for them to freeze solid.
5. Put the mushrooms in a freezer bag.
Make sure that you squeeze out all the air from the bag so that freezer burn doesn’t occur. Freezer burn will ruin the taste and texture of your mushrooms. Alternatively, you can use an airtight container. Label the bag or container with the date and contents.
6. Freeze.
Tips For Freezing Chanterelle Mushrooms
- Cook your mushrooms before freezing as this draws out most of the moisture. It is the moisture that ruins the texture of mushrooms when you freeze them, so cooking is essential.
- Squeeze out the air from the freezer bags so that freezer burn doesn’t occur.
- Ensure that you put the type of mushroom on the label especially if you are freezing different mushrooms. You don’t want to defrost the wrong mushrooms.
- You can freeze other mushrooms with the chanterelles if you want a mushroom mix for your dish. Oyster mushrooms also freeze quite well.
- Add the frozen mushrooms straight into your dish.
For How Long Can You Freeze Chanterelle Mushrooms?
Chanterelle mushrooms freeze for a long time which means that you can enjoy them throughout the year. You can keep them in the freezer for up to a year.
How Do You Defrost Chanterelle Mushrooms?
It is best to use chanterelle, and, in fact, any type of mushroom, frozen. Just add them straight into your dish or fry them up if you want to have them on toast. Thawing them before using them is not a good idea. They will lose taste and texture and will probably end up mushy.
Can You Refreeze Chanterelle Mushrooms?
We don’t recommend that you refreeze chanterelle mushrooms. This is because ice crystals form when they are put in the freezer. While you can get away with this with one freeze, with the second freeze, there will be even more ice crystals. They will melt when you come to defrost the mushrooms and they will end up soggy.
Is It A Good Idea To Freeze Chanterelle Mushrooms?
As long as you cook the mushrooms before freezing, they will freeze well, and you will barely be able to tell the difference between frozen and fresh. However, if you freeze them raw, they will still have a lot of moisture in them, and when you come to defrost them, they will be mushy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hopefully, you now know all there is to know about freezing chanterelle mushrooms but in case you still have some questions, we have answered a few here.
Yes, you can freeze oyster mushrooms and you can freeze them in the same way as chanterelle mushrooms. However, they only last in the freezer for around a month, so if you decide to freeze the two types of mushrooms together for a dish, keep this in mind. Chanterelle mushrooms can be kept in the freezer for up to a year but you won’t be able to do this if you mix them with oyster mushrooms.
It is important to clean chanterelle mushrooms before you freeze them as you don’t want to put dirt in your dish. Chanterelle mushrooms are quite difficult to clean as they have lots of cracks and crevasses. Your best option is to use a mushroom brush to clean your chanterelles. They can get into all the nooks and crannies and leave you with clean mushrooms.
Chanterelle mushrooms are very upmarket and can be quite expensive. You might not be able to find them in your local store but if you go to a whole food store or a farmer’s market, you should be able to find chanterelle mushrooms.
