Keeping mushrooms fresh?

[eveenend]

How do you keep mushrooms fresh longer than 3 days?

[masteraznchefjr]

hmm... put them in the fridge and put them in a brown paper bag and let a little air in? and keep them dry

[Andy M.]

I put the mushrooms into a brown paper bag (I keep a stack of paper lunch bags for things like this) and the bag goes into the vegetable bin in the fridge.

Mushrooms need to breathe a bit as they give off moisture. If they are in an airtight container, the moisture collects on the exterior of the shrooms and they get slimy.

[Haggis]

If it isn't obvious already from the above posts, do not wash them, even right before cooking. Just give them a wipe with a clean tea-towel or paper toweling, or a light brush.

[expatgirl]

Eveenend,

Hi! Just read this pointer recently and have been following it ever since-- if you are buying button mushrooms (which tend to be the most common ones in most supermarkets)--buy ones where the heads are not opened up to reveal the brown gills or very little of them underneath--they are the freshest--I also agree with the suggestions of using paper bags, breathing, and not allowing them to get moist--placing a dry paper towel along with the mushrooms in the bag will help as well. Another hint I read and use with great success:--soft baby hair brushes make great mushroom cleaners--found in most dollar stores. Good luck!!!

[eveenend]

Thanks everyone!

[BreezyCooking]

If you're in a pinch & don't have any paper bags around, just make sure the plastic bag or container they're in is open to admit air. This keeps them good for me for at least a week.

Also - the long-held information that it's bad to wash mushrooms is nothing but an old wive's tale & has no validity whatsoever.

The infamous Alton Brown of Food Network fame did an entire show on debunking food myths, & one of them was all about cleaning mushrooms. He took identical weights of mushrooms & spent an eternity dry-brushing one group, soaking one group in a bowl of water, & washing the 3rd group under running water.

The only mushrooms that had gained any additional weight after cleaning were the ones that had been soaked - & even the the difference there was almost undetectable. He also said that a lot of people don't realize how much natural moisture mushrooms release when cooked - it has nothing to do with how they've been cleaned. This is how this washing myth apparently began.

He said you risk more displeasure by possibly biting down on a gritty piece of dirt from a dry-cleaned mushroom, than you do by cleaning them under running water. I agree with him, & feel much better eating my WASHED mushrooms - especially when I'm serving them raw.

I've ALWAYS (for the past 40 years) washed all mushrooms under cool running water & have NEVER had a problem with excessive moisture in any of my recipes.

[SizzlininIN]

Originally Posted by BreezyCooking

If you're in a pinch & don't have any paper bags around, just make sure the plastic bag or container they're in is open to admit air. This keeps them good for me for at least a week.

Also - the long-held information that it's bad to wash mushrooms is nothing but an old wive's tale & has no validity whatsoever.

The infamous Alton Brown of Food Network fame did an entire show on debunking food myths, & one of them was all about cleaning mushrooms. He took identical weights of mushrooms & spent an eternity dry-brushing one group, soaking one group in a bowl of water, & washing the 3rd group under running water.

The only mushrooms that had gained any additional weight after cleaning were the ones that had been soaked - & even the the difference there was almost undetectable. He also said that a lot of people don't realize how much natural moisture mushrooms release when cooked - it has nothing to do with how they've been cleaned. This is how this washing myth apparently began.

He said you risk more displeasure by possibly biting down on a gritty piece of dirt from a dry-cleaned mushroom, than you do by cleaning them under running water. I agree with him, & feel much better eating my WASHED mushrooms - especially when I'm serving them raw.

I've ALWAYS (for the past 40 years) washed all mushrooms under cool running water & have NEVER had a problem with excessive moisture in any of my recipes.

Thanks for letting us know that. I always wondered if that were true. I used to always run mine under the faucet but after starting to watch foodnetwork (pre Alton Brown) I was adviced not to. So once again I will return to washing them under the faucet.

And regarding the whole brown paper bag thing. Do you close the bag or leave it open?

Anyway, I'm glad you asked this question eveenend...........as I always forget to and it never fails my shrooms never last more than 3 days. But then again I kept them sealed just like I got them from the grocery store.

[Andy M.]

I close the top of the paper bag but not tightly.

[SizzlininIN]

Thanks Andy M.