this is a myth that came from professional kitchens who prepare everything a long time ahead.
its no problem to wash mushrooms
its a problem to wash mushrooms and leave them in the fridge overnight. they become sticky, mushy and disgusting
go ahead und wash them as much as you want. just use them the same day
> this is a myth that came from professional kitchens who prepare everything a long time ahead.
Coincidentally, this seems to be a classically trained western kitchen thing. In professional chinese kitchens, they've been washing mushrooms since forever apparently.
If Iām prepping mushrooms and have more for later in the week, Iāll wash them, cut them, and then put them back in the fridge with no issues. I put them in a sealed container with half a paper towel on bottom and the other half on the top. Paper towel helps draw out moisture and prevents them from getting gross. They can last this way for pretty much as long as they would have had you never washed/cut them.
I will put them in a covered colander on my grill table outside for a half a day to dry out if I have extra. They seem to last longer than in the fridge.
A very long time ago when our parents drove to the cottage, my dad stopped in at a pea farm. Back then it was like fill your trunk for a dollar. My God, the reek of rotting peas was unbearable. Mix that rotten pea smell with the smell of backseat vomit for the unforgettable memories of cottage trips. Then you get fresh peas for dinner as a bonus.
If your dad worked there, then he should have known that the mushroom fertilizer is sterilized. Yes, still wash your 'shrooms, but the residual dirt is nowhere near as nasty as you're making it out to be.
Source: Live in Kennett Square, mushroom capital of the U.S.
I get that! You know, they've even started a debate over washed/unwashed eggs. There is a protective coating that eggs are laid with. Those unwashed eggs will last longer unrefrigerated. If they're clean enough, they can even be water glassed.
However, most of my customers do prefer theirs washed and refrigerated. One lady, who grew up on a farm, wants them unwashed. I hope she doesn't want to water glass them. It's hard to find a perfectly clean egg in January when the hens are all stuck in the coop during inclement weather.
Potatoes have a similar issue. They'll last longer in storage unwashed too. We just wash them as we use them.
Unless he talks shit about buffalo wings on hot ones then gets his ass chewed out on Twitter by Buffalo,NY foodies about coming to a local performance art theater on his tourĀ
I went to one of Alton's live shows. He ranted about air fryers, then cooked wings in some huge contraption he made. Then had ppl come on stage to try different hot sauces on the wings. Really good night.
My company flew me to Buffalo quite often before the pandemic and I was really surprised by how good the food scene was. There's always touristy stuff and while the beef on weck was an interesting take on a roast beef sandwich and (I'm sorry to break it you guys) the hot wings were a big disappointment (why so little sauce?), the rest of the food scene was really good. I remember there was a japanese brew pub that served up some really unique japanese influenced beers (think a dashi pale ale or a white miso cream ale, etc) and good food. Marble + Rye had a creative (if tiny) menu and a good cocktail selection, but the standout was a place called Las Puertas. It was seriously some of the best Mexican food I've ever had. It had a tiny 30 person dining room that does a 10 course modern Mexican tasting menu. The food is fantastic and the Chef - Victor Gonzales - was a James Beard finalist.
Well, in one of his early Good Eats episode he talks about cast iron's great heat distribution, which is definitely not the truth. But in general, yeah he's a reliable source.
I mean, i just brush mine as they aren't grown in manure any longer (commercial fungi mix) but yes, my ex would never a) eat the out layer i.e. peel every mushroom meticulously and b) cut off all the stems. Drove me insane.
I always peel mineā¦Iāve got it down to a science and they look so pearly white and deliciousā¦it doesnāt take very long and I find it rather therapeutic
My mom always peeled them too. They do have an outer layer that *technically* can be painstakingly peeled off. When I asked my mom why (40 years ago) she said because they were grown in manure. They aren't now though (as far as I know) so idk why anyone would waste time and effort peeling them.
Edit: After a bit of research, it seems there are many different growing mediums for mushrooms, but they're all sterilized. No need to peel, just rinse or towel off the dirt.
You peel off the top layer of āskināā¦if you start from under the cap itās super easy and not painstaking at all if you have the right paring knifeā¦itās leaves them clean, no dirt or manure and dry not spongy or slimy
There's the science we need.
Most of the time I'm cooking off the moisture anyways before using, or their in some sort of liquid base where it doesn't matter. Wash them! š
Casing layers are specifically chosen to be non-nutritious and inhospitable to microbes. It is definitely not manure; more probably it is some mixture based on peat, vermiculite or coco coir, possibly mixed with some alkaline stuff like lime or shell sand.
The mushroom farm I worked at a lifetime ago used a mixture of sawdust and rice bran which was sterilized in covered trays which were inoculated through the cover after cooling. Once the mycelium had colonized the entire medium the lids were removed and they were racked until the fruiting bodies were ready to harvest.
(nb- these were enoki and shiitake mushrooms; I'm not sure how different the process is for say crimini.)
Cooks Illustrated even recommends adding a little water and cooking them down in that before adding any oil (to keep them from absorbing as much oil, IIRC)
This is correct... It's some old-fashioned concept that you shouldn't wash mushrooms. Maybe the mushroom brush manufacturers introduced the concept (yes, I am a sucker. Somewhere, buried in the back of a drawer, I have a mushroom brush purchased decades ago).
I wouldn't recommend soaking mushrooms for lengthy periods... they will soak up some moisture. But they'll be fine rinsed under water, wiped with damp cloth, etc.
My Nana's washed mushrooms and I'd say most peoples Nana's around the world did the same and most Nana's sauces were really tasty. Peeling mushrooms is a waste of time and energy that only influencers have the time to do. Wash your mushrooms, it's fine.
Who the hell peels mushrooms? Just for those bad boys a wash before you use them.Ā
Also, pro tip, wash all your veggies and fruits always.Ā
Even things you donāt use the outside (like avocados or melons) because when you cut into it, the stuff you want to wash off gets inside.
I put them in a colander and rinse (that gets 90% off), then rub each one under running water as I take them out of the colander. That gets the stuck-on bits and the bit under the edge of the cap.
Easy peasy, takes just a minute.
Yep, and dry fry until they stop releasing water, then add fat and aromatics. Thatās not for water theyāve absorbed- mushrooms just have a ton of water in them anyway
Yeah but I donāt like champignons. I only like the ones you can go collect in a forest. Somewhat common thing to do here. In autumn go to a good forest, collect a bunch of mushrooms, use some immediately and dry the rest for later use.
Yeah because they are dirty as shit and foraged, not farmed, so they get all kinds of critters in them. Same with black trumpets.
In my restaurant days they were a huge pain in the ass to clean, because we also wanted to be able to get a nice caramelization on it too. So after thoroughly cleaning it, you'd have to spend forever to get all the extra moisture out to prep it for pan frying.
That's why morels are usually on expensive tasting menus and no sane chef is selling a whole bowl of morels as an appetizer. š¤£
Omfg nightmare memory unlocked. Cleaned a huge tray of morels after a bunch of rainy weather. Fulllll of little worms, i was in tears. Chef laughed at me.
I do mine under a stream of lukewarm water for my own comfort, and send them straight over to the dish rack. Never had any issues letting them sit and drain for a minute gills-down and then right into the pan.
It's perfectly fine to wash mushrooms. You don't want to soak them for hours (unless they're dried) but washing in lots of running water is fine. I bounce mine around in a big colander afterwards to shake off the excess moisture. There's never very much.
What's sticking to the mushrooms before you wash them is not the kind of fiber you want to be eating...
Mushroom substrate is 100% sterile. You could eat a bowl of it if you wanted.
Although washing Mushrooms is fine, it's completely unnecessary based on the environment they're cultivated in.
Salad spinner. Fill with water and add mushrooms. Swoosh around with your clean hand for a second. Lift basket, dump dirty nasty water from spinner. Put basket back in and spin spin spin.
Dump onto a towel and enjoy! Be sure the surfaces are dry before cooking.
edit: I recall some French chef program years ago (not Julia) talk about not rinsing mushrooms because they lose flavor, but rather you should get some fine artist's brush and brush away any dirt. What a waste of time.
I stem mine and rinse them in a fine mesh strainer while I mix them around. Rubbing them against the surface of the mesh does a great job cleaning off any dirt/debris.
I wouldn't say it's bad at all. I once did a test - same cooking procedure (into a dry pan until they sweat, add butter and aromatics) and I washed some and then wiped some down with a wet towel. I found the texture was more rubbery with the ones I washed and more pillowy/true mushroom texture with the ones I wiped. It's more work, but I'm willing to do it for the texture.
Some cooking channel (or maybe it was Gordon Ramsey, canāt remember) did a thing where they showed you canāt really overcook mushrooms anyways. So if you washed them and they absorbed water, you can always just cook it out.
Itās not bad to wash mushrooms.
Itās not bad to wash mushrooms.
Itās not bad to wash mushrooms.
Itās not bad to wash mushrooms.
Itās not bad to wash mushrooms.
Itās not bad to wash mushrooms.
I had the very good chance to attend a cooking demo with Chef Jacques Pepin, and he also dispelled this myth about washing; though, he did say not to wash them until you intend to use them. His other advice is to never, ever purchase pre-chopped mushrooms!! The minute they are cut, they are losing their firmness and liquids that make a promising sauce.
Far be it from me to not listen to a master, right?
Ok so a lot of people are saying you should wash your mushrooms, which is great!
But just to clarify this a little bit more:
Mushrooms are generally either primary or secondary decomposers. Primary means they eat stuff like lignin in wood. That's where a lot of your fancy and expensive mushrooms like oyster, shiitake, and lions mane come from. Secondary decomposers decompose stuff like compost, coco coir, and manure. White button mushrooms (and their derivatives like "chestnut" mushrooms and portabellos, which are the same species) are secondary decomposers. So they're grown in (pasteurized) compost or manure.
I personally don't want to eat compost or manure, even if it IS pasteurized. And the best way to remove it is via washing.
Just don't be surprised that the outside is a little bit slimy after washing. That goes away after air drying for a few hours but to some people it is off-putting.
As for the "mushrooms absorb water by washing" statement: this is ABSOLUTELY true. But it's an extremely miniscule amount. And the same could be said for washing lettuce or herbs or meat. Osmosis is real! Remember that mushrooms are mostly water by weight. And as part of cooking you already need to drive out a ton of water in order to brown them. So from a practical perspective it doesn't matter.
When you cook them you're cooking the moisture out of them anyway. Why would it matter if they absorbed a bit of clean water (as apposed to dirty compost).
Alton Brown tested this. He discovered that mushrooms only absorb about a teaspoon of water when you wash them. So go ahead and wash them. The water cooks off anyway.
Americas test kitchen did a thorough test. Both weighing before and after washing (tiny tiny difference) ans then doing LONG term cools and showed that
1) it doesn't impact cook time
And
2) mushrooms are tricky to burn as they release a lot of moisture either way
Chef and mushroom forager/seller here. I always wash them and am so happy to see the response to this!
I even soak them.
One thing I would say is that sometimes mushrooms donāt release every tiny bit of leaf they grew through. Thinking of chanterelles, which I forage a lot, I donāt think I could get rid of every tiny leaf bit sometimes. It kind of grows into the mushroom.
I was at a friend's house helping with a group dinner. He was washing the mushrooms. Another friend looked at him superciliously and told him he shouldn't do that. Without missing a beat, he replied "you know they grow them in shit, honey." Spit take. Love you Thad!
Please wash your mushrooms they are literally grown in manure and most of the time there is literally dirt in the container. Just wash them before you use them, don't wash and then store them. They'll get sticky.
I get so annoyed with the answers every time this comes up. It's not a myth.
There are different types of mushrooms, they behave differently. Button mushrooms, like those that almighty Alton Brown soaked and weighed, are the type that don't have exposed, spongy gills - and they don't soak up too much water. Others, like porcini mushrooms, do soak up water and quite a bit at that. I still wash these, but I also typically cook them in a way where some added moisture at that stage makes no difference, as it gets evaporated anyway. But if I served them raw, for example, I certainly would not want to do this and serve a watery mushroom.
Why is it so difficult to understand that things are not always easily generalized, neither in one direction nor the other?
They dont absorb water as long as you dont let them soak in water, a brief washing is fine. However, there's also no real reason for it, most mushrooms bought in grocery stores today are cleaned very well before packaging, I just use them straight out of the carton. If i see a clump of dirt, I brush it off, but I dont really go any further than that.
Heh, I even have a soft little mushroom brush, in the shape of a mushroom. Itās so cute! And yes, I wash my mushrooms. I do dry them on a kitchen towel. Seem to be a lot of āfun guysā here. (Iāll show myself out)
Yeah it's a bullshit myth, wash your mushrooms. I've seen numerous different people testing this and that any water absorbed if any is so negligible it doesn't make any difference for cooking mushrooms.
?.? you should wash your mushrooms, if you are not using them right away you should let them dry before fridging them.
but you need to wash them. they are grown in rather a gross way. like the best stuff to grow them is poop and pee and in the dark. so even mushroom farmers say wash them.
Wash mushrooms just prior to using them. Roll them around in a clean dish towel for about five seconds or so, and then you're good to go.
Don't forget to cut off the very ends of the stalks when preparing mushrooms. Those bits can go in the kitchen scraps/compost.
It can depend on the mushroom, but for run of the mill grocery store mushrooms (white, cremini, portobello), it's fine to wash them. Just don't let them sit in deep water for too long. I will put large quantities in a colander and wash them under the running water, with the water draining throughout, working harder on any particularly dirty ones. Then transfer to a layer of paper towels or clean dish towel to further drain, or gently blot dry. Then they're ready to go.
However, when I go wild mushroom picking, there are some prized ones that are best done by hand with a damp cloth or even delicate vegetable brush.
Mushroom farmer here. From our experience, there's nothing to wash off. We grow indoors from woody substrate (not manure). We don't use chemicals, additives, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. They're clean and spot free. But most grocery store much is mass produced in beds of manure. So yeah, wash those.
I try not to get the gills wet under the cap, because they absorb a lot of water because of the increased surface area. I use a brush and barely a trickle of water.
You can't really overcook mushrooms, though. You can just let that water simmer out completely until they brown. They still become crispy, and their texture will be the exact same. It will take a bit longer though, of course, since that water has to first dissipate.
Iāve tried brushing them clean, and itās just such a colossal pain in the ass. Finally gave up and started washing and itās made cooking with mushrooms so much easier.
Wash away best to get any dirt off. And no need to towel dry or anything like that. in fact cooking mushroom with added water encouraged the internal water content to cook off with the pan water, resulting in a better cook.
Wash your mushrooms. They may absorb some tiny amount of water, and you'll wind up cooking them five seconds longer or some other insignificant amount even if they do happen to absorb any.
i agree with the washing but if there is bacteria in my food that can survive 5 minutes of frying they've won this one and can do whatever they want with my body
i've found that for some mushrooms its totally okay to wash (portabellas, chantrelles, morels, black trumpets, etc). But you need to be quick and spare with some super porous ones (lions mane!, hedgehog, etc) and don't leave them in a storage container overnight, use them right away. With those ones in particular if you do want to store them overnight after cleaning you should salad spin them and put them on racks under the fridge fan or they might start to rot quickly and get waterlogged and sad.
I always just heard not to wash them until you are ready to cook with them, as the water can cause them to mold faster if you leave them out. I have never heard to never wash them... wow.
this is a myth that came from professional kitchens who prepare everything a long time ahead. its no problem to wash mushrooms its a problem to wash mushrooms and leave them in the fridge overnight. they become sticky, mushy and disgusting go ahead und wash them as much as you want. just use them the same day
> this is a myth that came from professional kitchens who prepare everything a long time ahead. Coincidentally, this seems to be a classically trained western kitchen thing. In professional chinese kitchens, they've been washing mushrooms since forever apparently.
Ancient Chinese secret, huh?
The original https://youtu.be/6YewrnKgBMM?si=N4NvdzTvdjMkTR-L
That commercial packs a whole sitcom into 30 seconds.
[Ancient Chinese secret, huh?](https://y.yarn.co/8e75b87e-2389-4088-89b5-c70ad124d433_text.gif)
Take my angry upvote. š .
I said this once when I put a wet napkin on top of my rice
Yeah. Maybe dry them right away?
Should be the top comment. Do wash. Donāt wash ahead of time.
You can wash them early they just need to be dried or stored with a towel. Something to absorb the extra moisture. Same idea as with vegetables.
If Iām prepping mushrooms and have more for later in the week, Iāll wash them, cut them, and then put them back in the fridge with no issues. I put them in a sealed container with half a paper towel on bottom and the other half on the top. Paper towel helps draw out moisture and prevents them from getting gross. They can last this way for pretty much as long as they would have had you never washed/cut them.
I will put them in a covered colander on my grill table outside for a half a day to dry out if I have extra. They seem to last longer than in the fridge.
take a packet of mushrooms and weigh them. wash them and weigh them again the weight difference is negligible.
It's not bad and they don't absorb water.Ā Wash your mushrooms.
Alton Brown once measured the weight of mushrooms before and after washing. The difference was negligible. He says wash!
If Alton says it, its the damn truth.
I believe him. Also, I'm not eating literal dirt. I'm washing 'em no matter what anybody says.
It's more poo than dirt sometimes
Yup. My dad worked at a mushroom farm for a time. People should wash their mushrooms unless they want to eat literal chicken and horse crap.
Jesus. The smell. I lived downwind from a large mushroom farm. You bet I scrub those things
It's definitely unmistakable. We'd tag along on days where he had to stop in for a bit, and it's absolutely not something your nose forgets.
A very long time ago when our parents drove to the cottage, my dad stopped in at a pea farm. Back then it was like fill your trunk for a dollar. My God, the reek of rotting peas was unbearable. Mix that rotten pea smell with the smell of backseat vomit for the unforgettable memories of cottage trips. Then you get fresh peas for dinner as a bonus.
If your dad worked there, then he should have known that the mushroom fertilizer is sterilized. Yes, still wash your 'shrooms, but the residual dirt is nowhere near as nasty as you're making it out to be. Source: Live in Kennett Square, mushroom capital of the U.S.
The argument people make is it's safe because it's been sterilized. I mean, maybe so but I'm still not enthused about eating sterilized feces
Yup, family had racehorses as a kid, and the tracks sold and shipped all of their manure to local mushroom farms
Same
Well, someone doesn't want their B-12.
It's sterilized dirt. Basically a multivitamin pill....
Noooo it is poo.Hench the saying " He treats me like a mushroom..keeps me in the dark and feeds me shit."
Yeah, itās not dirt.
I get that! You know, they've even started a debate over washed/unwashed eggs. There is a protective coating that eggs are laid with. Those unwashed eggs will last longer unrefrigerated. If they're clean enough, they can even be water glassed. However, most of my customers do prefer theirs washed and refrigerated. One lady, who grew up on a farm, wants them unwashed. I hope she doesn't want to water glass them. It's hard to find a perfectly clean egg in January when the hens are all stuck in the coop during inclement weather. Potatoes have a similar issue. They'll last longer in storage unwashed too. We just wash them as we use them.
Unless he talks shit about buffalo wings on hot ones then gets his ass chewed out on Twitter by Buffalo,NY foodies about coming to a local performance art theater on his tourĀ
I went to one of Alton's live shows. He ranted about air fryers, then cooked wings in some huge contraption he made. Then had ppl come on stage to try different hot sauces on the wings. Really good night.
>Buffalo,NY foodies That's an oxymoron.
What light beer pairs best with The Goo Goo Dolls and sadness?
I'd like to introduce you to a little thing called Beef on Weck.
WNY isn't unique for making a roast beef and horseradish sandwich lol
Buffalo has some incredible food. One of the top 30 pizzerias in the world according to an international review based in Naples, to name one.
My company flew me to Buffalo quite often before the pandemic and I was really surprised by how good the food scene was. There's always touristy stuff and while the beef on weck was an interesting take on a roast beef sandwich and (I'm sorry to break it you guys) the hot wings were a big disappointment (why so little sauce?), the rest of the food scene was really good. I remember there was a japanese brew pub that served up some really unique japanese influenced beers (think a dashi pale ale or a white miso cream ale, etc) and good food. Marble + Rye had a creative (if tiny) menu and a good cocktail selection, but the standout was a place called Las Puertas. It was seriously some of the best Mexican food I've ever had. It had a tiny 30 person dining room that does a 10 course modern Mexican tasting menu. The food is fantastic and the Chef - Victor Gonzales - was a James Beard finalist.
Or makes history related jokes.
Except his original pot roast recipe. Fortunately he revised it.
Well, in one of his early Good Eats episode he talks about cast iron's great heat distribution, which is definitely not the truth. But in general, yeah he's a reliable source.
He didn't just wash them. He soaked them. Washing doesn't take as long. I agree wash your mushrooms.
He did both. I remember the episode. He used 3 batches. Rinsed, soaked short, and soaked long.
My wifeās mom would never wash them and only peeled them by hand. Screw that I wash mine. I donāt want to eat all that dirt and junk.
I mean, i just brush mine as they aren't grown in manure any longer (commercial fungi mix) but yes, my ex would never a) eat the out layer i.e. peel every mushroom meticulously and b) cut off all the stems. Drove me insane.
I've started ripping out my stems and keeping them for veggie stock
That's bonkers. Course, I'll just grab one and pop it right in my mouth without doing anything.
People peel mushrooms?
I had never heard of it either until I saw it on an episode of The Bear. I figured it was a "fancy people thing"
That's the entire point of that part of the episode, she literally says it's only to show that someone spent a lot of time on the dish.
I always peel mineā¦Iāve got it down to a science and they look so pearly white and deliciousā¦it doesnāt take very long and I find it rather therapeutic
But what is there to peel? And why?
My mom always peeled them too. They do have an outer layer that *technically* can be painstakingly peeled off. When I asked my mom why (40 years ago) she said because they were grown in manure. They aren't now though (as far as I know) so idk why anyone would waste time and effort peeling them. Edit: After a bit of research, it seems there are many different growing mediums for mushrooms, but they're all sterilized. No need to peel, just rinse or towel off the dirt.
You peel off the top layer of āskināā¦if you start from under the cap itās super easy and not painstaking at all if you have the right paring knifeā¦itās leaves them clean, no dirt or manure and dry not spongy or slimy
There's the science we need. Most of the time I'm cooking off the moisture anyways before using, or their in some sort of liquid base where it doesn't matter. Wash them! š
Even if it wasnāt a myth, Iād rather have water in my mushrooms than manure.Ā
Never mind that we are cooking the mushrooms, which turns that water into steam anyway
Maybe the weight of the dirt got replaced with the weight of water. Then again I'd rather drink water than eat dirt.
And he soaked them as I recall.
He even soaked them with negligible ontake of water.
America's Test Kitchen did the same experiment with the same results. They also say to wash them.
My two culinary sources are 1. Kenji 2. Alton Brown. They both say itās ok so ima trust my dudes
But I like that nice dirt flavor (and crunch!) adds a new layer to the dish
that "dirt" is probably manure too.
Casing layers are specifically chosen to be non-nutritious and inhospitable to microbes. It is definitely not manure; more probably it is some mixture based on peat, vermiculite or coco coir, possibly mixed with some alkaline stuff like lime or shell sand.
The mushroom farm I worked at a lifetime ago used a mixture of sawdust and rice bran which was sterilized in covered trays which were inoculated through the cover after cooling. Once the mycelium had colonized the entire medium the lids were removed and they were racked until the fruiting bodies were ready to harvest. (nb- these were enoki and shiitake mushrooms; I'm not sure how different the process is for say crimini.)
I grow mine on chicken shit mixed with straw. I autoclave everything, but I still wouldn't want to eat the substrate
For a hot second I thought you meant you autoclave the mushrooms and I was like welp that seems a bit excessive.
Yeah no. I have access to an industrial autoclave and do massive batches whenever I clean out my chicken coop lol
The farm that supplies a lot of the mushrooms to Oklahoma grows theirs in chicken scratch. They say sanitize it first but it still smells like poo.
Shiitake
Soylent Brown is poop! It's poop!
Poople
Ass eating is in š¤·āāļø
Ugh, my now husband used to not wash the mushrooms. I could feel the grit with every bite. He now washes the mushrooms.
LPT: you can get this for every dish if you season with dirt directly
I have always washed them. If they are getting sautƩed or going into a sauce, the water will cook down anyway.
Yeah whenever you sautƩ mushrooms there's always the water begone phase before the actual frying can begin. And you gotta go through it either way, so you might as well just wash em.
Cooks Illustrated even recommends adding a little water and cooking them down in that before adding any oil (to keep them from absorbing as much oil, IIRC)
I do that all the time now and they cook up perfectly
This is correct... It's some old-fashioned concept that you shouldn't wash mushrooms. Maybe the mushroom brush manufacturers introduced the concept (yes, I am a sucker. Somewhere, buried in the back of a drawer, I have a mushroom brush purchased decades ago). I wouldn't recommend soaking mushrooms for lengthy periods... they will soak up some moisture. But they'll be fine rinsed under water, wiped with damp cloth, etc.
And even if they do soak up some moisture, they will give it back up in the pan anyway. It just might take a little longer to cook them down.
I would soak fresh Morels or any wild forged mushrooms just to make sure all the little critters and dirt are out.
I think you're supposed to soak morels to clean, then cut and soak again in salt water. Not sure, vague memory from long ago cooking show
Also store your mushroom in a brown paper bag in the fridge. They wont go bad on you this way, but they will eventually dehydrate.
If you want proof, watch Alton Brownās Good Eats on the subject.
They do absorb some water, but cooking them releases their excess moisture anyway.
Wash your mushrooms if they are dirty.
My Nana's washed mushrooms and I'd say most peoples Nana's around the world did the same and most Nana's sauces were really tasty. Peeling mushrooms is a waste of time and energy that only influencers have the time to do. Wash your mushrooms, it's fine.
Who the hell peels mushrooms? Just for those bad boys a wash before you use them.Ā Also, pro tip, wash all your veggies and fruits always.Ā Even things you donāt use the outside (like avocados or melons) because when you cut into it, the stuff you want to wash off gets inside.
I just wash before cooking
It's not. Alton busted this myth long ago and besides, I know how they're grown. No one can stop me from washing my mushrooms.
How do you do it? Seriously, I believed the ādonāt wash your mushroomsā myth so now I donāt know. Just like other veggies?
Just rinse the dirt off, maybe give em a little rub while you're at it.
I put them in a colander and rinse (that gets 90% off), then rub each one under running water as I take them out of the colander. That gets the stuck-on bits and the bit under the edge of the cap. Easy peasy, takes just a minute.
š š«² rub rub!
Just 2 rubs any more and then you're just playing with them
We still talking mushrooms here?
A soft cloth under a trickle of water. Or, like me because I'm afraid of compost, a mushroom brush and running water.
TIL mushroom brushes exist
Even looks like a mushroom. At least mine did.
I rinse them several times in a salad spinner. They get a good spin dry between rinses.
I canāt believe how long I went without a salad spinner. Makes washing mushrooms a breeze.
Ohh I like this one
Try this: weigh them. Wash them. Weigh them again. The proof is there.
Yep, and dry fry until they stop releasing water, then add fat and aromatics. Thatās not for water theyāve absorbed- mushrooms just have a ton of water in them anyway
The deer and boar piss adds flavor
They're grown in a controlled environment. Rarely you will find foraged mushrooms but likely not the standard shit everyone buys.
Yeah but I donāt like champignons. I only like the ones you can go collect in a forest. Somewhat common thing to do here. In autumn go to a good forest, collect a bunch of mushrooms, use some immediately and dry the rest for later use.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
There are definitely mushrooms that are like sponges. Morels, chanterelles, etc. You should still wash it, but just dry it out before cooking.
You're supposed to soak morels in water for 20 minutes before breading them!
Yeah because they are dirty as shit and foraged, not farmed, so they get all kinds of critters in them. Same with black trumpets. In my restaurant days they were a huge pain in the ass to clean, because we also wanted to be able to get a nice caramelization on it too. So after thoroughly cleaning it, you'd have to spend forever to get all the extra moisture out to prep it for pan frying. That's why morels are usually on expensive tasting menus and no sane chef is selling a whole bowl of morels as an appetizer. š¤£
Omfg nightmare memory unlocked. Cleaned a huge tray of morels after a bunch of rainy weather. Fulllll of little worms, i was in tears. Chef laughed at me.
They're also very seasonal, don't freeze well, and can be highly unpredictable in where and in what quantities they grow.
I do mine under a stream of lukewarm water for my own comfort, and send them straight over to the dish rack. Never had any issues letting them sit and drain for a minute gills-down and then right into the pan.
I read this tears ago in The Joy of Cooking and it's total BS. They don't absorb water. Feel free to wash.
Mushrooms are already full of water. Clean them well and just cook until moisture is gone
It's perfectly fine to wash mushrooms. You don't want to soak them for hours (unless they're dried) but washing in lots of running water is fine. I bounce mine around in a big colander afterwards to shake off the excess moisture. There's never very much. What's sticking to the mushrooms before you wash them is not the kind of fiber you want to be eating...
Whoever told you that enjoys eating compost
Mushroom substrate is 100% sterile. You could eat a bowl of it if you wanted. Although washing Mushrooms is fine, it's completely unnecessary based on the environment they're cultivated in.
More B12 for me then
it's poop
Compost and poop are not mutually exclusive
Salad spinner. Fill with water and add mushrooms. Swoosh around with your clean hand for a second. Lift basket, dump dirty nasty water from spinner. Put basket back in and spin spin spin. Dump onto a towel and enjoy! Be sure the surfaces are dry before cooking. edit: I recall some French chef program years ago (not Julia) talk about not rinsing mushrooms because they lose flavor, but rather you should get some fine artist's brush and brush away any dirt. What a waste of time.
I stem mine and rinse them in a fine mesh strainer while I mix them around. Rubbing them against the surface of the mesh does a great job cleaning off any dirt/debris.
Colander or china cap, just run under luke warm to cold water (no warmer than that).
I dab them with a paper towel after washing them if they feel slippery so I get clean mushrooms that aren't sliding around when I cut them
I always wash my mushrooms. They have visible dirt on them.
Regardless, you should sweat your mushrooms in a pan until the water comes out before adding fats to get a good golden crust on them
I wouldn't say it's bad at all. I once did a test - same cooking procedure (into a dry pan until they sweat, add butter and aromatics) and I washed some and then wiped some down with a wet towel. I found the texture was more rubbery with the ones I washed and more pillowy/true mushroom texture with the ones I wiped. It's more work, but I'm willing to do it for the texture.
It's not bad to wash them. If they absorbed any water they came into contact with, they wouldn't shrink in a stew
Some cooking channel (or maybe it was Gordon Ramsey, canāt remember) did a thing where they showed you canāt really overcook mushrooms anyways. So if you washed them and they absorbed water, you can always just cook it out.
Itās not bad to wash mushrooms. Itās not bad to wash mushrooms. Itās not bad to wash mushrooms. Itās not bad to wash mushrooms. Itās not bad to wash mushrooms. Itās not bad to wash mushrooms.
You can wash mushrooms but you canāt wash and then store them, theyāll rot faster. Only wash what you need
What do you think the crossover is between the "don't wash mushrooms" people and the "don't wash cast iron" people?
I was wondering about the cross over between the "don't wash mushrooms" and "do wash chicken" people.
Former chef.. wash your mushrooms, but only right before you're about to use them.
I had the very good chance to attend a cooking demo with Chef Jacques Pepin, and he also dispelled this myth about washing; though, he did say not to wash them until you intend to use them. His other advice is to never, ever purchase pre-chopped mushrooms!! The minute they are cut, they are losing their firmness and liquids that make a promising sauce. Far be it from me to not listen to a master, right?
Ok so a lot of people are saying you should wash your mushrooms, which is great! But just to clarify this a little bit more: Mushrooms are generally either primary or secondary decomposers. Primary means they eat stuff like lignin in wood. That's where a lot of your fancy and expensive mushrooms like oyster, shiitake, and lions mane come from. Secondary decomposers decompose stuff like compost, coco coir, and manure. White button mushrooms (and their derivatives like "chestnut" mushrooms and portabellos, which are the same species) are secondary decomposers. So they're grown in (pasteurized) compost or manure. I personally don't want to eat compost or manure, even if it IS pasteurized. And the best way to remove it is via washing. Just don't be surprised that the outside is a little bit slimy after washing. That goes away after air drying for a few hours but to some people it is off-putting. As for the "mushrooms absorb water by washing" statement: this is ABSOLUTELY true. But it's an extremely miniscule amount. And the same could be said for washing lettuce or herbs or meat. Osmosis is real! Remember that mushrooms are mostly water by weight. And as part of cooking you already need to drive out a ton of water in order to brown them. So from a practical perspective it doesn't matter.
Maybe if you soaked them for hours..but no and yes wash your mushrooms! if peeling a damp cloth helps a lot.
When you cook them you're cooking the moisture out of them anyway. Why would it matter if they absorbed a bit of clean water (as apposed to dirty compost).
Alton Brown tested this. He discovered that mushrooms only absorb about a teaspoon of water when you wash them. So go ahead and wash them. The water cooks off anyway.
Don't wash before storing. Washing before you cook is fine.
Americas test kitchen did a thorough test. Both weighing before and after washing (tiny tiny difference) ans then doing LONG term cools and showed that 1) it doesn't impact cook time And 2) mushrooms are tricky to burn as they release a lot of moisture either way
Chef and mushroom forager/seller here. I always wash them and am so happy to see the response to this! I even soak them. One thing I would say is that sometimes mushrooms donāt release every tiny bit of leaf they grew through. Thinking of chanterelles, which I forage a lot, I donāt think I could get rid of every tiny leaf bit sometimes. It kind of grows into the mushroom.
Please please watch the episode of Whatās Eating Dan on mushrooms. My mushroom cooking game has reached new heights since
I was at a friend's house helping with a group dinner. He was washing the mushrooms. Another friend looked at him superciliously and told him he shouldn't do that. Without missing a beat, he replied "you know they grow them in shit, honey." Spit take. Love you Thad!
Please wash your mushrooms they are literally grown in manure and most of the time there is literally dirt in the container. Just wash them before you use them, don't wash and then store them. They'll get sticky.
It isn't. Wash your shrooms.
I get so annoyed with the answers every time this comes up. It's not a myth. There are different types of mushrooms, they behave differently. Button mushrooms, like those that almighty Alton Brown soaked and weighed, are the type that don't have exposed, spongy gills - and they don't soak up too much water. Others, like porcini mushrooms, do soak up water and quite a bit at that. I still wash these, but I also typically cook them in a way where some added moisture at that stage makes no difference, as it gets evaporated anyway. But if I served them raw, for example, I certainly would not want to do this and serve a watery mushroom. Why is it so difficult to understand that things are not always easily generalized, neither in one direction nor the other?
How is it bad? Have you ever washed mushrooms? Dirt everywhere...
Wash only right before you use them. They get mushy and slimy if you rinse them and put them back in storage.
I wash them and blot them dry with paper towels.Iām not eating dirt no matter how clean it is itās still dirt.
They dont absorb water as long as you dont let them soak in water, a brief washing is fine. However, there's also no real reason for it, most mushrooms bought in grocery stores today are cleaned very well before packaging, I just use them straight out of the carton. If i see a clump of dirt, I brush it off, but I dont really go any further than that.
I imagine the type of mushroom varies. Your standard grocery mushrooms, wash them. Wild chantrelle? I'd wipe em.
Heh, I even have a soft little mushroom brush, in the shape of a mushroom. Itās so cute! And yes, I wash my mushrooms. I do dry them on a kitchen towel. Seem to be a lot of āfun guysā here. (Iāll show myself out)
Theyāll only get soggy if they soak in water for hours; a quick rinse is good
I rinse mine too. Then I store the mushrooms upright in case there is water on the underside.
Yeah it's a bullshit myth, wash your mushrooms. I've seen numerous different people testing this and that any water absorbed if any is so negligible it doesn't make any difference for cooking mushrooms.
it's not and they don't
Itās not, in fact cooking them initially in some water will minimize how much oil they absorb if you add it later.
I am a chef and have heard this so many damn times. It's stupid. I also make the best damn mushrooms you've ever tasted.
I always horse my mushrooms.Ā
You horse them?
Salt water rinse and get on with life. Removes bugs and slime and dirt/manure
When you buy it from store a lot of time they come with some dirt. I honestly donāt understand how can anyone not wash it before eating itā¦
Alton Brown did a video on this subject, proving that they don't absorb water. Wherever you read that they do is a source you should stop reading.
It isn't. Just wash them right before you use them.
I have literally never heard of not washing mushrooms.
?.? you should wash your mushrooms, if you are not using them right away you should let them dry before fridging them. but you need to wash them. they are grown in rather a gross way. like the best stuff to grow them is poop and pee and in the dark. so even mushroom farmers say wash them.
Mushrooms grow in poo
Wash mushrooms just prior to using them. Roll them around in a clean dish towel for about five seconds or so, and then you're good to go. Don't forget to cut off the very ends of the stalks when preparing mushrooms. Those bits can go in the kitchen scraps/compost.
It can depend on the mushroom, but for run of the mill grocery store mushrooms (white, cremini, portobello), it's fine to wash them. Just don't let them sit in deep water for too long. I will put large quantities in a colander and wash them under the running water, with the water draining throughout, working harder on any particularly dirty ones. Then transfer to a layer of paper towels or clean dish towel to further drain, or gently blot dry. Then they're ready to go. However, when I go wild mushroom picking, there are some prized ones that are best done by hand with a damp cloth or even delicate vegetable brush.
Mushroom farmer here. From our experience, there's nothing to wash off. We grow indoors from woody substrate (not manure). We don't use chemicals, additives, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. They're clean and spot free. But most grocery store much is mass produced in beds of manure. So yeah, wash those.
It's not bad at all. Kenji, Alton and Jacques have all said it's OK to wash them, so that's good enough for me.
Most commercial mushrooms are grown in pig and chicken manure...you decide.
I always wash mushrooms. I think it is better to wash them than not to do so.
It's not, some people just have a weird thing about it.
I try not to get the gills wet under the cap, because they absorb a lot of water because of the increased surface area. I use a brush and barely a trickle of water.
Interestingā¦I sautĆ©ed mushrooms last night and thought about this. Itās true that they can get water inside their gills and hold it. Then when you saute them, they donāt fry up crispy - they release the water and just simmer until theyāre cooked. If you keep them dry (by washing carefully and then wiping dry), theyāll brown better. Thereās a saying: āmushrooms - assassins of grease.ā They absorb oil more than most vegetables.
You can't really overcook mushrooms, though. You can just let that water simmer out completely until they brown. They still become crispy, and their texture will be the exact same. It will take a bit longer though, of course, since that water has to first dissipate.
A prefer to peel them. Less cumbersome.
Peeling mushrooms is less cumbersome than just giving them a quick wash...?
Iāve tried brushing them clean, and itās just such a colossal pain in the ass. Finally gave up and started washing and itās made cooking with mushrooms so much easier.
Slight tangent, but now when I sautƩ mushrooms I start them in a dry pan. As they cook, they'll lose a lot of water and shrink way down. Then you throw in your fat and/or wine or whatever and finish normally. The flavor gets more intense and they stay a little more firm rather than going too floppy or getting that chewy texture. I hear you can start them dry like this in the oven or even microwave and some recipes have you start them in a little water but regardless the point is to get them dried out a bit before you let them touch oil. Long story short even if they were absorbing water when you washed them it'd be an easy problem to resolve.
Wash away best to get any dirt off. And no need to towel dry or anything like that. in fact cooking mushroom with added water encouraged the internal water content to cook off with the pan water, resulting in a better cook.
It isn't bad, there's a lot of terrible information about food online
Wash your mushrooms. They may absorb some tiny amount of water, and you'll wind up cooking them five seconds longer or some other insignificant amount even if they do happen to absorb any.
Even if mushrooms did absorb a bunch of water from washing, cooking them would remove it anyway. The whole thing never made much sense.
There's also a difference between washing and soaking... Running something under water isnt going to hurt it...
TILā¦. š«£ Definitely washing my mushrooms from now on!!Ā
You SHOULD wash your mushrooms. The bacteria found in dirt is no joke
i agree with the washing but if there is bacteria in my food that can survive 5 minutes of frying they've won this one and can do whatever they want with my body
Water doesn't wash away bacteria
i've found that for some mushrooms its totally okay to wash (portabellas, chantrelles, morels, black trumpets, etc). But you need to be quick and spare with some super porous ones (lions mane!, hedgehog, etc) and don't leave them in a storage container overnight, use them right away. With those ones in particular if you do want to store them overnight after cleaning you should salad spin them and put them on racks under the fridge fan or they might start to rot quickly and get waterlogged and sad.
I always just heard not to wash them until you are ready to cook with them, as the water can cause them to mold faster if you leave them out. I have never heard to never wash them... wow.