Cleaning Mushrooms

15 packages of mushrooms for 69¢ per package!

 I can’t afford the price or luxury of buying perfect, new mushrooms. So I settle for those that are a little bruised and marked down. I guess if I didn’t care for mushrooms, I wouldn’t bother, but I dearly love mushrooms.

On cannot have too many mushrooms in one’s life!

The thing about buying marked down produce is that it usually needs to be used right away. You can’t store it for a week or so. It will go bad.

The first thing I do was empty the containers and check for any bad ones. Discard any that are mushy or slimy. If you find those mark-downs early enough, there might not even be any that are bad. Notice on the right is a little dish with the most bruised mushrooms. The bruised parts will be cut away and the rest sliced and dehydrated.

Dirty Mushrooms

 Commercially prepared mushrooms grow in a rich loamy medium.  They often come with a bit of dirt on them.  Mushrooms are porous, like a sponge. Never wash your mushrooms, they will absorb moisture and become really squishy.

Wipe them off!

Simply wipe them with a cloth or paper towel. I prefer a rough textured cloth. My favorite ‘shroom cleaning rag is an old, woven napkin.

Clean Mushrooms

Once they are cleaned, you can now identify bruises and damaged spots you may want to cut away.

Sliced for Drying

 Linda’s note:

Sometimes you will find bruising or a skin that is not too savory. That does not mean the flesh inside is bad, it’s only surface damage. You can quickly peel your mushroom and they will be just fine.

See my blog on peeling mushrooms for a short video demo on how to do this.