Truffles can be grated, sliced, and layered, and be used to turn your dishes into culinary delicacies. They can also be frozen for later use and will retain most of their flavor even after losing their aroma.
Truffles can be frozen for long-term storage, and preserved for up to three to six months as long as they are stored correctly. Despite losing their aroma quickly, truffles can retain their flavor for up to three to six months in the freezer.
So, how should you freeze and store your truffles, and equally important, how should you prepare them once they come out of the freezer?
If you must freeze your truffles, make sure to do it right.
Ideally, truffles should be eaten fresh. They lose most of their aroma quickly, and even when stored for a couple of weeks in the fridge must be wrapped in unbleached paper towel to avoid any excess moisture.
But, if you ever find yourself with more truffles than you can handle, freezing them offers a simple way to continue creating amazing dishes even after several months.
With the right equipment, you can vacuum pack your truffles before freezing. This will take out any air from the bag, and keep the truffles from coming into contact with oxygen while frozen.
There is nothing to worry about if you cannot vacuum pack your truffles, and you may achieve similar results using a few Ziploc bags and a bit of preparation before freezing.
You will want to freeze your truffles separately, and wash and dry each one before packaging them individually and getting as much air out of the bags as possible. Moisture and air are your enemies when freezing truffles, so “drying and sucking” are the keys to success.
Once frozen solid, you may place all your truffles into a single bag to save space, keeping in mind that air must be sucked out just as before.
An interesting storage alternative you may want to explore is placing the truffles inside a sealable container, and then covering them with oil to keep the air out.
How should you handle and prepare your frozen truffles?
Once you are ready to have a go at some of your frozen truffles, you must keep in mind that there are important differences as opposed to using fresh ones. No longer aromatic, there are some general recommendations worth keeping in mind.
After being frozen, most of the aroma will be long gone from your truffles, so there is no point in using them for shavings. Instead, use them for cooking, ideally grating them into fine pieces so they warm quickly when put into your dish.
You may also want to slide them and layer them inside meats like chicken before cooking, giving a unique flavor profile to what could otherwise be an ordinary dish.
There is no need for thawing the frozen truffles, and it is in fact recommended to use your truffles as soon as you take them out of the freezer.
This prevents moisture and oxygen in the air from coming into contact with the truffle and helps preserve the flavor and appearance you are looking for.
How about some truffle butter?
There are other, more creative ways of freezing your truffles, and if you have enough time and truffles in your hands, why not try something new?
Truffle butter is delicious and can be easily made by grating some truffles and mixing them with butter. You can then leave the truffle butter in the fridge for a few days before freezing, and use it instead of regular butter to create anything from buttered bread to complex culinary concoctions.
Eat your truffles, even if you can’t smell them
Truffles are famous around the world because of their incredible and easily recognizable aromas, and for a price tag that reflects the many challenges of growing these iconic delicacies.
So, if you manage to get your hands on some truffles, you should make the most of them!
Use them fresh whenever possible, but make sure to properly store whatever you have left in order to preserve the most flavor. Know that you will lose most of the aroma, but that the unique flavor profile of your truffles will remain mostly intact for several months.
If you pack them, freeze them, and take them back out the right way, you will be on your way to creating amazing dishes with a flavor that never gets old, or too cold!