Do mushrooms need to be cleaned before cooking?

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Champignons have long won a niche in the culinary field. More and more housewives are discovering this product for themselves. They already know about the possibility of eating champignons without processing. But what about cleaning? Do mushrooms need to be peeled or not, and how?

Important points

To start cleaning mushrooms in a certain way, you need to decide on three points:

• mushroom size;
• freshness of mushrooms;
• origin.

Mushrooms bought in the store without large-scale pollution do not particularly need to be cleaned. In this situation, it is enough to simply rinse the mushrooms under the tap. It is more difficult with collected forest mushrooms. They need to do a full cleaning before cooking.

Important: these mushrooms cannot be soaked! When soaking, they absorb water, and during cooking they give it away. The food becomes watery and the taste will be spoiled.

Big and small mushrooms are cleaned differently. If it is enough to walk on small elastic mushrooms with a sponge or a stiff brush,cutting off the leg by a couple of millimeters, then in large mushrooms you still need to cut out the damaged areas. The drying method is the same in both cases: the mushrooms are washed under the tap and laid out to dry on a towel.

Should I remove the skin

For forest mushrooms, the top layer is very thin and is removed during washing. But in store-bought skins, it is more difficult to clean, but this must be done. Moreover, the older the mushrooms, the more carefully you need to remove the skin.

Very often a membranous ring remains on top of the leg. Although it is safe to eat, it is still worth removing it so that the mushroom looks aesthetically pleasing and appetizing. Do mushrooms need to be cleaned before cooking different dishes? Let's take a closer look at this.

How to peel mushrooms for cold dishes

Don't eat raw mushrooms, no matter how harmless they may seem. Even raw foodists process them before eating. After all, it is not only dangerous, but also unpleasant if sand and the remains of the earth creak on the teeth. Therefore, they are first removed manually, and then the mushrooms are washed under water. To disinfect champignons, they are placed for one and a half minutes in an oven heated to 80 degrees. Only after this treatment is it safe to add mushrooms to snacks and salads.

Cleaning with champignon before frying

To fry delicious mushrooms, they do not need to be washed before cooking. Otherwise, they will be non-crispy, loose, without shape. For proper processing before cooking, it is enough to wipe them with a napkin, if necessary, renew the cut of the leg, and remove darkening. The best way to dry overly wet mushrooms is to cut them into slicers and toss them in a dry frying pan to dry.

Do I need to clean champignons before cooking first courses

Before preparing soups, fillings for pies or mushroom caviar, mushrooms are washed under the tap until dirt is removed. No other preparation required.

Stuffing for mushrooms

Do I need to clean mushrooms before stuffing? Be sure to remove the plates from the bottom of the hat. Otherwise, the caps become hard, which spoils the taste of the cooked dish. Do mushrooms need to be peeled before stuffing them? Of course it is necessary, because properly unpeeled mushrooms spoil the taste. It is also necessary to cut off the legs of the mushrooms.

Recommendations

• No need to clean the mushrooms ahead of time. This is done just before cooking. If they lie for a long time, then the taste and some of the useful properties are lost.
• There is a method of washing mushrooms using flour. Its gluten collects all the small particles of dirt. Everything must be done at a pace, otherwise the mushrooms will be oversaturated with water. The recipe is simple: cold water is poured into a bowl, mushrooms are laid out (the water should completely cover the champignons). Flour is also poured there (1 tablespoon of flour per 2 liters of water). Stir quickly several times and pour out the water.
• To determine whether it is necessary to peel the mushrooms from the skin, when washing it, you need to rub it with your fingers. When the skin leaves, it is completely removed.
• If you pry and break the edgemushroom caps with a knife, pulling the skin up, then large champignons will clear the cuticle much faster.
• Pour boiling water over mushroom caps to make them easier to peel.
• In order for excess water not to spoil the taste and appearance of the dish, the champignons are pre-dried on a paper towel.
• When mushrooms lie in the refrigerator for a long time, their legs wither. For this reason, their stem is cut higher than that of fresh champignons. This helps bring out the taste and smell of the mushrooms.
• To store champignons in the refrigerator, they are pre-moistened with lemon juice and covered with cling film.

Storage Secrets

Mushrooms, and especially champignons, are perishable products. When using stale mushrooms, you can get poisoned for a long time and seriously. At what temperature are mushrooms stored? At +4 degrees, mushrooms are not stored for more than five days, at +10 - exactly two days, at +18 - 6 hours and no more.

Mushrooms are sold in different forms:

• vacuum packed;
• by weight;
• in a plastic bag.

It is best to buy champignons by weight, then you can personally choose the mushrooms you like. If the packaging is still closed and the product is already packaged, then champignons sold in vacuum containers are best. The point is that packaging devoid of air extends the shelf life of the product. Nevertheless, mushrooms still need to be processed before cooking. Therefore, for example, the question: "Do I need to cleanmushrooms before frying?", should not occur.

Mushrooms in cellophane can be wrapped for 2 reasons:

1. The product was originally packaged at the factory.
2. The shop itself packed the mushrooms.

Distinguishing one from the other is quite simple: you need to look for the presence of a label. During production packaging, it is present and it displays all the necessary data (weight, shelf life, date of packaging, etc.). In stores, different supplies and types of mushrooms often interfere. There is no company label, only a sticker with the date of packing, but not with the date of harvest.

Rules for choosing a quality product

• The smell should be characteristic of these mushrooms and without ammonia impurities. If such notes are present, then the mushrooms are grown incorrectly.
• Fresh specimens should be elastic. Nevertheless, before using them, the question cannot arise: "Do I need to clean champignon mushrooms?" Of course, yes.
• The color of champignons varies from white to brown.
• If the mushrooms are fresh, then the leg on the cut will be even and clean.
• The mushroom cap, if they are of good quality, will not crumble.
• Dark spots directly indicate stale mushrooms.
• Water drops under cellophane packaging indicate the dishonesty of producers (water increases the weight of champignons), or that the mushrooms are washed.
• The plates on the inside of the mushroom cap are pink when they are fresh. Spoiled mushrooms have brown plates. If necessaryclean mushrooms of this quality? No, they cannot be used for food.
• The firm stalk of the mushroom also speaks of its freshness.

Thus, if you follow all the rules for choosing, processing and cooking champignons, the dishes will delight you with a magical taste and benefit.