Do you love to eat mushrooms, or is it an excellent ingredient for your foods? Are you scared of destroying your mushrooms when washing them, or do you not know how to?
Do you have trouble with how to keep your mushrooms when you wash them? Then this is the right article for you.
Here is how to store mushrooms after washing. You can store mushroom by putting them in a brown paper bag, by wrapping, or freezing them.
As relatively brittle and fragile as they come, mushrooms are delicate food items that should be handled with care, or you risk ruining them.
So stick around to know the dos and don’ts of Washing mushrooms and how to store them afterwards.
Related: How To Store Cheesecake
Best Washing Methods for Mushrooms
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Most mushroom storing methods are greatly dependent on how they are washed. Hence, it is only fitting that we show you the best ways to wash your mushrooms so they don’t get ruined before you can even store them.
From a general point of view, you don’t exactly need to wash your mushrooms as this will make them soak up water that could easily have been avoided, make them difficult to cook, and make them slimy if not cooked right away.
Instead of washing them, you could just brush them gently. Nonetheless, these are two different perspectives of people. That is why there are two best ways to wash mushrooms:
1. You could simply clean your mushrooms without bringing them in contact with water.
This is the more straightforward method. Using a cloth or brush to wipe against them and get the visible dirt off will do the trick.
2. The other method is the one that involves using water to clean mushrooms. No matter how they use a cloth or brush, some people are never satisfied that their mushrooms are clean enough.
So if you’re one of those people, using water isn’t strictly forbidden. However, there’s a way to do it. Simply use a damp (not wet)cloth to wipe your mushrooms.
Do not submerge them entirely into a bowl of water or drench the fabric with so much water.
Mushrooms have a high tendency to soak up water, making them spoil or rotten, especially if you are not cooking them immediately.
Washing mushrooms could also depend on where they were gotten from. If you’re the type to buy your mushrooms from the store, you will find that they’ve already been cleaned for the most part and don’t require washing before cooking as they are already clean. A quick wipe would do the job.
But if you prefer to use wild mushrooms, they could require some cleaning if they have visible dirt. These kinds of mushrooms are grown in sandy areas, hence the soil.
A slight wash for this kind is okay as it’s normal to want to not want to cook them dirty.
You have to use a soft paintbrush or a mushroom cleaning brush to brush away any visible dirt, or you could choose to wipe them off with a small towel or damp cloth.
You could also slightly rinse your mushrooms with water and pat them dry, then afterwards with paper towels.
How To Store Mushrooms After Washing
Now that we’re done with the washing/cleaning methods let’s get down to the juicy bit, the storing techniques.
It’d be a shame to get your mushrooms clean without ruining them, only to have them spoilt because you didn’t store them properly.
Here are a few ways to store mushrooms to last a long time, especially if you’ve washed or rinsed them with water and don’t want to use them for cooking at that moment:
Read: How to Keep Hamburgers Warm in a Slow Cooker
1. Paper Bags
This is a simple yet efficient method but should be used for a shorter period. When storing washed mushrooms, keep in mind that the less water they have, the longer they will last and the better they will store.
Paper towels will keep them dry and absorb water even in the fridge, while brown bags will speed up the drying process.
Put them in a brown paper bag or a paper wrap, and cover them with a paper towel. Do not fold the bag too tightly, or they won’t breathe.
They will spoil faster if you store them in an airtight container or wrap them in plastic.
2. Freezing
This is a long-term method of storing mushrooms. Although fresh mushrooms can be frozen, it’s not the best means of storing them as they might come out with a slightly different taste and texture.
However, that can be fixed with some seasoning. Make sure they are completely dry before freezing.
Remove as much air as possible from the freezer bags before placing them in the freezer. When freezing mushrooms, the goal is to avoid clumping them together into a single frozen mass.
The simplest way to prevent this is to place them on a tray, separately next to each other, and’ flash freeze’ them in the freezer.
Once they are frozen, place them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe storage containers and put them straight back into the freezer.
You could as well cook them before freezing in various ways: steaming, blanching, and sautéing.
Then, after cooking them, put them back into the freezer bags or containers, keeping them for at least 9 months.
How To know Detect When Mushrooms Have Gone Bad
While this article’s sole purpose was to give you tips on washing and storing your mushrooms, things don’t always go as we plan them, so it’d be wise to show you how to know when mushrooms have gone bad.
It all boils down to the slime factor. If a thin trace of slime appears on mushrooms, they can still be used if they can be removed with a delicate wipe.
However, do not consume them if they have formed a thick sticky, slimy surface and have become mushy and deeper in color.
When it comes to detecting a bad mushroom, you should go with your gut. You can immediately tell if the mushrooms have gone rotten, spoilt, or bad.
You should throw them out once the slime has taken control and given you a gag reflex and you have strong doubts.
Also, they shouldn’t have a noticeable strong odor. If your mushrooms have a strong, pungent smell, they have gone bad.
Read: How To Peel Cabbage Leaves Without Breaking Them
Conclusion
There’s nothing to washing and storing your mushrooms properly. However, once you can keep in mind that they are to be handled with care, you’re halfway there.
Also, take note to not bring your mushrooms in contact with water or any other liquid and keep them in containers or areas that will go a long way to protect your mushrooms.
Just remember, mushrooms need as much care as the way you care for a growing plant.
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