Morel mushrooms are some of the most sought-after foods in the world. They’re exquisitely flavoured and prized by foragers and chefs alike. Their rarity means that you might think to freeze them for long-term storage. But, should you?
Can You Freeze Morels?
Yes, you can freeze morels for around 12 months. First, boil the morels for a few minutes. Pat the mushrooms dry before freezing them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once solid, pop them into a freezer bag for the long term.
Do Morels Freeze Well? Yes
Can You Refreeze Morels? Yes
How to Freeze Morels
The main thing to remember when freezing morels is that they cannot be frozen in their raw state. This is because their texture will be totally and utterly ruined during the freezing process, leading to deeply disappointing meals.
Therefore, cooking them a little before freezing them is the best practice. Here is the full method for freezing morels successfully:
- Clean: Clean your morels first and foremost under running water, removing any pieces of dirt or earth that might be on them.
- Blanch: Bring a pot of unsalted water to a boil, and add the morels, stirring to ensure they’re all submerged. Allow the pot of water to come back to a boil before boiling for a few minutes.
- Dry: Next, strain the morels out of the water, and lay them on paper towels to dry. Pat them dry with more paper towels or softly with a tea towel.
- Freeze on a Tray: When the mushrooms are dry, transfer them to a lined baking sheet, and allow them to freeze solid in the freezer. This should take around two hours.
- Bag Up: Once frozen, transfer the morel mushrooms to a freezer bag, and press out as much air as possible, ensuring that the mushrooms are closely packed. Seal the bag shut, ensuring that there’s as little excess air in it as possible.
- Freeze: Transfer the bag to the freezer, where the mushrooms will freeze well for up to a year.
3 Tips for Freezing Morels
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing morels to have the best results:
Cook Them First
You cannot freeze raw morels since the freezing process will totally and utterly destroy their texture. The best way to ensure that their texture is still interesting and tasty to eat is to cook them first and preserve that ‘cooked’ texture when you come to use them in a meal.
Be Wary of Freezer Aromas
Mushrooms are permeable objects, generally functioning a little like a sponge, with plenty of microscopic holes. ‘Freezer smell’ can easily permeate these holes, which is less than ideal for everyone involved, ruining your carefully sought-out mushrooms.
Dry Them Thoroughly
Mushrooms are exceptionally good at soaking up water since they’re the fruiting body of a larger plant. This means damp mushrooms will soak up that water, diluting their flavour and damaging their texture. Ensure the mushrooms are dry to ensure they’re as well-preserved as possible.
How Long Can You Freeze Morels?
You can freeze morels for up to 1 year before the freezer burn starts to appear around them.
That will damage the texture of morels a little too much for them to be enjoyable, though you could still dry and grind them into mushroom powder for use as a seasoning.
Morels will not last long in the fridge after being foraged. At most, morels will keep for around 3 days in the fridge.
How Do You Defrost Morels?
The best way to defrost morels is wonderfully easy – simply transfer the bag that you froze the morels in into the fridge, where the ice will melt over time, leaving you with mushrooms to be used as though they were fresh.
Keep the mushrooms out of a puddle of water, if possible, as they’ll soak it up, damaging their texture and flavour.
Can You Refreeze Morels?
Yes, you can refreeze morels.
The reason is that once they’re cooked, the freezing process does not affect the texture of the mushrooms, leading to them freezing very well.
Do Morels Freeze Well?
Yes, morels do freeze well. After they’ve been cooked, their texture and flavour are relatively unchanged by the freezing process, which means they can be added to any number of dishes easily and quickly.
We love how well morels freeze since you can easily boost your nutritional intake with a few additional mushrooms.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing morels or morels in general, then these may help:
Morels can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days in an open paper bag. They will need some air circulating around them so don’t seal the bag up.
Morels should be cooked in some form before they are frozen to ensure the texture doesn’t degrade drastically once defrosted.
