Cleaning Mushrooms

[aeiou]

I am curious to know if more people wash mushrooms or use one of those little brushes to clean the mushrooms.

I will start I wash my mushrooms. I always wait until I am ready to use them and make sure to towel dry them before using them.

[Mama Mangia]

I WASH my mushrooms - just before using. I don't believe in those little brushes that can pack the dirt into the tiniest microscopic places on a mushroom. I don't soak them in water - that is not good - but I sure do give them a nice bath!!! LOL

By the way - went to a "classy" restaurant - salad of mixed greens, 2 slim wedges of tomatoes, "house" dressing - CRUNCH CRUNCH - no one washed the greens! OMG - I thought I was going to die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say - I asked if I could meet the salad prep person outside in the alley - the serves asked why - I told her - they kept an eye on me to make sure I stayed in my seat! LOL

[Semigourmet]

ROFLOL! Good one mama!

As for cleaning mushrooms, it depends. I usually wipe them off with a damp towel. but it really doesn't hurt to wash them. Just don't soak them in water and they will be fine.

[KYHeirloomer]

Many of us were taught that soaking shrooms is no good, because they absorb too much water.

Alton Brown (not my favorite, btw, but sometimes he has something worthwhile to say) did an experiment in which he compared rinsing mushrooms with soaking them for various lengths of time---ranging from 10 minutes to half an hour.

Turns out, there is no appreciable difference in how much moisture they absorb. The conclusion: It's perfectly OK to soak them and clean them real good.

Me, I just give them a wipe with a kitchen towel. Even though I now know better, old habits are hard to break.

[Jafo232]

I just run them under running water to get any fertilizer off of them and that is about it..

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

and make sure I get any and all dirt off of them. I figure all those folks who got sick eating mushrooms here a while back weren't washing or cooking them. That is so gross I hate eating dirt, even my turnip greens I run through numerous rinses. I love all stuff from the garden except DIRT

[jglass]

I wipe them off with a clean damp cloth.

[jfain]

I wipe them off with a damp paper towel if they come pretty clean. I find that when I wash them they do absorb enough moisture to change the texture in my mushrooms. You can tell me all you want that it makes no difference but I can tell. If they are really dirty then I wash them because I'd rather have the texture changed than eat grit.

[Mapiva]

I do wash mushrooms, even if they absorb water. I can't stand the thought of eating something contaminated (I have issues).

I made a stir fry with ****akiis and oyster mushrooms yesterday and washed them both. I noticed that the ****akis didn't seem to be affected by the water, but the oyster mushrooms seemed really soggy.

[chubbyalaskagriz]

I prefer to brush them, myself- maybe a quick rinse if they're particularly grimy. I also trim all the gills from under the cap of portobellos 'cause I can't stand how they turn everything gray and muddy-looking...