Submitted by tensai on
Mushrooms are great, whether shiitake, crimini, or even your run-of-the-mill button mushrooms. Our shrooms come in a little shrink wrapped container that is quite moisture resistant. That means that if you leave the little cuties in there for more than a week or so, they start to get soggy and nasty. That's just not acceptable.
A while back I heard a recommendation from a mushroom farmer on Good Food who said you should store them in a paper sack. Since the paper passes moisture, the mushrooms will dry out. And that's a good thing. The mushrooms will basically last forever (yeah, like you won't eat them before they go rotten). But just in case I always write the date on the bag, if for no other reason than to know how long my mushrooms have aged.
One thing I discovered is that it's a Bad Idea(tm) to wash the mushrooms before storing them. I tried it once thinking that the little amount of moisture the washing adds would just dry up. It doesn't. They turn into a squishy mess. The problem is that washing shriveled up mushrooms is a little difficult. So use the classic French method and dust them off with a brush.
2 Comments
In refrigerator or not?
Submitted by matt (not verified) on
So should one store said shrooms in the refrigerator or not?
When we buy bulk mushrooms we always put them in those plastic produce bags. And I make sure I leave the bag open when I put it in the refrigerator, otherwise I get the goopy, smelly junk.
yes, in the fridge
Submitted by tensai on
As you point out, the key is to keep the moisture flowing. Mushrooms really have a lot of water and if you let them sit in a plastic bag, they'll turn into mush. I do keep mine in the fridge and they dry out in about a month. I think it would work at room temperature, but I would worry a bit about unfriendly bacteria coming in uninvited. I don't have any data one way or the other on that though.