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You need to peel the mushrooms regardless of where the mushrooms came to the table - from the forest or from the store. Cleaning and washing allows you to remove possible dirt and microorganisms from them and make them even safer for your health.
Do I need to wash the mushrooms before cooking
Champignons are considered the most harmless, they almost never cause poisoning and are suitable for consumption even raw. However, you still need to clean them.
Mushrooms growing in the forest inevitably collect dust, dirt and harmful substances from the soil and precipitation. Even in clean areas, the ecology leaves much to be desired, and mushroom fruits have time to accumulate a lot of toxins.
Peeled champignon hats are much safer
As for store fruits, they are much cleaner than forest fruits, but they also cannot be sterile. After removing from a special substrate, microorganisms can still remain on their legs and caps, bacteria can also appear in the process of passing the product from the farm to the store counter.
It is recommended to peel and rinse any champignons without fail. It takes a little time, but it allows you to be sure that the product will not harm your health.
Is it possible to soak mushrooms
Most mushrooms need to be soaked for a long time before cooking. But with champignons, the situation is more complicated - their pulp already contains a lot of water, and besides, they absorb moisture very well. The taste of the soaked mushrooms becomes much worse.
It is necessary to soak the mushrooms for their complete cleaning, but not for long. Shop mushrooms are recommended to quickly rinse under cold running water to wash off the dirt, and then blot with a paper towel and leave in a dry place for 15 minutes. In this case, the taste and density will be preserved as much as possible, and the mushrooms will not lose their pleasant elasticity.
Forest mushrooms, by definition, contain more harmful substances. Therefore, after collecting them, you need to immerse them in cold salted water for 15 minutes. During this time, dirt will come off, and insects, if any, will leave the pulp.
Soaking should be short-lived - a maximum of a quarter of an hour
How to wash mushrooms
Before processing, the mushrooms need to be not only soaked, but also washed. They do it like this:
- first, the mushrooms are kept in water for no longer than 15 minutes with the addition of salt;
- after that, they are thrown into a colander and allowed to drain well;
- then each mushroom body is gently wiped with a clean damp cloth, removing the remnants of possible dirt, and the cut on the stem is renewed; large fruits can also be cleaned from the film on the cap;
- the champignons are washed again and only after that they are subjected to further processing.
As a result of such washing, the mushroom does not have time to collect too much moisture and soften. But microorganisms and dirt from the surface of the fruit body can be removed reliably.
Rinsing under the tap removes most of the dirt
Do I need to peel the mushrooms before cooking
The cap of the champignons is covered with a thin skin, and on its underside there are frequent plates. Therefore, the question arises whether it is necessary to clean both of them in order to leave only fresh pulp, or to fry and boil the mushroom in its original form.
Do I need to peel the mushrooms
It is believed that the thin cuticles on the cap can be cleaned, but this is not required. If desired, the peel can be picked up with a knife and pulled up to remove, but this is done most often for large adult fruits.
Do I need to peel the mushrooms under the hat
Whether or not to clean the plates on the underside of the cap depends largely on the age of the mushroom. In old fruiting bodies, the plates often turn light or dark brown, and in such cases the mushrooms are cleaned of the plates.
But in young fruit bodies, it is not necessary to clean the white plates, also because they give a rich aroma and characteristic taste to dishes using champignons.
If the plates are dark below, then it is better to remove them.
Do I need to peel small mushrooms
Young mushrooms are usually very small in size - about 2 cm in diameter of the cap. From above, they are covered with a very thin and delicate skin, the plates under the cap are white and fresh.
There is no need to clean young mushrooms - it is too difficult, time consuming and does not make much sense. The processing boils down to the fact that small mushrooms are quickly washed and cut short legs, which are barely visible under the cap.
Do mushrooms need to be peeled before frying or cooking
Fresh champignons should be cleaned first of all to remove microorganisms and impurities from them. If the mushroom must go to the pot or pan immediately after washing and cleaning, the question arises whether it is necessary to spend time cleaning it, or harmful bacteria will be destroyed by heat treatment.
It is still recommended to peel the mushrooms before cooking and frying. With a sharp knife, you need to cut the leg and remove from the surface of the mushroom all dark and spoiled places, if any. Also, large mushroom bodies can be cleaned with a soft clean brush, pick up the film on the surface of the cap and remove it by pulling it up.
In mature mushrooms, it is advised to remove the so-called "collar".
The peel accumulates toxins in itself, so it is recommended to cut it off
How to peel fresh champignons
Champignons do not last long, and they usually try to cook them almost immediately after picking or purchasing. In this case, fresh mushrooms need to be peeled; the procedure for forest and store fruit bodies is slightly different.
After collecting
To make it easier to process forest mushrooms, it is recommended to clean them right in the forest, even before coming home. The mushroom removed from the soil is shaken off the ground, stuck needles and other debris using a soft food brush. Then the fruiting body is wiped with a clean cloth and placed in a basket.
Purchased
The mushrooms in the store are sold after the initial cleaning and look much more neat than their forest counterparts. Such mushrooms must be washed according to the standard algorithm, slightly trimmed the legs and removed the spoiled areas. If the mushrooms are adults, they are also peeled off, you can clean the plates under the cap if they have already darkened.
Experienced chefs offer a quick and convenient way to clean mushrooms. According to the method, the fruit bodies need to be soaked not in cold, but in hot water for a quarter of an hour, after which it will be easy to remove the skin even with your hands.
If you scald the caps with boiling water, the skin will come off more easily.
How to peel mushrooms for frying
Although you can wash the mushrooms before sending them to the pan, they usually do not. Excess water that the mushroom pulp absorbs will interfere with the roasting process.
Clean fresh stir-fry mushrooms properly using a food brush. After that, it is enough to simply wipe them with a damp cloth and send them for frying.
How to peel mushrooms before cooking and baking
Mushroom caps must be peeled before being sent to the oven for roasting. A photo of step-by-step cleaning of champignons before cooking suggests the following algorithm:
- fruit bodies are washed under the tap, and then the leg is cut to renew the cut;
- all plates are removed from the bottom surface of the cap;
- peeled caps are immersed in water for a few minutes, after adding 2 large tablespoons of wheat flour to it, this will help to more easily remove the skin from the fruit bodies.
It is not necessary to cut off slightly darkened areas and other defects on the caps before baking. They do not affect the quality of the mushroom, unless we are talking about frankly rotten areas. And outwardly, after processing, such flaws will still become invisible.
The legs need to be slightly trimmed to remove the dried out part of the pulp.
How to peel champignons before pickling and pickling
Champignons are rarely used for canning, usually these mushrooms are eaten fried, boiled or fresh. But if it is decided to salt or pickle the fruit bodies for the winter, then it will be very easy to clean them before that.
First, the mushrooms should be shaken off with a soft brush from all debris, if they were brought from the forest. It is recommended to peel the skins and plates on the underside before salting. Then the fruiting bodies are washed under the tap and soaked for 10 minutes in a container with salted water with the addition of citric acid. In this case, there is no need to be afraid that the hats will get wet, since they somehow have to go to the marinade.
After soaking, the mushrooms are rinsed again under the tap and rolled up for the winter according to the selected recipe.
How to clean fresh mushrooms before drying
You need to cleanse the mushroom bodies differently before drying. First of all, they absolutely must not be soaked, otherwise they will become dark and accumulate a lot of moisture. In this case, drying will take a long time, and as a result, the raw materials may simply become moldy.
It is strictly forbidden to soak and wash the product before drying.
Before spreading or hanging the caps to dry, simply brush them well with a soft brush to remove any dirt. You can also wipe the caps with a damp cloth, but no more.
How to properly peel mushrooms for freezing
The mushrooms can be stored in the freezer for a very long time, but they still need to be cleaned before they are placed in the refrigerator. First, all darkened spots and other defects are cut off from the hats, then they are quickly washed and dried on a towel. After that, it remains to cut the mushrooms into small slices and sprinkle with lemon juice, and then send to the freezer.
How many washed mushrooms are stored in the refrigerator
The shelf life of mushroom fruits is not too long. Even unpeeled, they can stay in the refrigerator for about 3 days, maximum - 5 days.
Washing and cleaning further shortens these times as the mushrooms lose some of their integrity. It is recommended to keep them in the refrigerator for just a day on the bottom shelf in a dry, closed container.
Peeled caps are stored for a short time, so it is better to cook them right away.
Conclusion
It is highly advisable to peel the mushrooms before eating, as it helps to make them safer.Proper cleaning and washing reduces the risk of poisoning as much as possible, since all dirt and microorganisms are removed from the surface of the mushrooms.
