Do you wash your mushrooms?
By Bellapop
@Bellapop (1279)
July 4, 2010 7:17am CST
I started another discussion earlier in the week and some people mentioned that you should not wash mushroom but only give them a wipe. I find this unbearable and don't understand how popel can just do with wiping their mushrooms and not wash them. For me, they have to be throughly washed as they are grown from soil and they are actually one of the few vegetables that often have lots of sil and dirts still embedded in them when they are served on the supermarket shelves. Can anyone justify why you don't wash your mushrooms?
3 people like this
14 responses
@digidogo (444)
• Philippines
5 Jul 10
I definitely agree too, not washing your mushrooms and eating them is like eating bacteria from the soil and what ever that comes in contact with the soil that the mushroom grew on. When ever we have mushrooms, we wash them thoroughly even if they are already washed when sold.
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
4 Jul 10
I don't take them in supermarket shelves but in the woods and I found some yesterday 
. I wash all my mushrooms except the lactarius deliciosus that I only wipe, because it has a sort of sticky orange latex in it turning to green when you cut or wash it, and it is bitter if you wash it before cooking ; this mushroom needs also to be cooked very slowly : it is my only exception to the "wash rule" and a delicious mushroom too 
.
. I wash all my mushrooms except the lactarius deliciosus that I only wipe, because it has a sort of sticky orange latex in it turning to green when you cut or wash it, and it is bitter if you wash it before cooking ; this mushroom needs also to be cooked very slowly : it is my only exception to the "wash rule" and a delicious mushroom too .
@topffer (42156)
• France
4 Jul 10
Picking mushrooms in public -- State -- woods is generally allowed in France, but the quantity that you can pick is regulated : it is five liters/family/day in my area, more than a family can eat 
. I am picking around thirty species. I mostly learned to recognize them with my mother when I was a child, and a few with friends who are also picking mushrooms. I like to walk and jog in the woods and mushrooms are a plus when they grow : fresh boletus are horribly expensive in this season, and I am always happy when I find some, like yesterday.
. I am picking around thirty species. I mostly learned to recognize them with my mother when I was a child, and a few with friends who are also picking mushrooms. I like to walk and jog in the woods and mushrooms are a plus when they grow : fresh boletus are horribly expensive in this season, and I am always happy when I find some, like yesterday.@Bellapop (1279)
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4 Jul 10
This sounds like a wonderful past time, and you are in France, so close to us, I must find out if we are allowed something similar here. We also have a lot of protected conserved woods over here, although we would probably be banned from picking anythingfrom it. :)
@Bellapop (1279)
•
4 Jul 10
This sounds very interesting, that you actually pick yours straight from the woods, I'm assuming you're not in the U.K. How do you tell what you're picking, is it a wold wood, or a regulated wood that allows for people to pick their own? I suppose it would take a very experienced cook with good knowledge of mushrooms to be able to do this :)
1 person likes this
@babystar1 (4233)
• United States
5 Jul 10
yes I do wash my mushrooms all the time. I would not no why anyone would not wah them. that would be gross who would want to eat all the dirt that is on them. now if they were washed first when you buy them they probably would be ok, but i would still wash them
@Bellapop (1279)
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8 Jul 10
I guess it's a neverending circle really, if the pickers / producers had washed the mushrooms before shipping the to us, they simply wouldn't last all that time, because as soon as you wash them , they start to perish very quickly, I'm just complaining about why poeple don't wash them before cooking them...like you say, it's so gross to take all that soil into your mouth... :(
@youless (112621)
• Guangzhou, China
5 Jul 10
If the mushrooms are fresh, then we will put them into hot water and boil them for a while. We will cook the mushrooms after that. If they are dried mushrooms, then we will soak them into the cold water for several hours. Then we will cook them after that.
I love China
@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
4 Jul 10
I gently wipe and rinse and veggies and fruits I get. As a nursing assistant I was always told by the doctors and nurses that its friction which gets rid of germs and not what most people assumes so I have had the habit of wiping those foods too to loosen any dirt that rinsing doesn't get off.
@Bellapop (1279)
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4 Jul 10
This is interesting... ' it's the friction' and not necessarily the water than gets rid of the germs...right, definitely scrubbling everything from now on :) and definitely the mushrooms, I actually give everything a good rub when I wash them because rinsing really doesn't get all the dirt off, if you think about what the fruit and vegetables have to go through before they get to us. First they pick it, and more than often they are just chucked onto the ground on the farm, and the men with grubby hands (from working everywhere on the farm) pick them all up and chuck them in a not so clean tray and bundle them in dusty truck, this ten travels to the refridgerators, stock room...and the process goes on...so unless you pick them straight from the plant, I would wash and give everything a good thorough rub and scrub under the tap before it goes anywhere my mouth... :)
@Lizzyshomework (42)
• United States
4 Jul 10
I have heard from cooking shows not to wash mushrooms under the faucet, because they will become water logged (they'll take in too much water and make cooking results runny). You are supposed to take a wet cloth or paper towel and wipe them off, which I usually do. It seems to work well. Mushrooms do seem to give off liquid when they cook, so adding water to them because you wash them is not a good idea.
@Bellapop (1279)
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4 Jul 10
ah, I see, that explains it, I know what you mean now when you say that mushrooms give off water during cooking, that's where all the flavours of the mushroom com out too, and so washing them will dilute the cooking even more...still, I would prefer to wash them...I prefer a runny dish than one with soil... ;)
@Christmas2006 (1661)
• United States
7 Jul 10
I believe you are not to wash the mushrooms and then store them as this will cause them to spoil faster. Wash only the amount of mushrooms you are going to use in your reciepe. Mushrooms should not be wet then stored. I always wash my mushrooms before I put them in anything.
@vjsinduja (1031)
• Sri Lanka
4 Jul 10
When u purchase mushroom from supermarkets, they are usually cleaned and then packed. So how come sil and dirt stick to it. I don't know the packing process in your country..
But here in my country in which I live.. that is SRI LANKA..... We can only find mushroom is Supermarkets... Not in any kinda outlets or superstores... The mushrooms are white and cream colour.. it's packed in polythene packets... We bring it home.. take the mushrooms out and break them to smaller parts.. as we find it too big to be cooked as a whole... But what I would like to point out is that.. so far in all the packets we bought, we never found and sil or dirt in any mushrooms... But still after breaking them into smaller parts we wash the mushrooms about 3 to 4 times bfore cooking... We always wash all the vegetables we buy from outside bfore cooking... and that's habit of everyone.. But it's surprising to hear that in your country/area,, u don't wash mushrooms.....
@Bellapop (1279)
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4 Jul 10
I am in the UK here, it seems normal not to wash the mushrooms here, and the mushrooms we get in the supermarket are fairly clean, not completely covered in soil, but you do still get bit of soil and dirt stuck to the mushrooms, so you need to wash them, after all you would wash an apple before you ate it? :)
@marguicha (224035)
• Chile
6 Jul 10
Hi Bella,
You said it: You find it "unbearable". If you can´f eat unwashed mushrooms, then you should wash them. Your body will not accept "dirty" mushrooms and you will get sick with them even if noone does.
I only use champignons çns de Paris as I don´t know how to pick mushrooms and these are the ones that are usually in supermarkets. I look at them and sometimes I merely rub some dirt with my finger and other times I wash them in a collander.
There´s nothing to justify ( to wash or not to wash). It´s what each of us accepts as clean. THe mushrooms I buy are spotless,white and small. If I cook them or fry them there´s no problem. I look at them closer when I eat them raw in a salad.
Take care!
@epicure35 (2814)
• United States
6 Jul 10
Most "foodies" and chefs recommend only wiping mushrooms because they are very porous and act like a sponge to absorb a good bit of water. You can wipe them really well if necessary. I've seen a lot of pretty clean mushrooms in most markets. A wipe or quick rinse and wipe with a paper towel seems to work best.
@puccagirl (7294)
• Israel
4 Jul 10
Yes, I do, because sometimes they are quite dirty when you buy them indeed. It is a habit, I suppose...
@cartrightGIS (243)
• Philippines
5 Jul 10
If you want that extra dirt in your tummy, go with the wipe, but if you want to stay healthy, wash your shrooms! I wash my mushies before i use them in my dishes that I serve everyday. Stay healthy! wash your shroomies!! HAPPY MYLOTTING!!
