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It is necessary to clean the champignons, regardless of where the mushrooms came from on 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 health.
Should mushrooms be washed before cooking?
Mushrooms are considered the most harmless, they almost never cause poisoning and are suitable for consumption even raw. However, they still need to be cleaned.
Mushrooms growing in the forest inevitably collect dust, dirt and harmful substances from the soil and precipitation. Even in clean areas, the environment leaves much to be desired, and mushroom fruits manage to accumulate a lot of toxins.
Peeled champignon caps are much safer
As for store-bought fruits, they are much cleaner than forest fruits, but they also cannot be sterile. After being removed 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.
Any champignons are recommended to be cleaned and washed without fail. It takes a little time, but it allows you to remain confident that the product will not harm your health.
Is it possible to soak champignons
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 soaked champignons becomes much worse.
It is necessary to soak champignons for their full cleaning, but not for long. Shop mushrooms recommend a quick rinse under cold running water to wash off the dirt, and then blot with a paper towel and leave for 15 minutes in a dry place. In this case, the taste and density will be preserved to the maximum, and the champignons will not lose their pleasant elasticity.
Forest champignons, 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 – a maximum of a quarter of an hour
How to wash mushrooms
Before processing, mushrooms must not only be 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 recline in a colander and allow the water to drain well;
- then each mushroom body is gently wiped with a clean, damp cloth, removing the remnants of possible contaminants, and the cut on the stem is renewed, large fruits can also be cleaned from the film on the cap;
- mushrooms are washed again and only after that they are subjected to further processing.
As a result of such washing, the fungus does not have time to gain too much moisture and soften. But microorganisms and dirt from the surface of the fruiting body can be reliably eliminated.
Rinsing under the tap removes most of the contaminants
Do mushrooms need to be cleaned before cooking?
The cap of champignons is covered with a thin skin, and on its lower side there are frequent plates. Therefore, the question arises whether it is necessary to clean both in order to leave only fresh pulp, or whether the mushroom should be fried and boiled in its original form.
Do mushrooms need to be peeled?
It is believed that the thin cuticle on the cap can be cleaned, but this is not necessary. If desired, the skin can be picked up with a knife and pulled up to remove, but this is most often done for large adult fruits.
Do I need to clean the champignons under the hat
Whether or not to clean the plates on the underside of the cap depends largely on the age of the fungus. In old fruiting bodies, the plates often become 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 clean small champignons
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 hat are white and fresh.
It is not necessary to clean young mushrooms – it is too complicated, long and does not make much sense. Processing boils down to the fact that small champignons are quickly washed and cut short legs, barely visible under the hat.
Do mushrooms need to be cleaned before frying or cooking?
Fresh champignons should be cleaned first of all in order to remove microorganisms and impurities from them. If the mushroom immediately after washing and cleaning should go into a pot or pan, the question arises whether it is necessary to spend time cleaning it, or harmful bacteria will be destroyed by heat treatment anyway.
It is still recommended to clean the mushrooms before cooking and frying. With a sharp knife, you need to cut the leg and remove all dark and spoiled places from the surface of the mushroom, 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 champignons, 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 clean fresh mushrooms
Mushrooms are not stored for a long time, and usually they are tried to be cooked almost immediately after harvest or purchase. Fresh mushrooms in this case need to be cleaned, the procedure for forest and store fruiting bodies is slightly different.
After collecting
To make it easier to process forest champignons, it is recommended to clean them right in the forest, even before coming home. The mushroom, extracted from the soil, is shaken off the ground, adhering needles and other debris with a soft food brush. Then the fruiting body is wiped with a clean cloth and placed in a basket.
Purchased
Mushrooms in the store are sold after the initial cleaning and look much neater than forest counterparts. Such mushrooms must be washed according to the standard algorithm, slightly cut off the legs and remove spoiled places. If the mushrooms are adults, they are also peeled off, you can clean the plates under the cap if they have already darkened.
Experienced cooks offer a quick and convenient way to clean mushrooms. According to the method, the fruit bodies should 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 hats with boiling water, the skin will come off easier.
How to clean mushrooms for frying
Although it is possible to wash the mushrooms before sending them to the pan, this is usually not done. Excess water that the mushroom pulp absorbs will interfere with the frying process.
Properly clean fresh mushrooms for frying using a food brush. After that, simply wipe them with a damp cloth and send them to fry.
How to clean champignons before cooking and baking
Mushroom caps must be cleaned before being sent to the oven for baking. A photo of step-by-step cleaning of champignons before cooking offers the following algorithm:
- fruiting 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 hats are immersed in water for several minutes, after adding 2 large tablespoons of wheat flour to it, this will make it easier to remove the skin from the fruiting bodies.
It is not necessary to cut off slightly darkened places and other defects on the hats before baking. They do not affect the quality of the fungus, unless we are talking about frankly rotten areas. And outwardly after processing, such flaws will still become invisible.
The legs need to be cut slightly to remove the dried part of the pulp.
How to clean champignons before salting and pickling
Mushrooms are rarely used for canning, usually these mushrooms are consumed fried, boiled or fresh. But if it is decided to pickle or pickle the fruiting bodies for the winter, then it will be very easy to clean them before that.
To begin with, mushrooms should be brushed off with a soft brush from all debris if they were brought from the forest. It is recommended to clean the skin and plates on the underside before salting. Then the fruiting bodies are washed under a tap and soaked for 10 minutes in a container of salted water with the addition of citric acid. In this case, you can not be afraid that the hats will get wet, because one way or another they will 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 chosen recipe.
How to clean fresh champignons before drying
Cleaning mushroom bodies before drying is not necessary as usual. First of all, they absolutely cannot be soaked, otherwise they will become dark and accumulate a lot of moisture. At the same time, 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 laying out or hanging the hats to dry, simply brush them properly with a soft brush to remove dirt. You can also wipe the hats with a damp cloth, but no more.
How to clean mushrooms for freezing
Mushrooms can be stored in the freezer for a very long time, but before being placed in the refrigerator, they still need to be cleaned. First, all darkened places 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 them to the freezer.
How long do washed champignons last in the refrigerator?
The shelf life of mushroom fruits is not too long. Even unpeeled, they can keep in the refrigerator for about 3 days, maximum – 5 days.
Washing and peeling further shorten these times as the mushrooms lose some of their integrity. It is recommended to keep them in the refrigerator for only a day on the bottom shelf in a dry, closed container.
Peeled hats are stored for a short time, so it is better to cook them immediately.
Conclusion
It is highly recommended to clean mushrooms before eating, this 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.
